“S OME DOUBTED.” That’s what we’re told just a few verses later in Matthew’s gospel.
Some doubted that Jesus was raised from the dead. Some go to Galilee to meet Jesus. Some doubted. Maybe they also went to Galilee but were skeptical of what they’d find when they got there. Maybe some doubted and stayed behind in Jerusalem. Why wait the time? Why make the journey? Why bother with fairy tales? He’s dead. Everybody saw it.
How human. How frank. How honest. The gospels never present a picture of disciples full of faith and confidence. The disciples are, over and again, filled with doubt, fear, anxiety, apprehension, uncertainty.
Time after time, the disciples are just like us. We too experience doubt. Is Jesus really the Messiah, the anointed one of God? Is it possible someone rising from the dead? Perhaps it’s doubt about the reliability of the promises of the Bible. Can something written in another place and time be relevant for you? Some believed. Some doubted.
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FOR THE SIX WEEKS of Lent, we looked closely at Psalm 23. Does the Lord our Shepherd really lead us to places of rest? Will the Good Shepherd protect us and guide us with staff and rod? Can we count on God to be with us in the darkest times of our lives — those dark valleys of despair, disease or death? Some believe. Some witness to that comfort and presence. Some doubt.
The final words of Psalm 23 are not always confidently spoken by Christians. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Goodness means bounty or blessing. Mercy can be translated loving-kindness or steadfast love.
Our experience of life does not always seem to be filled with “goodness and love.” We’ve been cheated. We’ve been lied to. We have endured more than our share of abuse and neglect. We have been bullied. Our dreams have not materialized. Where is goodness? Where is compassion and forbearance? Mercy, forgiveness? And we haven’t done such a good job of presenting goodness and love to others either.
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THE TRUTH IS we are disappointed, and will always be disappointed, when we seek goodness and mercy from others, or they from us. Yes, sometimes they come through for us. Perhaps most of the time. But sometimes not. Goodness and mercy come from the Lord. It reads more clearly from the NIV. Surely your [God’s] goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. The Lord’s mercy follows us.
The original Hebrew gives the verse even more punch. God who is good, God who is love, will pursue me all of my life. The Good Shepherd, our Lord, follows us with the intent of overtaking us with his love and goodness. Jesus Christ chases us down with his steadfast love and his righteousness. He does not hunt us down in his wrath. Christ does not pursue us for bad — not to pin us to the ground and punish us.
But God through Jesus relentlessly runs after us to lavish us with Jesus’ love and mercy. With reckless abandon we are pursued.
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JESUS, THE GREAT SHEPHERD, pursues us even to the cross, even to the grave. So great is his blessing and love for us. God through Christ wants to catch us, restore us, renew us, give us life in its full abundance. The loving-kindness of God — His goodness and mercy — is eternal. It’s a stubborn love God has for His children. He won’t turn His back on us. And He won’t give up on us or let us go.
C.S Lewis said, God’s “love for us … is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him.”
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WHAT WOULD IT be like if someone were completely, 100 percent, for you? The loser. The rising star. The drug addict. The good Christian kid gone bad. The undeserving overwhelmed with gratitude. Whoever you are — and wherever you’ve been — Jesus is for you and He’s not going anywhere. God is relentless in His pursuit of you. No matter what choice you make or where you go, God comes after you.
Maybe, just maybe, we need to stop pursuing God’s love; stop trying to earn God’s favor. Stop thinking that God will only love you when you straighten up your life. Or get it all together. We cannot persuade God that we deserve his steadfast and abiding love. When David writes “Surely [God’s] goodness and mercy shall follow me,” he is expressing confidence that he will be blessed, that we will be blessed, with God’s love not because of who we are but because of who God is.
Some will believe the good news — the crucified and risen Jesus is relentlessly for you. Some will doubt and keep striving on their own to find goodness and love.
— Keith Cardwell
