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Praying about the flow of time: Praying to respond to Jesus’s last words

Lynne Baab • Wednesday June 25 2025

Praying about the flow of time: Praying to respond to Jesus’s last words

The human brain loves dichotomies: this NOT that. One of my goals in my writing is to affirm that the truth often lies in this AND that. Grace AND truth. Righteousness AND peace (Psalm 85:10).  Grief AND gratitude. Our brains really want to nurture dichotomies, so we need the help of the Holy Spirit to hold two opposite things in tension. Of course, we access that help through prayer.

An amusing and thought-provoking illustration of this AND that comes from the endings to the four Gospels. We might look to Jesus's last words to his disciples to get an idea of how to be faithful followers. I got this idea from an article in Christian Century by Peter Choi, the executive director of the Center for Faith and Justice in San Francisco. Choi points out the variations in the endings to the four Gospels. 

Jesus’s last words to the disciples in Matthew are what we call the Great Commission. The dominant idea is “go,” and that word is used in Matthew 28:19 in almost all of the translations listed in Bible Hub. Contrast that with Luke 24:49, where the disciples are commanded to stay, remain, tarry, or wait patiently in Jerusalem for the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit to come upon them. Those verbs are used in the translations listed in Bible Hub for that verse.

Choi points out that the ending to Matthew is the only ending to a Gospel with a special name, the Great Commission. He says this reveals "a cultural predilection for this ending above the others, at least in North America.” [1] Go. Do something. Get busy. Preach the Gospel. Make disciples.

I find it soothing to realize that sometimes, God is calling me to wait. Wait here. Wait for guidance and power.

The ending message from Jesus in John is “Follow me” (John 21:19-22). I love the relational emphasis of this ending and the way it ties together the endings in Matthew and Luke. If we major on following Jesus, walking with him as closely as we can, we will know when to go and when to stay.

Here are Choi’s thoughts about the confusing ending to the Gospel of Mark. You may know that scholars believe that Mark 16:9-20 was added significantly later, probably because Christians were so uneasy with the messy ending in the first eight verses of Mark 16.

“Mark’s vision of discipleship is different still. There is no inspirational call to action at the end of Mark. Instead, we see followers of Jesus failing to act on explicit instructions. ‘Tell the disciples,’ they are told, yet ‘they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid’ (16:7–8). It’s a strange way to wrap up a story that’s supposed to be good news. There is, of course, the disputed longer ending of Mark, which most biblical scholars agree is a later and unreliable addition to the text. Its mere presence testifies to the very human yearning for better closure than this abrupt cliff-hanger Mark offers. The spirituality of Mark is one in which Jesus’ disciples regularly fall short. Sometimes life with God looks like weakness. And that’s OK, seems to be Mark’s message. The good news doesn’t need our heroics; it can handle our doubts, fears, and weaknesses.” [2]

We can bring our doubts, fears, and weaknesses to God in prayer. God can handle them. We can tell God that we have a hard time following Jesus, that we often can’t perceive whether to go or stay, and that our faith story isn’t full of triumphs and victories.

Lord Jesus, you know. You know how often our lives are like those first eight verses of Mark 16. We want closure and triumph, and yet we’re often bewildered, frustrated, fearful, and weak. You know this and love us anyway. Thank you. We lay before you our desire to follow you, to listen to your voice about when to go and when to wait, when to act and when to pause. Hear our prayer, gracious God.   

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Next week: more about ordinary time. Illustration by Dave Baab: Church of the Good Shepherd and Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

My series of blog posts about grief and thankfulness begins here. Check out my book, Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian Life, available in audiobook as well as paperback and kindle.

I wrote a blog post about the way my two grandmothers embodied grace and truth.  

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[1] and [2] Peter Choi, “Different stories with different endings,” The Christian Century, April 2025, p. 35.



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