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Lo, I Am with You Always
Matthew 28:16-20
This passage begins, "Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them … " Even though the women were the first witnesses of the resurrection, the only disciples worth counting were men. Matthew notes that there were only 11 left. Judas is gone. He couldn't bear the guilt of his deeds, and he wasn't courageous enough to ask for forgiveness. Peter was still there, though, as were the other men who had abandoned Jesus.
On some unnamed, but prearranged, mountain Jesus comes to them one last time. He has one last piece of instruction: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."
In the book of Acts, we are told that converts were baptized in the name of Jesus. Here in Matthew, though, we find the only Trinitarian affirmation ever attributed to Jesus. This passage has greatly shaped not just the sacrament of baptism, but the theology that the Church regards as orthodoxy. We are monotheistic; that is we believe in one God. Here, however, Jesus gives that God three names.
It is worth noting also that this passage, which generally is referred to as the "Great Commission," sends them out to share the good news with all people. Matthew's Gospel seems to have been written primarily for Jewish readers, but, here at the end, even he acknowledges that Jesus was the ultimate includer.
After giving them a mission of inclusion, Jesus gives them the ultimate assurance. He scatters them across the globe, but it is with the final promise, "Lo, I am with you always to the end of the age."
Matthew began by identifying Jesus as the Emmanuel of which the prophets spoke. He even tells us what the name means: "God with us." He ends by reminding us that, even after the story of the physical life of Jesus ends, God is still with us. For those of us who must live without the physical Jesus, that is good news. In fact, you might say, when it is all said and done, that is THE good news/the gospel.
Michael Piazza
President, Hope for Peace & Justice
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