It amazes me how abrupt the ending to Matthew’s gospel is. He does not tie up loose ends or show Jesus as overly compassionate after His death…the only appearance of Jesus to His disciples He mentions is the one at His ascension into heaven. One appearance was all He believed they needed to decide for themselves: He is alive, or He is not. Matthew is also the only one to mention that some people did not believe that it was really Jesus.

At some point, I understand this radical ending. Jesus’ story is a powerful one, and most people who truly consider it don’t need a lot more information. When they fully understand who Jesus was, they make a clear decision. I love that too, because when they follow Jesus, they get crazy excited about it! They spread the good news everywhere they go, because when Jesus takes up a place in your life, you can’t help but feel that everything in life has changed.

The quote at the end of this devotional was too powerful not to share in this respect:

“The gospel is not theology, its a person. Theology does not save…They had encountered Jesus Christ and it simply could not be concealed. They witnessed not because they had to, but because they could not hlep it… Nothing is more convincing than the simple, unembellished word of a satisfied customer.”

Richard Halverson