Matthew 28:10

Matthew 28:10

It is very probable that there: was some far deeper reason than we can now discover why Galilee should have been marked out to have, as it had, a special connection with the events of Eastertide.

I. The first thought which suggests itself is that Jerusalem, "the hill of Zion," which was once the "joy of the whole earth," and which the Lord Himself had loved, had rejected and crucified the Son of God, and in consequence of her apostasy was no longer the chosen home of God on earth. She was cast off, and her house was left unto her desolate. And in consequence thereof the risen Saviour was about to lead away His Apostles from the once holy city to the borders of the Gentiles, to whom the offer of salvation through Him was now to be made.

II. Why were the Apostles to meet their risen Lord in Galilee? Was it for the same cause that in Jerusalem He appeared only to the faithful few, and that, for the most part, when the doors were closed at night? Or was it for the totally opposite reason, that by fixing a set time, and the place where He was most known, He took the best course to set the fact of His resurrection beyond dispute? Or was it because He could best unfold the mysteries of His kingdom, and give His last instructions to His followers before He ascended to His Father, in a place of safety, in the quiet of the fields, or upon the sea, of Galilee? We cannot speak positively; but the lesson is that, not at once, not until some trial of faith and patient waiting had been gone through, was that privilege bestowed, of closest communion with the Master and His servants, of which Galilee was to be the scene. In proportion to our faith in Christ and love for Him shall we have need of patience too. The Apostles were constrained to wait, and so must we. They must go to Galilee, "and there," said the promise, "ye shall see Him." We must work our way to a better country, that is a heavenly; and thither, says the promise, "I go to prepare a place for you." Surely, what the thought of Galilee was to the Apostles is that of heaven to them that love the Lord Jesus now the looked-for place of meeting, where the tears of past sorrows shall be dried, hope turned into fruition, love and knowledge perfected, and communion made "complete in Him." Scattered, like sheep which had fled from their shepherd, were the Apostles, till the mountain in Galilee was pointed out as the place where they with each other, and all with their Lord, were to meet once more. And so heaven is that better Galilee where they who are now dispersed and parted may meet again.

F. E. Paget, Helps and Hindrances to the Christian Life,vol. i., p. 187.