TRANSLATION MATTHEW 28:16

The eleven pupils made their way to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had commanded them.

When they saw him they knelt before him although some were in two minds.

Then Jesus came near and said to them, ” All power is given to me in heaven and upon earth. So go and make pupils of all nations, dipping them in the name of the father, and of the son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to keep all the commands I have given you. And -see this- I will be with you all the days, until the end of the age.

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This is a mighty ending to Matthew’s joyful news.

The scene is a mountain reminiscent of Sinai and the mountains of the sermon, the feeding of the 5000, and the transfiguration. It is the mount of the magical Jesus, which is nevertheless the geographical Galilee in space and time where,in Jesus, people meet God.

The magic, that is the justice, healing, forgiving and loving shown by Jesus, is dependent on human trust in him and his trust in the father. As the opposition of religious and political authorities built up the human trust was diminished until only a few women kept faith, when he went alone to suffer and defeat the power of death.

Of course all power is given to him because he, alone, has won the victory over evil and death on behalf of all. He is the son of man who rules humanely; he is the son of God who shows all people how to honour the father.

Therefore he sends out his pupils to take his story and his commands to all peoples, so that the trust which makes his magic real can exist everywhere in the world. He has submitted his magic to the ultimate test of the real and it has been proven true.

The signs of this mission will be the dipping of people in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit, and the teaching of Jesus’ commands. The trinitarian reference is surprising, as this is its only appearance in the gospel, but of course such formulations were common twenty years before Matthew in the writing of St. Paul.

The physical dipping symbolises the dipping of a life in God, while the commands of Jesus specify the nature of that life.

Can they obey, these pupils who have let him down so badly, some of whom are still ‘in two minds.’ Matthew knows it will be beyond them in their own strength, but believes it will be possible because Jesus, who was dead and is now alive, will be with them all the days.