Most Holy Trinity, Sunday – 30th May 2021 — Gospel: Mt 28, 16-20
Mystery to be Lived
The concluding verses of Matthew’s gospel present Jesus’ great mandate to the Church. In this commission, most explicitly, Jesus revealed the triune God in action. The revelation reached its fullness: God remains one in nature but as three distinct but indivisible persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
In this last recorded encounter of Jesus by the disciples and the final words of Jesus to the close of the Gospel, Jesus directed them to return to Galilee where He would meet them on the mountain. Galilee was where Jesus’ own ministry began and now Galilee marks a fresh beginning point. While the disciples are called to be on the move in mission, they must also be rooted in Jesus’ story and the land where their own journeys began. When Jesus encountered His disciples as He promised, the response was mixed. Some worship and others doubt. Both responses are possible from the same group. Among these disciples there is both worship and uncertainty, both devotion and hesitancy. But this mixture of faith and doubt also characterizes discipleship. However they are strengthened by the presence of the living Christ. Thus, Jesus commissions not perfect disciples, but people who both worship and doubt as they are standing at the edge of the world that is passing away and to embrace the new kingdom that is coming to them.
Jesus’ commission is threefold: make disciples, baptize, and teach. The disciples are instructed to go to the nations and find followers for Jesus there. The nations do not have to come to them; instead, God’s servants and God himself will draw near to all people (Acts 11,19-21). Then, Baptism becomes a mark of belonging as individuals and communities among the followers of Jesus (Acts 2,41). That is, Baptism gives transformation of identity (Acts 2,42-47). The baptized believer’s publicly identify themselves with the Triune Godhead. They acknowledge that God is their Creator, that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Saviour, and that the Holy Spirit is the One who indwells, empowers and teaches them (life-giver). In baptism, the disciples become the beneficiaries and children of the new Father, new siblings of the Son, and fresh companions of the Spirit. Therefore, Trinity is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived. Finally, Teaching follows baptism, as these disciples find a way to remain faithful in a world of tests and trials (2 Tim 2,1-2). They are taught to obey the commandments of Christ. Their obedience is intrinsic to their faith, to their discipleship, and to promise contained in baptism.
