“But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee” (Matthew 26:32 ESV).
Jesus said this to His disciples to encourage them. For He had already warned them that they would all stumble and scatter that very night. Yet He wanted them to look past His coming betrayal, crucifixion and death, and their own failure to stay with Him, to His promised resurrection and return to Galilee. For none of them were from the big city of Jerusalem, but were Galileans with Him. Like a Good Shepherd, Jesus would go before them. They would stumble and scatter, but He would gather them again in Galilee.
In John 21, Jesus was waiting for His disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, after Peter had taken them out all-night fishing without any luck. It was there that Jesus restored them to Himself and reminded them of their calling.
God did something similar with Jacob in Genesis 35. For He called Jacob to return to Bethel, the place where Jacob had first encountered God personally. It had been the turning point of his spiritual life. And when Jacob returned to Bethel, God appeared to Jacob and gave him a new name, the name, “Israel” (Gen. 35:9-10).
Sometimes we have to go back to the place where we first believed. We have to remember the time when we first followed Jesus. When we stumble and are tempted to scatter from following, we must remember the time when we first answered His call.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we want to always follow Jesus wherever He leads. Yet, when we stumble, we know that You are there to pick us up. Strengthen us and remind us of the call You have on our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.