Matthew 28.18-20: The Great Consolation

This is the final week of our six-part series from some of Jesus’ final words before leaving the earth. His words were meant to teach, motivate, and encourage His disciples as He turned the work of saving the world over to them. As His followers today, we are responsible to these words of our Savior.

“All authority 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The final phrase of this familiar passage is the one we need to carry with us most closely. As we are doing His work, Jesus gives us the ultimate security: His presence.

We all understand the helplessness associated with feeling alone. Jesus no doubt had experienced that loneliness himself while on earth. Many people followed Him around because of His powers. Yet few followed to the end. Jesus was faced with the loneliness that came from knowing the salvation of the world depended on Him alone. Jesus felt humiliation and loneliness on the cross of Calvary when He bore our sins on His shoulders (Matt. 27:46). Because Jesus knew the heartache of loneliness, He also knows the comfort of presence and intimacy. That’s exactly why He offers it so freely to His followers: we need it!

When Joshua was leading the Israelites into the Promised Land after the death of Moses—a parallel situation to the disciples in Matthew 28—the Lord spoke the following words: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:9). God knew taking the Promised Land would be a difficult and daunting task. God knew it would take great courage on the part of the Israelites. He told them that He was the source of their strength and courage. The Lord’s message centuries later to fearful followers of the new covenant was the same: do your mission and stay strong because I am with you.

We need the presence of our Lord because of several reasons. (1) There are plenty of people around us that don’t live godly lives. If we depend on them for companionship, we’re doomed to fall into sin ourselves. (2) We need to continually remember His example each day as we serve Him. We need to see with His compassionate eyes, touch with His understanding hands, and speak with His confident words. (3) We need to constantly remember the price He paid for us to have a relationship with Him. As we hold to His nail-scarred hand, we remember our work was first His work. Knowing He gave so much should motivate us to give Him our whole lives in obedience.

Not only do we long to feel His presence as we do His will, we literally cannot do His will without Him. As the Hebrew writer was closing his letter to first century Christians, he had many things of which to remind them. He had spent the majority of his previous words convincing them to not give up on their new-found faith in Christ. Here’s the author’s words to those struggling Christians many centuries ago:

“For He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Heb. 13:5-6).

Have a good week...alongside Him.