Matthew 28:17

‘And when they saw him, they worshipped him. But some doubted.'

It is not likely that the eleven went alone. They could hardly have disappeared from among the other brethren and the sisters without giving a hint of what was happening. And furthermore the angel is said to have declared that the women disciples will be present (Matthew 28:7). Thus ‘they' here probably has a wider connotation than just the eleven. However Matthew's main concern is with the eleven to whom the commission will especially be given, as it had been in chapter 10.

When Jesus made His appearance on the mountain they all ‘worshipped Him'. This was probably not worship with a full understanding, but it was fairly close. And yet there were still those among them who found it hard to believe, which is not really surprising. No doubt they all had to keep pinching themselves to make sure that they really were awake, and that it was not all a dream. It should perhaps be pointed out here that people do not have mass ‘hallucinations' which tally with each other. Thus such a shared experience of Jesus could not have been an hallucination. And the fact that some were still struggling with incredulity confirms this even further. We receive hallucinations of what we expect to see, not of the things we doubt. Even the doubts therefore confirm the genuineness of the experience, even though they bring out the obduracy of some of the Apostles. This latter fault was certainly not the kind of thing that people who respected the Apostles would have invented. Indeed the whole account from Matthew 26:1 onwards has been so uncomplimentary to the Apostles that it must be genuine.

‘Some doubted.' This can only mean that they were at first unbelieving of what they saw. It was not easy for them to grasp the fact that Jesus was risen. Compare ‘disbelieved for joy' in Luke 24:41, where it was clearly momentary. There are a number of possibilities as to what this means:

1). They saw Him at a distance before He ‘came to them' (in the next verse) and were thus questioning as to whether it was really Him (compare Matthew 14:31 where Peter's ‘doubt' is also followed by ‘worship' because he doubts no longer).

2). Those who doubted were in fact some outside the eleven who were taking time to adjust.

3). The statement is a general one as indicating the whole post-resurrection situation, and confirming the doubt that constantly initially arose among all who heard about it, until all was made clear (thus an honest recognition in an abbreviated storyline that not all believed immediately. If so it might be put in paranthesis). See also Luke 24:11; Luke 24:25; Luke 24:37; John 20:25; Mark 16:13.

Note that the doubts are there before ‘He comes to them' and speaks with them. It is an honest recognition of the perplexity that Jesus' appearances at first produced in men before they became convinced, and accepted the idea. But they are not the indication of a continuing experience after He had spoken with them. Indeed truly doubting men do not worship (Matthew 28:17) so that the doubts were limited to a few. We may well be better to translate the verb as ‘were perplexed'. It is not credible to suggest that Matthew is talking about long term doubts. He is proclaiming a positive message, not considering things sceptically or with disinterest. He is thus talking about a situation which was resolved by what follows. But what he does want us to know is that they did not just swallow everything thoughtlessly. None of these men were easily convinced, even though conviction came to some more quickly than to others.