Knowing, serving, worshipping and following the Saviour
“I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen (Matthew 28:20).
I was struck recently with the final impressions the Gospel writers leave with us. Matthew closes His Gospel with the thought of fellowship with the Lord. He records the words of Jesus: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.Amen”. The initiative to have fellowship comes from the Lord Himself. He left the world to return to heaven, but He assured His disciples of His abiding presence. This was obviously different from what they had known during the period of His ministry, in John’s words: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life”. In Matthew, Jesus was talking of His spiritual presence known through the Holy Spirit, who is with us and in us. He is our link with Christ in glory. He moves our hearts to enjoy, by faith, communion with our risen Saviour and to respond to Him through His word in prayer and worship, and our faithfulness as individuals and as the people of God.
Mark ends His Gospel differently. He records the Saviour being taken up into heaven and sitting down at the right hand of God. Mark writes of Jesus as the Servant of God. It is beautiful to think of the Lord sitting down. He finished the work the Father gave Him to do. It was an eternal work that secured our eternal salvation. But he doesn’t stop there; he goes on to tell us about the disciples preaching the Gospel everywhere. Then he adds, “the Lord working with them” (16:20). He presents the glorified Christ as working with His people as they witness to Him in the Gospel.
Luke records the Lord blessing His disciples and being carried up into heaven. Then he writes of them worshipping the Lord: “And they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen” (24:52-53). The hearts of the glorified Lord’s redeemed people are filled with joyous worship.
John starts his Gospel with the eternal glory of the Person of the Lord Jesus. At the close of his Gospel he leaves us with the simple yet vital exhortation of that same glorious Person: “Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man (John)?” Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me” (21:21-22). The resurrected Saviour’s desire is that every one of his disciples should live close to Him and become like Him.
In these ways, we are encouraged to live in fellowship with the Lord in communion, service, worship and discipleship. And Luke adds to these words in the first chapter of the book of Acts, as the disciples gazed up into heaven and the angels asked them, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11). The angels assured them further that their glorious, living Saviour would return. We hasten that day in our hearts every time we break bread. We recall Jesus as the Messiah-King, the Servant of God, the Son of Man and the Son of God. As we do, He confirms His presence with us in order to remember and worship Him, and He sends us out to serve and follow Him in the sure and certain knowledge of His return. And in it all, He says, “I am with you always.”