Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
This verse takes place on the morning of the resurrection — the day Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead after being crucified and buried. Women who had come to prepare Jesus's body at the tomb found it empty and then encountered Jesus himself, alive. They were overwhelmed with fear and awe. Jesus's first words to them are 'Do not be afraid' — a phrase that appears throughout the Bible whenever God or his messengers show up in moments of overwhelming encounter. He then sends them with a message to his disciples, whom he pointedly calls 'my brothers.' This is significant because these same disciples had abandoned and denied Jesus just days earlier during his arrest. Calling them 'brothers' instead of 'deserters' or 'failures' is a deliberate act of grace and restoration.
Lord, I'm grateful that your first word after the resurrection wasn't about what we did wrong — it was about where to meet you. When I feel disqualified by my failures, remind me that you still call me yours. Help me live like someone who has been found, not someone still hiding. Amen.
The disciples had failed as completely as a person can fail someone. Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times in a single night, by a fire, in front of witnesses. The rest had scattered into the dark. And then comes the first Sunday morning — and Jesus's first recorded message back to this hiding, ashamed group isn't 'tell them I'm disappointed' or 'tell them we need to have a serious conversation.' It's: *tell my brothers.* He didn't strip the title. He didn't renegotiate the relationship on the other side of their worst moment. The first sunrise of the resurrection smells overwhelmingly like grace. You may be carrying something — a failure, a moment of cowardice, a choice you can't undo — that makes you feel like you've forfeited your place. Like any relationship with God has to be rebuilt from scratch, or maybe can't be rebuilt at all. Hold that honestly against this verse. Jesus looked at a group of people who had abandoned him in his worst hour and sent them a message: *still brothers.* Not tolerated. Not conditionally reinstated. Brothers. That is the God you are dealing with.
Why do you think Jesus specifically uses the word 'brothers' to refer to his disciples — men who had just betrayed and abandoned him days earlier? What is he communicating by that word choice?
Have you ever felt like a failure had permanently damaged your standing with God — that you had to earn your way back? Where does that feeling tend to come from for you?
The resurrection is the central claim of Christian faith. If Jesus actually rose from the dead, how should that change the way you live on an ordinary, unremarkable Thursday?
Is there someone in your life who has failed or hurt you whom you've mentally 'demoted' from your inner circle? How does Jesus's response to his disciples challenge that impulse?
What is one specific fear that Jesus's words 'do not be afraid' speak directly to in your life right now — and what would it look like to take one step from that place this week?
And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
Mark 16:1
And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
Matthew 28:7
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
Matthew 28:16
After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:6
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Romans 8:29
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Matthew 25:40
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
John 20:17
For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
Matthew 12:50
Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell My brothers to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me [just as I promised]."
AMP
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
ESV
Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.'
NASB
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
NIV
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
NKJV
Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”
NLT
Jesus said, "You're holding on to me for dear life! Don't be frightened like that. Go tell my brothers that they are to go to Galilee, and that I'll meet them there."
MSG