Why Jesus Sends Us Back to the Beginning

There’s something unexpected about the resurrection story that we often overlook.

After Jesus rises from the dead, He doesn’t tell His followers to meet Him in Jerusalem—the center of power. He doesn’t tell them to gather at the temple—the center of religion.

Instead, He tells them to go to Galilee.

That might seem like a small detail, but it carries a powerful message.

Galilee is where it all began. It’s where the disciples first followed Jesus, saw miracles, and learned what it meant to walk with Him. It wasn’t impressive or significant in the eyes of the world—but it was deeply personal. 

And after the resurrection, Jesus invites them back there.

The night before Easter Sunday, my family and I watched Risen Before you think we are super spiritual, the majority of my family was vying for World War Z. Towards the end of the film, the disciples end up in Galilee as the scriptures tell us. One of the disciples asks the question most of us would probably ask: "Why are we here in Galilee?" An understandable question. But the response from Peter is what gets me. "Galilee is where we learned to follow him."  In other words, Galilee was the place this band of disciples began to love Jesus. They left behind their fishing boats. Their security. It was here they witnessed his first miracles. Listened to him teach. Experienced the power of prayer. Galilee was wondrously simple. No glitz. No glamour. Just walking with Jesus.

Sometimes the most powerful thing God does in your life isn’t found in something new—it’s found in rediscovering something foundational.

We often assume that if we want to grow spiritually, we need something bigger, deeper, or more dramatic. But Jesus points us somewhere simpler.

Back to the beginning.

Back to the place where your relationship with Him first came alive.

For some, that might be a quiet moment in Scripture. For others, it’s prayer, worship, or being part of a genuine community. Over time, those simple rhythms can become familiar—and even neglected.

But they are often the very places where Jesus continues to meet us.

Revelation 2 captures this idea clearly: “You have left your first love…return and do the things you did at first.”

This Easter, I'm remembered not to try harder but rather to come back. 

To remember what it was like when I first began to follow him. The way the scriptures spoke to my heart. The eagerness to pray. The excitement of a Sunday morning. The joy experienced in a small group. This is how it began. These are the places and things I'm reminded not to leave in my life. It's here I'm tempted to overlook. To dismiss and forget. This is my Galilee.  

This Easter, instead of asking, “What’s next?” consider a different question:

Where did it start?

Because that place—your Galilee—might be exactly where Jesus is inviting you to meet Him again.