by Stuart H Gray
It was the most important event for the Christian church. Apart from Jesus’ resurrection itself, that is. It is is the commissioning. This mission set the direction of the church. However there might be a problem. We seem to have two different versions of this event.
In each version, we have some fundamental differences to contend with. It’s not that Jesus uses different words in each version. The problem is – each event reportedly occurred in a completely different location! One commission occurs on a mountainside outside Galilee. The other commissioning occurs on the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem, fifty miles south of Galilee.
Which one is right?
In this blog we are going to look at this final contradiction claim.
Do Matthew and Luke Disagree About the Location of the Great Commission?
Matthew’s account:
“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt. 28:16 – 20, NIV)
Luke’s account:
“When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” (Lk. 24:50-52, NIV)
In Acts, Luke gives a similar but more detailed description:
“He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’ Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.” (Act. 3 – 12, NIV)
Assessment
There are major differences between these accounts, but also a few similarities. Here are some similarities:
1 – Jesus is talking only to his friends. There don’t appear to be any enemies present here.
2 – The events occur in an elevated location. Matthew talks about them being on a mountainside outside Galilee. Luke talks about them meeting on the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem.
3 – Jesus talks about authority both times. In Matthew he talks about the authority given him by the Father. In Acts, he talks about events that will transpire as a result of the Father’s authority.
4 – In both accounts he urges his friends to make followers of Jesus.
5 – In both accounts, the listeners are encouraged. They will not be on their own. Matthew talks about Jesus being with them, and in Luke Jesus says the Holy Spirit will come to them.
What about the differences?
1 – One event happens outside Galilee. The other one happens outside Jerusalem, 50 miles south of Galilee.
2 – Luke’s account gives us a bit of a timeline. It says the resurrected Jesus appeared for forty days before his ascension. It seems this final commissioning is his last appearance. Matthew doesn’t mention a timeline and crunches events together.
3 – Some of the group in Matthew’s account experience doubt on seeing the resurrected Jesus. (Mt. 28:17) Luke’s account is different. Here we find a tight group of convinced and committed followers. They are expecting Jesus to imminently take up his kingship and rule in Jerusalem. (Act.1:6, NIV)
4 – Luke’s account has Jesus telling them to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit is gifted to them.
5 – In Luke’s account, Jesus literally ascends into the sky at the end of the conversation! Two angels also appear to give the audience some encouragement. Go and get started on the work Jesus had given them to do.
6 – In Luke’s account, Jesus is eating with the group. It sounds like a more intimate setting than Matthew’s mountainside.
7 – Jesus’ ascension occurs at the end of Luke’s account. It does not happen at the end of Matthew’s account.
When I compare Matthew and Luke’s accounts, it looks like we are actually reading about two different events. They must have both occurred during the 40-day period during which the resurrected Jesus appeared multiple times to his followers. The meeting in Galilee was first. The group had been encouraged by the angels at the empty tomb to travel to Galilee. They would have done so after the Passover, and they met with Jesus there. (Mt. 28:7, Mk. 16:7) Matthew also notes Jesus told them to go to Galilee himself. (Mt. 28:10, NIV) The meeting around Jerusalem would come later in the 40-day period.
If Matthew had described Jesus’ ascension happening from the mountainside in Galilee, then we would have a contradiction problem. Jesus ascended once. He cannot ascend from both Galilee and Jerusalem. But notice that Matthew does not do this. Rather, he leaves things open at the end of his gospel. It is likely there was a period of days after the mountainside. Some more time had to pass before the end of the 40-day period, and Jesus’ final commissioning of the Apostles. Then, as Luke describes it, he finally ascends in front of them.
Commissioned in Galilee
Matthew talks about a commissioning in Galilee. We would the disciples be asked to travel 50 miles north for this? Probably because there were other people who needed to encounter Jesus in and around their home base.
John Wenham observes that Jesus’ movement began around Galilee. Prior to Jesus’ crucifixion, the group traveled south to Jerusalem one last time together. It would make sense for the resurrected Jesus to gather the wider group of followers back in the Galilee area. Then he would instruct them and give them their mission in person.
In Jerusalem, we hear about meetings with the resurrected Jesus behind locked doors. Notice that in Galilee, they are not meeting in someone’s front room. They are on the side of a mountain. So, the group gathering there was probably quite large. In fact, this crowd may be the 500 eyewitnesses mentioned by the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 15:6.
“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.” (1 Cor. 15:4-6, NIV)
Matthew’s detail about some people doubting is interesting. This would be consistent with the gathering of a larger group. I imagine people there would have heard the resurrection reports second or third hand from Jerusalem. Some would have wanted to believe. Many would have struggled to believe, as an immediate resurrection did not fit with the doctrines of Judaism. Perhaps some still struggled to believe their own eyes. They were amazed to see and hear Jesus alive on the Galilean mountainside.[1]
Commissioned in Jerusalem
Having gathered the troops, Jesus then encouraged them to return to the scene of his death and resurrection. The city of Jerusalem. It is here that the church would officially launch. A new apostle to replace Judas was elected. Eventually, the Holy Spirit came on the followers of Jesus as he promised. Also, Peter preached to the crowd and three thousand people became followers of Jesus that day (Act. 1 and 2)
What we hear about in Luke’s commissioning account looks like his final words to the immediate group of disciples. These people would be the Apostles. They would lead his church. Luke names this small group in Act. 1:13.
Conclusion
Do Matthew and Luke disagree about the location of the Great Commission. I don’t think so. Looking at the accounts, they seem to describe different events altogether. It seems highly likely that such an important declaration of the church’s mission would be voiced by Jesus multiple times. Matthew records an earlier gathering where Jesus commissions a large group of his followers. Luke records a private commissioning of the Apostles prior to his ascension.
[1] John Wenham, Easter Enigma Are the Resurrection Stories in Conflict?, (Exeter:Paternoster Press, 1984), chapter 10.
