Can you imagine that? The disciples are gathered on the mountain with the resurrected Jesus, worshiping him, and still there were those that doubted.
What more proof/evidence did they need?
There's two really important things to take away from this. First, although I'm just as much a fan of the scientific method as the next person (you can't argue with its results), you have to admit that we as human beings are simply not as rational and objective as we thought we were. Look at the whole President Obama birth certificate thing. The president could put a million official documents up and there would still be people arguing that it's all a conspiracy. Or just imagine how many members of Al Qaeda will never believe that Osama bin Laden's been killed.
Convincing humans of the truth of something, especially something that goes against their strongly held beliefs, takes more than just truth. It takes a transformation of them as well.
Second, the fact that Jesus is addressing not only those that worship him on the mountain, but also those standing on the mountain doubting him shows us a lot about how we really look to Jesus. I'm reading a book right now about a man who became an alcoholic after he accepted Christ and became a follower of Jesus. Not to say that that's an admirable thing, but it points to something we need to understand, but rarely do: that Jesus isn't suddenly impressed when we decide we're going to follow him. He has a much more sober view of our flaws and failings.
Jesus called both those who doubted him as well as those who were worshiping him to follow him because he knew that it was as they followed him that they would be transformed. He didn't need their assurance because he was sure about the only thing he had to be sure of: Himself. It didn't matter how much they doubted: all he needed from them was enough faith to take one step forward towards him.
A lot of us get discouraged when we fail, when we realize how weak our faith is. The truth, though, is that you're probably worse off than you think. But know that this means you are also more loved than you think. This is true because Jesus knew your failings before he came to you and called you, which means that the person you thought he called and loved wasn't nearly as lovable as you thought. You were harder to love than you thought. But Jesus loved that person, the real you, not the image you had of yourself.
It doesn't matter where you are right now. Do you have enough faith to take one step towards Jesus? One step. Maybe it's choosing to open your Bible today. Maybe it's not cheating when you know you could have gotten away with it. Maybe it's sharing with someone the love of God in word and deed. One step. That's all you need to be his disciples. Take that step immediately, and watch him transform you.
(Pictured: "Big Turtle in the Masoala Hall, Zurich", alex.ch, available under Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0 license.)
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