Commission Impossible: Matthew 28 Revisited

“Mission Impossible”, originally a television series in the sixties, has become a very successful movie franchise in recent years. While the characters and format have changed, the two iterations of this title have one major thing in common, namely “impossibility”. Whether delivered by a small tape recorder or by more sophisticated means, the team is tasked with a mission that could very possibly self-destruct at any stage of the operation.

Mission, strictly defined, involves a task to be carried by a person or group. A plan is conceived and fine-tuned to achieve the best possible outcome. In religious circles, a mission often involves a group trip to an area or country in need of assistance and resources. Endeavors of this sort can be traced back to the Gospel of Matthew, and what has come to be known as “The Great Commission.

The disciples were given what amounted to their “marching orders” to go forth and evangelize by announcing the good news of the gospel everywhere they went. They would, in effect, build upon the foundation that Jesus established in his time on Earth. The following passage from the Gospel of Matthew explains:

The eleven[i]disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age (Mt 28:16-20).

Negotiating a territory with defined boundaries is one thing, but the command to “make disciples of all nations” must have seemed like a very tall order to men who had never been too far from the place of their birth. What may seem “etched in stone” to believers all these centuries later was all brand new to the relatively small group of followers that Jesus had assembled for His nascent church. Questions, posed along the way, would be answered as the Holy Spirit deemed necessary. Peter spoke for the group when he wondered how the “impossible” could be accomplished in the following pericope from Matthew:

Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first (Mt 24-30).

Peter’s concern was genuine and sincere. Much like the miracle of the loaves and fishes and the record-breaking catch that Jesus brought about earlier, the impossible would become possible through divine initiation and assistance. Despite a stellar track record on the part of Jesus, doubt eclipsed reason in the minds of the disciples. All would begin to be revealed at Pentecost with the Holy Spirit’s outpouring upon the church and the faithful. The temptation to peer into the future was as real then as it is now.

So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness,[s] and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil (Mt 6:31-34).

All these centuries later, the cost of discipleship is still the same. We are called to have a share in the kenotic love that exists within the Blessed Trinity as we pray for our daily bread and the surety that “for God all things are possible”.