I am with You Always Until the End of the Age

I am with You Always Until the End of the Age

Trinity Sunday

Mt 28: 16 – 20

Today is Trinity Sunday. On this day we celebrate the feast of the Blessed Trinity. It is the feast of God who has revealed himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God who is one has made himself known to us in a way that we can understand him. The one triune God revealed himself to us so we can have fellowship with him and live our lives with him.

Today’s Gospel is taken from Matthew’s version of the Ascension. Here, Jesus tells the eleven disciples to go up a mountain in Galilee where he would meet them. When the disciples met Jesus on the mountain, they worshiped him. In writing this, Matthew somehow indicates that the disciples saw the risen Jesus as someone who was worthy of their worship, an apparent acknowledgement of his divinity.

Nonetheless, despite their act of worship, Matthew also notes the doubt that continued to linger among them. Matthew writes: “ but they doubted.” This is an interesting note that somehow tells us that the disciples still couldn’t believe that Jesus has indeed risen from the dead. To be in the face of the risen Jesus must have been a truly overwhelming experience, hence, the lingering doubt.

Then, Jesus tells them: “ All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” In saying this, Jesus commissions the disciples to go out into the whole world to make followers from every nation with the explicit instruction that they be baptized in the name of the triune God.

Baptism was the way for the early Church to incorporate new members into the fold. We see this practice being continued even today when we see infants and even adults being baptized and welcomed into the Christian community. Baptism becomes the way where we are cleansed of all our sins and where we profess our new found faith in God who redeems. In doing so, we gain fellowship with God. God’s life becomes our life. And inevitably, God binds himself to us as his true children, loving us and caring for us in a way we can’t even imagine.

To all who receive and accept God’s invitation of fellowship with him, the words of Jesus will always be true to us who live our faith in the Lord: “ Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” These words are not only words of assurance but are true commitments of one who has already poured out his life for our sake. He will indeed be with us always through our journey as long as we live. He is no stranger to our life. He will walk the path of life with us because he has promised to be with us until the end of time.

A number of bible scholars believe that Matthew’s Gospel has been structured around a particular theme: that God is and will be with us. Matthew begins his gospel with a passage that underscores this theme: “ and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means, God is with us" (Matt 1:23). Then he ends his gospel with a similar theme: “ I am with you always, until the end of the age" (Matt 28:20). Clearly, Matthew wants us to understand that the God he writes about is a God who will be with us now and always.

To be in fellowship with God who wants to be with us at anytime at any place is perhaps one of the greatest blessings we could ever have as people who believe in God. We will never be alone. We will go through life, in both happy and challenging times always believing that we are never alone. God is there in the joys of life. He is there in sad times. He is there when tragedy and mishaps strike us. He is there even when we think we have been abandoned by everyone else. He is simply there whether we realize it or not. He is  there even when we forget him. The certainty that God is with us in these uncertain times is the best thing that could ever happen to us. He is Emmanuel, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who will be with us until the end of time. Amen.

“ See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.”  - 1 John 3: 1