Wednesday after Rogate

Scripture: St. Matthew 28:16-20 (NKJV)

28:16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Devotion

“Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth’.”

“The eleven disciples,” it says. There ought to be twelve. There is no room for confidence in the number. They meet at a mountain; good things seem to happen on mountains. But this mountain is in Galilee, Galilee “of the Gentiles.” There is no room for confidence in this mountain. While the disciples worshiped Jesus, even then it says “some doubted.” It doesn’t even say which ones! They’re all suspects. So, there is no room for confidence even in the disciples’ confidence.

Then we hear Jesus: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” There! There is where we may place our confidence, there alone! Our confidence is in Christ alone, and there it must stay. God, guard us against the fatal mistake of adding a little something to Christ, as if to make it all a little more certain! He locates Himself in the teaching and in Baptism, so we cling to these as we cling to Jesus. And thus we live in the promise that He is with us all our days.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, grant me sincerely to trust only in You and in the gifts by which You come to me: gifts of Word and Sacrament. Keep me steadfast therein all my days. Amen.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.