Thursday 27 March 2008

Background

Imagine you've been one of Jesus' original disciples. You'vetravelled around with him for three years, watching him, learningfrom him, listening to him and at times, attempting to emulate him(Matthew10 and Luke 10). But thedeath of Jesus has blown all of that wide open and left everythingin confusion. Nobody knows what to do next. Now at last (in thispassage), there are some instructions. What do they tell you?

First of all you are to go back to Galilee. Do you wonder why?After all, Jesus has risen from the dead here in Jerusalem. Can'the tell you what he wants here as well as anywhere else?

Maybe part of the reason is that Galilee is where you first metJesus. It's where it all began. That was where you first got toknow him. There, some valuable lessons in trust were learned (notleast when Jesus calmed the storm on Lake Galilee - Matthew 8:23-27).Perhaps he knows that you need to go back to that 'trusting place'.It's as if he's reminding you that you could trust him then and youcan trust him now. Secondly, he says that he will go ahead of you.In other words, you're not stepping into the unknown. Jesus, whohas already gained the victory by rising from the dead, will bethere already.

As we move forward today we don't know what it will hold any morethan the disciples knew as they left for Galilee. But we can besure that the same truths apply to us. Jesus can be trusted. Hegoes ahead of us and meets us in the unknown and, in thefamiliar.

To Ponder

What are the things that make it difficult for usto trust God today? Do we need to go back in our minds to a timewhen our trust was strong?

"Put your hand in the hand of the man fromGalilee" is how a Christian worship song goes. Close your eyes andimagine yourself putting your hand into the hand of Jesus. Feel theprint of the nail and know that you can trust him with your life,wherever he may lead you.