Luke 5:1-7
They were fishermen with their fathers on the Sea of Galilee. Simon and Andrew, James and John couldn’t remember a day other than the sabbath that they had not fished. They had no memories that were not connected with fishing or the sea. The air they breathed came to them over the water. The water they drank was the same water from which came the fish they ate. They knew nothing else.
That ended one day when Jesus came to the seashore. He sat in Peter and Andrew’s boat while he spoke to the people who followed him. Then he sent them back out to cast their nets — their empty nets that all night had caught no fish. They caught fish this time, more than they could haul in!
They recognized a miracle — and a miracle worker, so when Jesus said, “Come and follow me,” they did. All four of them, both pairs of brothers. Jesus walked away from the seashore, inland. The four men looked at each other as they turned their backs on everything they had ever known. What lay ahead of them?
“What do we do now?”
And they spent three years following Jesus.
# # #
Matthew 14:13-16
The disciples had been with Jesus for a while. Wherever they went, people followed them. Well, to be honest, people didn’t follow them — people followed Jesus. But these twelve were always with him, these twelve and a handful of women. The rest of the people came and went. Sometimes the people came from one town, sometimes from another. Some stayed through two or three town changes.
Sometimes religious leaders, like the Pharisees, came to listen, holding themselves apart from the others, their recently washed robes tight around their recently washed bodies. Sometimes one would sniff, testing the body-odor-laden air through a wrinkled nose.
The people, too, kept apart from the Pharisees, those who kept the law so stringently. The people did not trust those city folk who frowned at them, who made fun of them.
The twelve and the women formed another group. They were his disciples, the ones who received his private teaching, who moved on when he moved on, who stayed when he stayed.
One day, Jesus looked out over the crowd, a huge crowd, thousands of people. Some of the disciples approached him. “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
He smiled and spoke softly to them. “They need not go away. You give them something to eat.”
They looked at each other. They had nothing but five loaves and two fish. Who had enough food for the crowd? Or the money to buy it if there were a store nearby? There wasn’t.
“What do we do now?”
And they distributed the loaves and fish that Jesus blessed to feed the crowd, all five thousand plus women and children.
# # #
Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36
Simon Peter, James and John had gone with Jesus up the mountain on a beautiful day, with hardly a cloud in the sky. Jesus stood near the top, looking upward, apparently praying. Suddenly, it seemed the sun dropped behind a cloud, and Jesus actually glowed in front of them. Adding to their amazement, two men stood with him — two men, not two angels. Peter gasped, James fell to his knees, and John shouted, “Moses and Elijah!”
Part of Peter wanted to turn and ask John how he knew, but the other side, the practical side, wanted to do something, anything, to make this moment last. “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters — one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
But as he spoke, a voice came from the cloud above, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” Instantly all three disciples threw themselves to the ground. That voice could only come from heaven — God’s voice! They had heard God directly. Trembling with fear, they looked at each other.
“What do we do now?”
And when they looked around, they were all alone.
# # #
John 4:4-6
Traveling through Samaria, Jesus and his disciples came to a well. At noon, there was little chance of meeting someone there. The women would have come out early in the day before the heat settled in. As the men approached the well, they wondered how they would draw water. Would there be a bucket?
On their way into town to buy food, they saw her, a lone woman carrying her empty jar on her shoulder. A woman, a Samaritan woman. The woman came alone after all the others had left. What did that say about her? What kind of woman was she?
That was going to complicate matters. Jewish men barely spoke to Samaritan men. Jewish men never spoke to Jewish women, except at home to family members. And Jesus would be there alone with a Samaritan woman. He would ignore her, wouldn’t he? They looked at each other.
“What do we do now?”
And they continued on into town.
# # #
John 4:27-30
The disciples came back from town with food. Seeing Jesus engaging the woman in conversation, they stood back in awe and amazement and embarrassment. Fortunately, there was nobody else around, nobody else to see what Jesus was doing. Nobody else to know how Jesus had shamed himself — talking to a woman, a foreign woman at that! And about God!
If she would just share her water with them, they could all leave, and nobody would ever know. The disciples certainly were not going to tell.
Wait a minute! She ran off, yelling for the townspeople to come out. “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
The disciples looked at each other.
“What do we do now?”
And they watched while the townspeople came, and Jesus taught them.
# # #
Matthew 21:1-9, Mark 11:1-10, Luke 19:28-38
Jesus’ band was traveling to Jerusalem. As they approached Bethany, Jesus sent two of them into town to fetch a young donkey. They led it back, and, to the delight of all his followers, Jesus mounted the donkey! He would ride into the city like an entering ruler! Not quite like Herod or Pilate, who rode their prancing horses, but like a ruler nonetheless. He would come into the city like a king whose kingdom was at peace.
For a short time, they forgot that they were not a kingdom at peace. For a short time they forgot Pilate, the Roman governor. They forgot Herod, who was not of David’s lineage but called himself “King,” ruling with an iron fist. They forgot Caiaphis, the chief priest, who threatened that it would be better for one man — Jesus — to die than the whole nation.
They looked at Jesus mounted on the donkey, and they knew what to do! They threw their cloaks on the ground in front of Jesus. They broke off branches and spread them on the ground. The hooves of the animal carrying their king would not touch the ground itself.
They knew what to shout, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven.”
“What do we do now?”
And they celebrated.
