Appearance in Galilee.

(Mat. 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-18 and Luke 24:46-49).

“Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted” — as the Angels told the women myrrhbearers that the Lord is preceding them to Galilee, then it must be assumed that the Apostles were not the only ones to rush toward Galilee so as to see Him, as He had promised to be there. Many think that it was this specific appearance by the Lord on the mountain, that Apostle Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 15:6, when the Lord “was seen by over five hundred brethren at once.” The name of the mountain is not mentioned, but it was most likely the Transfiguration Mount Tabor, where the disciples were privileged to witness the transfigured glorious state of the Lord, in which He now appeared to them. Some that were present, “doubted,” which definitely shows that this couldn’t be a massive hallucination, as the unbelievers attempt to convince everyone.

“And Jesus came,” i.e. approached them so as to dispel all doubts that it was really Him, “and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on earth.” Since the beginning of the world, as the Only Son of God, He has had full authority in heaven and earth: now, as Conqueror of hell and death, He acquired similar authority over everything, and as the Redeemer of the world — over mankind. Having appeared on earth as a human, the Son of God curtailed Himself in the use of His Divine authority, because He didn’t want to accomplish the redemption of mankind purely through His omnipotence. Through His resurrection, He assumed His full Divine authority as God-Man. It now depended upon Him to crown the whole matter of mankind’s salvation, by sending the Holy Spirit, founding His Church and sending the Apostles to preach throughout the whole world.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,” writes Saint Matthew, or as Saint Mark relays: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature,” or as Saint Luke conveys the authority given by the Lord to His Apostles: “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and the repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.” Now, the Lord doesn’t restrict their sermons to just the Judeans as before (Mat. 10:5-6; 15:24), but sends them out to teach all the peoples, because the whole world had been redeemed through Christ’s sufferings, and should be summoned to Christ’s Kingdom. “Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” — God-Man is giving His disciples the right, and imposes the responsibility, of baptizing all the peoples in the name of the Holy Trinity. This means that those baptizing, are not acting of their own volition, but by the authority granted to them by the Trinity of God. And those receiving baptism, accept through this the responsibility of believing in the Holy Trinity, and dedicating their lives to the redeeming and regenerating Divine Trinity that is calling them. Baptism is the symbolic sign of the cleansing of a person’s sins through the invisible actions of the Holy Spirit, and that person’s entry into Christ’s Church for a new, born-again life in God. Baptism should be preceded with instructions, and those receiving It, should follow all that is decreed by Christ Savior: “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.”

Saint Mark adds to this, the miraculous signs that will appear as a consequence to those, that have believed: “In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” From Man’s sin, the whole world has come to a state of disorder, which has become its master: those who have believed in Christ-Redeemer, receive authority to conquer all types of evil, as well as over the fallen spirits, who incite people toward evil works. These miracles, which the subsequent history of the Church gives witness to, were truly performed by the Apostles and true Christians. Thus, through His disciples and their successors, the Lord reinstates a harmony that was forfeited by the world.

“I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” — in charging the Apostles with the heavy task of spreading the good news of the Gospel throughout the whole world, the Lord enheartens them, promising His mysterious, invisible presence with them “always, even to the end of ages.” However, because the Apostles did not live till “the end of ages,” then this promise has to be applied to all of their successors. This doesn’t mean that at the end of ages, the Lord will not be with His disciples. “No, it is then that He will be present” (Blessed Theophylactus). It simply means that before the end of ages, He will be found unseen among the faithful, as head of His Church, guiding it toward mankind’s salvation.