Mount Arbel is the largest and most distinctive mountain in the region of Galilee in northern Israel. Where most of the hills surrounding the lake have a gentler feel. Mount Arbel is an abrupt rocky outcrop, rising about 400 metres (1300 feet) above the level of the lake, with commanding views across the region of Galilee and to the “other side” on the east of the lake and the different nations that inhabited those regions in the time of Jesus.
Putting these pieces together, Mount Arbel is identifiable as the likely “mountain where Jesus had told them to go” (Matthew 28:16), where Jesus met with His disciples a few weeks after His resurrection.
It was here that Jesus gave His disciples the “Great Commission” to continue His ministry, make disciples, baptise them in the names of the Triune God, and teach these new disciples what Jesus had taught them, empowered by His continuing presence with them (see Matthew 28:18–20).
Looking out from this rocky mountain top, the commission makes more geographical sense. Situated in Galilee with so many of the key places in the stories of Jesus along the lakeside in front of them, this commission was drawing from the ministry of Jesus in which the disciples had already been a part of. But they could also look across the lake to a sampling of the other nations and people groups to which this commission would take them.
But there is a key verse that I reflected on as I stood on Mount Arbel—the lesser-known and potentially awkward verse that comes before this famous commission. Verse 17 described the crowd of disciples who met Jesus on this mountaintop in this way:
“When they saw him, they worshipped him—but some of them doubted!”
The physically resurrected Jesus was standing in front of them, many of whom would have witnessed His death, so it is hardly surprising that they would have had questions and much they did not understand. But this did not exclude them from the story, the invitation or the commission.
They doubted—and yet we are told about them. Matthew did not need to include this troubling detail in what was the climactic announcement and conclusion of his story of Jesus. But he did. He understood that it was an important reality to note, that faith and doubt are not always incompatible or so far apart.
They doubted—and yet they were invited and they were there. Neither Matthew nor Jesus saw that the doubts of some members of this crowd should exclude them being invited. But it is also interesting that neither did these followers of Jesus see this as a reason not to be there. They did not know or understand everything about Jesus—but they turned up anyway.
They doubted—and yet they were commissioned. Again, neither Matthew nor Jesus argued that those who doubted should be excluded or excused from the call to mission. These followers of Jesus did not need to have all the answers before they could step out and speak up to share what they did know about Him.
Mountaintops always offer a unique perspective. The summit of Mount Arbel offers a worthwhile perspective on faith and doubt. It is important—and encouraging—that “some of them [who] doubted” were included in this key moment in the story of Jesus and included in the call to mission. Our doubts do not exclude us from this story, this invitation or this commission. And when we respond with the best of what we know of Jesus, we will find our faith continuing to grow and discover the reality of His promise that He will be with us always—even amid our questions and doubts—from that day on Mount Arbel “even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
Nathan Brown – Author and Book Editor at Signs Publishing
WRITER: Nathan Brown