Sorry.  Very BAD humour.

More mischievous mind meanderings from my exploration of Matthew 28.

The bit we are doing: four 'alls' that Jesus spoke of...

All authority

All peoples/places/nations

All commands

All times

The odd connection I made, which we are not pursuing, a version of the Shema

All heart

All mind

All soul

All strength

I think Baptists have a tendency to use Matt 28:18-20 as a kind of Shema-equivalent, not least as it so clearly underpins the Declaration of Principle (BUGB version used here with teeny tweaks)...

Hear oh Baptists,

Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, is the sole and absolute authority in all matters pertaining to faith and practice, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and each Church has liberty, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to interpret and administer His laws.

Christian Baptism is the immersion in water into the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, of those who have professed repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ who 'died for our sins according to the Scriptures; was buried, and rose again the third day'.

It is the duty of every disciple to bear personal witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to take part in the evangelisation of the world.

Sorry, it's mid-afternoon, I'm revising my draft sermon and I probably need a cup of tea!

OK, so Matthew's ending was meant to be easy after John and Mark.  It is, I'm happy with the ideas that are emerging (wish they'd done it earlier in the week, but still).  I'm going to side step any weird and wonderful debates about the trinitarian formula for Baptism, but I have a question about verse 17...

Roughly it is rendered thus...

When the disciples saw Jesus they worshipped hum but some of them doubted.

But (thanks Word International Commentary) the more accurate translation from the Greek is,

.. they prostrated themselves [suggesting worship] but they doubted.

In other words, it wasn't that 'some' doubted it was 'all' of them.

Now I'm happy enough either way, can work with each of these, but why is it that the word 'some' has been inserted (in any language I can understand, or make a stab at deciphering, (so not many))?  What is so uncomfortable about all the eleven being uncertain at this point?  Such uncertainty is clearly presumed in other gospels, so why do we wriggle uncomfortably when Matthew states it?

καὶ ἰδόντες αὐτὸν προσεκύνησαν, οἱ δὲ ἐδίστασαν

Some MS have

και ιδοντες αυτον προσεκυνησαν αυτω οι δε εδιστασαν

But that's still a 'they' not a 'some of them' isn't it?

HELP! I need a proper NT person to explain it to me! Sean where are you?!!