# # #
Matthew 21:10-13, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-46
The disciples stood outside the temple courtyard, staring in amazement. Jesus had just upset the whole temple grounds. He turned over tables, ran out the cattle and sheep being held for sacrifice, and shocked everyone in Jerusalem.
“My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.”
What was Jesus thinking? The religious leaders would be furious, Jesus disrupting the sacred ceremonies, desecrating the house of God. They certainly would not allow this to happen without some retaliation.
The Romans hated any kind of disturbance during the feast days. Such a disturbance would be seen as causing a riot, as an attack on Roman peace.
The disciples stared at each other in fear of both the religious leaders and the Romans.
“What do we do now?”
And they watched while Jesus healed those who came, and the religious leaders plotted to kill Jesus.
# # #
Matthew 26:36-50, Mark 14:32-50, Luke 22:39-54a
The garden was a peaceful place. It had been a hard, challenging week. The disciples had shared the Passover meal, and now three of them stretched out under the olive trees while Jesus went off by himself to pray. He asked them to stay awake and pray for him — three times, but each time they fell asleep.
The sound of men approaching awakened them. They saw the angry mob carrying swords and torches. The priests’ soldiers and servants grabbed Jesus and led him away. The disciples stared at each other in terror.
“What do we do now?”
And they fled.
# # #
Matt 27:33-61, Mark 15:22-47, Luke 22:33-66
The next morning, they found each other again. They found where Jesus had been taken, to Herod’s palace and to Pilate’s courtyard. Now the soldiers were taking him out to crucify him.
The disciples followed the crowd, numb with fear and grief. At a distance they watched as their beloved leader hung on the cross. They watched in pain and agony. They watched as finally his head fell forward, and they sobbed in sorrow. They watched as Joseph took down the body, and they watched as the women followed Joseph carrying their beloved Jesus to a tomb.
They looked at each other.
“What do we do now?”
And they ran and hid behind locked doors.
# # #
Matthew 27:33-56, Mark 15:22-41, Luke 23:32-47, 19:17-22, 28-30
(The details in each gospel differ, so I have taken something from each.)
After a mock trial, Jesus was whipped, beaten, and taken to Golgotha. There he was crucified between two others. According to Pilate’s orders, over Jesus’ head, the soldiers fastened a sign written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. It read, despite objections from many religious leaders, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews,”
When their job was done, the soldiers sat down to wait. They looked up when they heard Jesus say, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
They had crucified many before this, but nobody had ever forgiven them. Still, they divided his clothing among themselves, casting lots for his tunic because it was all one piece.
Many who came to watch him die scoffed at him. “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
One of the criminals beside him begged, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
But the man on the other side objected. “Don’t you fear God, since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
He turned his head to Jesus. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Even in his pain, Jesus smiled at the man. “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
About noon, darkness fell across the land. The sun hid from the sight below for three hours before Jesus raised his head and called out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Bystanders thought he was calling Elijah. Someone offered him sour wine on a stick to see if Elijah would come to take him down.
Jesus gave a loud cry and took his last breath. The earth shook so violently that the curtain split apart in the temple, the curtain that protected the Holy of Holies where God lived. Tombs opened, and many saints were raised and later entered the city.
The centurion, terrified by the earthquake and amazed at the man on the cross, exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
The women, who were watching from a distance, felt their hearts break.
“What do we do now?”
And they wept.
# # #
Matthew 28:1-10
The morning after the sabbath, as the sun was rising, some of the women went to the tomb where Joseph of Arimathea had taken Jesus’ body. As they approached, the ground shook beneath them, mirroring the earthquake when Jesus died. The women did not find what they expected because the stone was rolled away.
Neither did they expect to find an angel who spoke to them. When the angel appeared, the guards the chief priests had requested fainted and fell to the ground.
Ignoring them, the angel turned to the women. “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.”
They did. The tomb was empty.
The angel continued, “Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
As they ran back to the city, Jesus met them. “Greetings!” They fell at his feet. “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
When Jesus disappeared, the women looked at each other.
“What do we do now?”
And they hurried back to tell the disciples what they had seen and heard.
# # #
This is the point where this author asks the question, “What do I do now?”
The Gospels do not agree about what Jesus does after the resurrection.
Matthew ends with the Great Commission, nothing about where Jesus goes. Although our Bibles include two added short endings for the Gospel of Mark, scholars believe that Mark ended his gospel with verse 8, with the women saying “nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” The second ending, the longer one, says that Jesus was taken up into heaven and seated at the right hand of God.
The 21st chapter of John seems to be another later addition, but neither ending offers anything after an appearance to Thomas in chapter 20 and a conversation with Peter in chapter 21.
If Luke and Acts were written by the same person, as is commonly agreed by biblical scholars, their writer is the only one who offers a narration of Jesus’ ascension.
So I ask again, “What do I do now?”
I will leave you with these final words from the Great Commission in Matthew: 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.
For consideration:
General questions
1) How does this story follow its Scripture?
2) How does this story expand its Scripture for you?
3) What is the message of this story?
4) How does the message apply to us today?
Specific questions
5) Would the four fishermen have followed Jesus if they had not caught so many fish?
6) How would John have identified Elijah and Moses?
7) After Jesus was arrested, what could the disciples have done instead of running away?
8) You know the stories. You read the Great Commission. What do you do now?
