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

 

 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 heaven 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 28:16–20 

 

The lectionary has been taking us through St. Matthew's Gospel, and recently into the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  But this week, it has been preparing us for the Feast of the Ascension, which is today in the Western Churches (and the Armenian Apostolic Church), while the Eastern Orthodox will celebrate a week from today.  Yesterday we read that, while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, "What do you think about the Christ?  Whose Son is He?"  They said to Him, "The Son of David."  He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool"'?  If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?"  And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.  In tomorrow's lectionary reading, we will resume readings in chapter 7, the final verses of the Sermon on the Mount.  

 

  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 heaven and on earth."  Here Christ declares that the authority that was His by nature in His divinity is now also possessed by His glorified human nature, my study Bible comments.  It says that this human nature has now trampled the final enemy -- death (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).  

 

"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, . . . "  This is known as the Great Commission.  It is Christ's final commandment given on earth.  My study Bible comments that it is to be lived out in the Church until Christ returns again.  To make disciples is not possible in the strength of human beings, but only in the power of God.  

 

 ". . . 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.  My study Bible notes that Christ Himself is present in each believer and in the Church always, both personally and in the Holy Spirit, for neither can be separated from the other.  To the end of the age doesn't imply that we'll be separated from Christ at the end of the world.  He is with us now, and forever, and unto the ages of ages.  Amen.

 

What does it mean that He will be with us to the end of the age?   The first thing we must remember is that we are in the age that Christ's Incarnation has initiation.   And this age -- the entire Christian era on these terms -- is the age of the "end times."  This is not a short period before time and the world as we know it ends, except perhaps in consideration of an eternal universe, but not on earthly terms.  The end times are the entire age that Christ has brought into the world, and will last until His return.  Thus He speaks of the end of the age which has a particular meaning in the context of the Church.  It is most important that He is with us, for without Him, what can we do?  What are we capable of without Him?  It is Christ who has initiated this age, He who is our Shepherd (our good shepherd; see John 10:1-16, especially verse 11).   Again, without Him, what can we do?  He makes it possible to be His disciples, He sends us His Holy Spirit, He prays to (or asks) the Father on our behalf, requesting such good help to be given to us (John 14:15-18).  He preaches also that where two or three are gathered together in His name, there He is also in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20).  So He shepherds us through this time in which we, as His people and His sheep, await His return, which will be the end of the age.  Therefore this Great Commission is what we do, and how we are to keep ourselves occupied and living His commandments until His return.  We note that a significant part of this commission is the responsibility of "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you."  But how does one teach anything except by living it ourselves?  So this commission is not simply about finding disciples, but about we ourselves being the very objects others may observe and turn to by living His love and His commandments for us ourselves, as He teaches in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5:13-16, especially verse 16).  As we've observed in recent readings and commentary, Jesus warns us most scathingly against hypocrisy in the example He makes of the Pharisees (Matthew 23), so we know that teaching His commandments means living them, doing them, truly living our faith.  For this, too, He is with us always, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  For we are not alone in Christ.

 

 

 

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth

 

 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 heaven 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 

 

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 calls this lie simply absurd, in that Christ's disciples were afraid and had gone into hiding.  Moreover, most of the disciples went on to suffer terrible persecution and martyrdom.  It is unthinkable, my study Bible says, that they would willingly endure such sufferings over a known fallacy.  

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 heaven and on earth."  My study Bible notes that Christ declares that the authority that was His by nature in His divinity is now possessed by His glorified human nature.  This human nature has now trampled the final enemy -- death (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).  

"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 . . . "  This is the Great Commission, and it is the Lord's final commandment given on earth.  It is to be lived out in the Church until He returns again.  To make disciples cannot be done in the strength of human beings, but only in the power of God.  The power of the Resurrection is not only for Jesus Himself, but we should understand it as given to all believers for Christian life and mission.  

 

 " . . . and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Amen.  My study Bible says that Christ Himself is present in each believer, and in the Church, always -- both personally and in the Holy Spirit, as neither can be separated from the other.  To the end of the age, ti says, does not by any means imply that we will be separated from Him at the end of the world.  As the Church's prayers so often indicate and remind us, Christ is with us now, and forever, and unto the ages of ages.  Amen.  

