Authority for What?

What does it mean to be sent on a mission with the full authority of heaven behind us? That is exactly the question at the heart of this message, rooted in Matthew 28:16-20, the passage we know as the Great Commission. But here is what makes this passage so striking: when Jesus gathered His eleven disciples on a mountain in Galilee to deliver this world-changing charge, some of them doubted. And yet they still showed up. They still obeyed. That tension between doubt and faithfulness turns out to be one of the most honest and encouraging truths in all of Scripture. We do not have to have everything figured out to live under the authority of Jesus. We just have to move. The mountain setting itself carries deep biblical weight, echoing Moses, Elijah, and Joshua, all of whom received or delivered messages of authority from elevated ground. And the authority Jesus claims in this moment is total, all of heaven and earth, given to Him because He chose to empty Himself, take on human form, and obey the Father even unto death. That obedience is what won the name above every name. And the breathtaking part is that He shares that authority with us. This message invites us to ask honestly whether we are living as people who actually believe that, and whether our lives look different enough from the surrounding culture to make anyone curious about why.