You Can't Make Me Doubt Him

Matthew 28:17
When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted.

The other night on the Soul Train Awards, Jamie Fox came out to a fever pitched crowd and said, “It feels like Church in here, it feels like church in here? First giving Honor to God, I’d like to give praise and honor to my Lord and Savior…Barack Obama.” Some laughed and others looked stunned not knowing what to do. It was not cool! Barack Obama is our President; Jesus is our Lord and Savior. Jamie Foxx messed up a great moment by acknowledging God but disrespecting Jesus.

That crowd was a lot like church, it was a mixed group of people who authentically worship Jesus and another group who are confused about who their savior really is. That group was like church in the sense that we worship God but we also have some idolatry that causes us to doubt the sovereignty of God. We fail to give Jesus all that is due to him because we have given more praise to men than we have to him.

Jesus' disciples were a little confused as well. Jesus had risen from the dead and met them on the mountain to give them their last assignment which was the great commission. The Eleven disciples saw Jesus after he had been brutally beaten and crucified on that mountain top. When they be held him they worshipped him but some doubted. How in the world could they doubt Jesus when they were looking right at him?

1. They didn’t know if what they were seeing was real or a figment of their imagination. Many times when we are in church the presence of God is so overwhelming while at the same time our flesh fights against our spirit to make us doubt if it is really God we are experiencing. That is why we must worship him in Spirit and in truth.
2. They had not fully recovered from their trauma. It was a only few days since they saw Jesus horrifically murdered on the cross now he’s up talking to him. Sometimes, we are so fresh out of a painful experience that our minds find it hard to validate a God moment.
3. They thought it was too good to be true. When God turns weeping into Joy, you are wondering when the next punch in the stomach is coming. Don’t allow your doubts to rob you of the authentic presence of Jesus.

But the rest of the disciples worshipped and believed that this was the risen savior. Why?

1. They believed his word that he would be crucified but would get up again. Jesus had been teaching this for the last three years and these disciples believed him at his word. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:16
2. They believed he was the Messiah. Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was and Peter said, “You are the Messiah.” Jesus said, “Jesus replied, "You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.”
3. They followed him the whole time. Those that followed him from the beginning to the end of his life knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was the Son of God. As the old folk used to say, “I know too much about him for you to make me doubt him.

Dear God,

I will not allow anybody to make me doubt who you are and what you’ve done for me. You are my Lord and Savior and I will worship you only. I know too much about you for anybody to make me doubt you!

In Jesus Name,

Amen