Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age

 Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened.  When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, "Tell them, 'His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.'  And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure."  So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.  When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in haven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Amen.

- Matthew 28:11-20

In our current readings, we are in the final chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.  Joseph of Arimathea has publicly asked for Jesus' body after the Crucifixion, and he has provided a tomb, newly hewn of rock.  The Jewish leadership has posted guards at the tomb.  Yesterday we read that after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.  And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.  His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.  And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.  But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.  Come, see the place where the Lord lay.  And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him.  Behold, I have told you."  So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.  And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!"  So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid.  Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."

Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened.  When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, "Tell them, 'His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.'  And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure."  So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.  My study bible says that a made up story like this is absurd.  For one thing, Jesus' disciples had gone into hiding, extremely fearful of the authorities after Jesus had been seized and crucified.  In yesterday's reading, we were told that only the two women watched by the tomb as a guard was posted.  In addition, says my study bible, most of the disciples would go on to suffer terrible persecution and martyrdom.  That they would willingly do so over a story concocted as falsehood and known as fallacy is simply unimaginable.

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.  When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in haven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Amen.    Jesus declares, "All authority has been given to Me."  My study bible explains that in His divine nature, this authority always belonged to Christ.  But now it is also possessed by His glorified human  nature.  The great, impossibly good news is that His human nature has trampled the final enemy - death (1 Corinthians 15:20-28). 

What does it mean that Christ's glorified human nature now assumes authority with His divine nature?  It is most surely part of the victory of the Cross.  That which has the power to turn the cross of crucifixion into a sign of victory in salvation also has the power to glorify human nature -- even in One who possesses all authority in heaven and on earth.  It teaches us about the power and symbol of the Cross, the great victory of God, that this can be true of Christ and is the outcome of the Incarnation.  This glorification of human nature is the ultimate victory, as it is the defeat -- as my study bible said -- of the ultimate enemy, of death.  What it does is put the Incarnation into another perspective on God's love for us, a deeper understanding of what it means that God gave His only-begotten Son out of love for the world, and that we might have eternal life (John 3:16).  But victory -- the victory of the Cross as a victory over death -- doesn't just exist in one sort of concept or dimension.  The victory over death and for life is one that must touch on all aspects of our faith and how we see the moments of our lives.  We may put "eternal life" into a construct that says it's all about what happens "later" and is not relevant to the here and the now.  Some have called it "pie in the sky when you die."  But God's truths don't work that way.  The substance of what we learn from Scripture doesn't work that way, in single dimensions or concepts of thought.  The living Spirit that revives whatever it touches in our lives doesn't work in such a one-dimensional fashion.  The living truth that we learn from Christ and from participation in His life and sacrifice for us is something that touches our lives at all points and is always present to us.  Resurrection is about the strength that helps us survive whatever evil the world throws at us, and to survive it with deeper depth and greater insight, more love integrated into our experience, than would have happened otherwise.  This is the real power of faith and "God with us."  "God with us" was not only about an Incarnation 2,000 years ago, but about a living presence that is with us and shares our lives, in whom we also abide, all the time.  A job promotion doesn't come through, a deep disappointment, a family tragedy or loss, a scandal:  whatever it is, faith will redefine it for us and help us to come through it with substance we didn't have before.  Resurrection is about the possibility of life that is there all the time when we don't see it.  It's about taking the losses in life and transfiguring them into a different way of living and being alive, a different identity than merely the loss we feel defines us.  There may be all kinds of ways in which we experience disappointment and sadness and grief.  But the Cross is a kind of victory that invites us to go through all experience with Him, and with the power of life, so that even tragedy becomes an invitation to life beyond it, and not just a horrible dead end.  Illness or disability can be viewed the same way; faith will give us a meaning, a way of overcoming, that might not take away the loss or the pain, but does give new dimension and new life to who we are.  These are not simple truths, but they are truths born of experience.  They are facets of deeper life, meaning, and identity given to us by grace and perhaps only understood and valued through the experience of faith.  But the Cross gives us hope where there is no hope.  It gives us power where there is no power, and meaning where there is no meaning.  And that can be everything, even the love of life itself.   Jesus tells us, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."    And that is where we put our trust.