Jesus tells the disciples, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."  My study Bible notes something extraordinary and unexpected, but understood in the Church since ancient times:  that this authority that was always His by virtue of His divine identity as Son has now come to be shared even with the human Jesus, who has ascended in His full identity as Son of Man and Son of God, so that even His humanity is transfigured.  The implications for we human beings were never lost on the early Church, as it came to grips with the understanding of the implications of this ascent into heaven of both humanity and divinity in Christ.  My study Bible elaborates that this glorified human nature now means that Christ's power can work in us, in our lives, and in what we do:  in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit disciples can be made in the world.  The power of God is at work in and among human beings in its transforming and powerful capacities for healing and setting aright:  we can come to faith through grace, the power of Resurrection is at work for all of us, in all of us.  In a modern frame of mind, we tend to perceive these things only individualistically.  But the implication isn't just for believers as individuals, but for the body of the Church as a corporate entity.  The many saints and stories of God's glory at work in us and among us testify to a "great cloud of witnesses," a whole body of traditions that feed us, an ongoing expression of Resurrection through the myriad saints and saintly acts of grace and experiences of God's uplifting power in so many dimensions, ongoing into the future, and at work around the world.  Sometimes it seems that this "corporate" or "community" sense of who we are is lost in debates and dissension, and a very individualistic sense of faith that results.  But we should not forget that what each one does becomes a part of the whole and touches on the whole.  We are not saved alone, but our faith works through both love of God and love of neighbor, and grace does not just touch one, but ripples out in ways that we just don't know -- perhaps only in the love that touches our hearts so that we in turn may touch others through our own changes.  There really is no such thing as one person praying alone without those prayers somehow effectively serving the world, even if unknown to the one who prays.  In our dissension and disagreements with one another, in the midst of a world engulfed by strife and seemingly ever-growing conflict, let us believers consider that our faith does not make us alone, but a part of something, and that as we practice that faith it is also up to us to be concerned with how we create community as well.  A modern world seems to lose sight of Christ's great emphasis on humility and serving one another, and that the core of what we know of God is love.  St. Paul writes what is perhaps the greatest statement on love in his Epistle to the Corinthians (found at 1 Corinthians 13:1-13).  Among other things, he writes, "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."  He reminds us that "love never fails" but that everything else we value will pass away, and that now we know in part, but in the fullness of the Resurrection, we will know just as we are also known.  So therefore, what abides is "faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."  In John's Gospel, Jesus gives a new command, that we love one another as He has loved us.  He taught, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (see John 13:34-35).  Let the transfiguring power of Resurrection be made clear in our understanding of love and community, and the great truth of Jesus Christ, God and human, who came to offer us all salvation.   Let us remember that He is with us always, and call upon Him to teach us His love.

 

 

 

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

Icon of Christ's Ascension, 16th century.  Michurin, Bulgaria (Burgas Art Gallery).  Photo in public domain

 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 heaven 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 28:16-20

Yesterday we read that during Holy Week, as He was being questioned in the temple, while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, "What do you think about the Christ?  Whose Son is He?"  They said to Him, "The Son of David."  He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool" '?  If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?"  And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.

 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 heaven and on earth."   Today we commemorate the Ascension of Christ.  It is most significant that we understand the role of the Incarnation in this Ascension.  Jesus neither appears to His disciples as a ghost or disembodied spirit; in His post-Resurrection appearances to them, He invites them to touch Him, even to see the marks of the nails of the Crucifixion and also eats with them (see John 20:27, and especially Luke 24:39-43).  These appearances were in a glorified human state.  My study bible comments on Jesus' statement, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth," that Christ declares here that the authority that was His by nature in His divinity is now also possessed by His glorified human nature.  This human nature, it says, has now trampled the final enemy -- death (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).

"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 . . . "  This is known as the Great Commission.  It is the Lord's final commandment give on earth.  My study bible says it is to be lived out in the Church until Christ returns again.  Making disciples, it says, cannot be done in the strength of man, but only in the power of God.  The power of the Resurrection, it adds, is not only for Jesus Himself, but rather is given to all believers for Christian life and mission.

" . . . and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen."  A note here tells us that Christ Himself is present in each believer and in the Church always.  That is, both personally and in the Holy Spirit -- as neither can be separated from the other.  To the end of the age, my study bible says, does not by any means imply that we will be separated from Christ at the end of the world.  He is with us now, and forever, and unto the ages of ages.  Amen.

