01/29/2026
Has Jesus called you to the mountain? Have you travelled there but still have doubts about who He truly is? If this is true, then don’t feel alone. Jesus will reassure you, and He has a mission for you as well. Today we will look at the eleven original disciples that He called to the mountain, but more specifically... those that doubted once they arrived there.
“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.”
Matthew 28:16-17 ESV
This scripture isn’t filled with solidarity; true enough it begins with all eleven disciples going to the mountain together as Jesus had asked them to, and with them worshipping him, but even though they worshipped, some doubted. This scripture doesn’t say “one” doubted, or “two” doubted, no, it says “SOME” doubted, and these are not new converts, but His original disciples (minus Judas)! They had seen Him rise from the dead, and still they doubted.
This Bible story has been titled “The Great Commission”, and as millions upon millions of people have read it they have concentrated on the commandment Jesus gave His apostles, and many have tended to trivialize the doubt that is spoken of here. Yet before that Great Commission could become a reality something more foundational had to occur; their faiths had to be shored up, and their doubts removed. They had to be convinced that this was Jesus the Son of God, and that He spoke with the authority of God our Father. Their doubt had to be replaced by a sincere and unwavering faith.
Is this the story of where you are right now in your faith? Do you come to Him... even worship Him... but have some moniker of lingering doubt? If so then the account of what is transpiring here on this mountain in Galilee should say to you that “You are not alone!” Here we see the eleven disciples who sat firsthand at the feet of Jesus Christ as He taught, who travelled and ate with Him as He lived, who witnessed his miracles, heard His prayers, saw Him beaten, crucified, and raised from the dead, and yet they doubt. Why then, if some of these men can doubt, should you or I be any different? Why should we beat ourselves up over wanting to believe yet needing to be convinced? The answer is that we shouldn’t.
Just as the apostles were not easily swayed to believe, we should not be either. We should question our faith until we are firm in it because if we are not, then what lies ahead of us is an impossible journey. If there is any crack between our professed faith and our absolute belief then a wedge can be placed there, and the two can be separated. After Jesus had convinced Thomas He spoke these words...
“Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."”
John 20:29 ESV
There are two parts to our total commitment to Jesus Christ, one is our faith, and the other our belief. Just as was the case with Thomas, we find the apostles on the mountain had to be led to a place of unwavering belief. They had to take their hopes and have them made real. This is true of us as well.
So, if we are called to the mountain like they were we should anticipate that Jesus is going to do two things when we get there, He is going to convince us He is who He says He is, and then He is going to give us a commandment... and send us on a journey for Him and our Heavenly Father.
Jesus came to the disciples on the mountain. He didn’t hover high above them, speak to them from afar, or whisper out of a mist... He came to them personally, just as He will with us, and He convinced them He was real. If we are willing to go to the mountain, and worship in hope and expectation, He will come to us personally and change our hopes into belief as well.
“And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
Matthew 28:18 ESV
Then, once the doubt was erased from His disciples, he gave them the Great Commission. This could not have occurred until they believed in Him without doubt. What He was asking them to do would lead each of them to their death (except John) as a result. What He was asking would require them to endure great hardship, and to ultimately give up their earthly lives. There was no room for doubt if they were to obey Him completely. Jesus is going to ask something of us as well, and what He is going to ask is going to be difficult; it is going to require absolute belief.
Jesus asked this of His disciples:
“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, to the end of the age."”
Matthew 28:19-20 ESV
Jesus may instruct us to go into all the nations as well, or He may ask us to do some other thing for the kingdom, but rest assured that it will require our utmost faith and belief. It is going to demand that we believe in Him wholly, and that we have unwavering faith so that wherever He sends us we will go in conformance to the Father’s will, and that we believe it is good. There may be pain, hardship, suffering, and temptation along the way; we may travel afar, or go no further than our own front door, but it will demand much from us and serve the kingdom of heaven... it will accomplish the Lord’s will for our lives.
Sometimes the hardest thing for us to realize is that what appears insignificant to us is monumental to God, and that what appears great to us is nothing to Him. Believing that God wants us to spend our life mopping a floor over and over again will often take much more faith and belief than to lead an army into battle for Him... so let’s seek out Jesus until we come to fullness in our belief, and that we reach a place where Satan can’t drive a wedge of doubt between our belief and God. Let’s Go to the mountain when He calls us there to worship, doubt, and have our doubts erased... then let’s obey the will of God without doubt or reservation.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for my ability to discern truth, even when that truth involves your Word and will. I thank you for giving me reason and expecting me to use it as I come to fullness in my belief in you, and your Son Jesus Christ. Thank you for meeting me on every mountaintop you call me to and reassuring me there, and for walking each valley with me as I exercise my belief in you, and have unwavering faith in where you are leading me. I ask that you give me the strength to endure the hardships I suffer in your name, and to whisper in my ear when the darkness surrounds me and I feel alone. Give me perseverance Father and shield me from all temptations. Let no wedge be driven between your will, and my life of faith... my belief in you. I will worship you Father as I walk your way, and I will praise you with each breath I take, even those that are gasps of pain or sighs of suffering. I believe in your Word, and I believe you are with me always... even to the end of the age when you will call me home at last. Praised be your name Holy Father, for you are my Eternal God and Holy, Holy, Holy, are you, who was, and is, and is to come. Holy are you who is my strong tower, my refuge, and the substance of my belief on which I lean and in which I trust. Let my obedience always bring honor and glory to you.
Amen! Amen!
Rich Forbes