With the announcement of resurrection ringing in their ears, the disciples make their way to Galilee and “to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.”(28.16) This is no accidental location. In the Gospel of Matthew, mountains are associated with revelation as a symbolic place where heaven meets earth. Jesus is tested on a mountain (4:8), teaches a sermon on a mountain (5:1), is transfigured on a mountain (17:1), and now meets his bewildered disciples on a mountain. The final mountain is in Galilee, symbolically on the border of the wild “sea” of the nations. It is on this mountain that the disciples will discover that resurrection means nothing will ever be the same again. New creation has burst out of the tomb. Jesus has received all authority and will commission his disciples to “go make disciples of all nations” (28:19). In this great commission, we learn that we are united with Jesus in his death and resurrection—- that we are risen. And if we are risen— people of new creation— then we have work to do.