Jesus' final words at His Ascension are, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  These words form a promise, and something that we can count on.  Whatever it is, no matter how isolated or sad or lonely we might feel under certain circumstances, Jesus promises that He is with us always.  How can we take this promise?  First of all Jesus is making this promise at a gathering of His disciples.  The "you" is plural, for He is addressing more than one person.  And by extension, He addresses us all -- for clearly, those standing before Him would not need reassurances that extend to the end of the age.  What we can understand, then, is that this promise is made to each person who would be a disciple of Christ.  It is clearly made in a corporeal sense to the Church, the body of believers, but it is also something that can be understood to apply to each of us.  My study bible's note on this passage states that He is present in each believer and in the Church always,  and that this applies equally to Christ and to the Holy Spirit -- as they cannot be separated.  In John's Gospel, moreover, Jesus promises, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him" (John 14:23).  What that means is that the inseparability of Father, Son, and Spirit guarantee -- they promise -- that each is with us through faith and through faithful adherence to Christ's teachings, through keeping His word.  In effect, Christ teaches that through faith, we are embraced in a loving embrace of Father, Son, and Spirit, even to the end of the age.  We are a part of something.   Not only are we children by adoption, but we are never alone, even as Christ stated He was not alone ("Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me" - John 16:32).  And here we come to what is possibly the most important -- and even incredible -- fact of the Ascension.  That is, that the Incarnation of Christ is not merely about His human life in the flesh as Jesus, but that the Incarnation -- even of Christ in His glorified human body -- extends to this poignant moment which is full of meaning and promise for us.  This is because He ascends also as part of the Incarnation.  He ascends in glory not as a ghost or spirit, but in the glorified form of His humanity, and therefore can draw us with Him where He is.  If this is too awe-filled a concept to consider, then we should think about His promise that He is with us, even to the end of the age.  For without the Incarnation -- and without His ascent which includes His glorified humanity -- none of this would be possible.  It is His life as a human being, including His death on the Cross, and the resurrection appearances in His glorified body, that make it possible that He, the Father, and the Spirit are always with us according to His promise.  This is such as astonishing concept, and such a great mystery, that it is something we cannot afford to take lightly.  We may think about the generations of monastics in the desert and wilderness and elsewhere.  We may think about the saints who have served God even against terrible odds and suffering.  We might think of modern day figures who continue in faith through wars, persecutions, oppression, and all manner of battles against them, and yet come to understand that without this promise such effort and struggle would have died off long ago.  For the fact is that even through its persecutions, the Church thrives and returns.  I read recently an article about a woman named Etty Hillesum.  She was born in Holland, a Jew who was deported by the Nazis to a concentration camp.  And yet in the camp she found the Lord.  She learned to pray.   She learned to speak to God.  A very touching article has appeared recently documenting her idea that even in such horrible circumstances, and surrounded by so much terror and suffering, her choice was to remain a shelter for God.  (The article is titled Giving Shelter to God from Suffering, by Fr. Michael Plekon.)    Imprisoned in an internment camp, she writes about those who seek safety and shelter for things they own, for their fears and their bitterness.  "But," she says, "they forget that no one is in their clutches who is in Your arms."  We live today under the cloud of an epidemic, in which many perhaps might feel alone.  They don't know what their lives will look like or be like after it's over, what job they might return to, what things might be gone.  Many feel isolated.  Our suffering is not comparable to Etty's, but we might nevertheless take comfort from her wisdom and enlightenment.  She learned and rested in Christ's promise, knew it for herself, even among the worst of circumstances.  Let us, also, take heart in her words that kept Christ present -- indeed, Father, Son, and Spirit -- in the place of horrors, even as we know that Christ also descended into hell for us before His Resurrection.  Let us keep in mind all of these promises, and pray for Etty and others whose faith enabled them to ascend with Christ, and do the same for ourselves.  Let us understand the extraordinary living power of this promise these thousands of years later, and cherish it in our own lives for all it may help us to go through and to overcome -- for we are not alone.  In the icon above, we may also notice Christ's mother in the center among the disciples.  She was shelter for Him from start to finish, and remained faithful to her Son throughout her life.  She is representative of all those in the great cloud of witnesses, the saints, who also assure us we are never alone, never without their presence, even as we ask them to join us in our prayers.