Matthew Summary: "And remember, I am with you always"

 Jesus’ words are comforting, but why should his disciples remember this? Are they supposed to recall it because Jesus has already told them that he would be with them, or is he telling them that from now on he will be with them? 

 From one angle, Jesus’ words are a promise based on the experience that the disciples have already had with Jesus. The disciples spent three years following Jesus, watching him in ministry, listening to him preach, and sharing in his suffering. They have even been encouraged to venture out in ministry themselves (Matthew 10: 1-15). So Jesus has been carefully grooming them to carry on his ministry of announcing the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven. We might say that he has been ‘hands on’ in mentoring them since he was always present. 

 For example, Jesus told them that, if they were detained by the authorities for proclaiming the kingdom, God would be with them.

 “...do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10: 19-20). 

 When the disciples looked at the hungry crowd, they felt helpless: “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” However, Jesus was with them; he blessed the food, the crowd ate, and more baskets of fish and loaves were collected than were distributed (Matthew 14: 13-21). The presence of the Lord was critical in their ministry. Now Jesus has promised that he will always be present.

 Jesus exhibited the power of his presence over a three-year period, and he had already promised to be present in the future.

 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18: 18-20). 

 Jesus has promised his eternal presence, and he has demonstrated what his presence means for the life and ministry of his disciples. So, Jesus’ promise here at the end is a reminder of what the disciples should have already learned and practiced. 

 From another angle, the words of Jesus just before he departs are a warning as well as a promise. There were times during the disciples’ apprenticeship when they had to be criticized and corrected. That is what a teacher or mentor does with apprentices. Will Jesus continue to be present in this manner? 

 Five times during his ministry, Jesus referred to his little flock as people with “little faith.” During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told the disciples and whoever else was listening not to worry about food and drink, or clothes to wear. 

 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’” (Matthew 6: 30-31).

 When the storm hit the boat on the Sea of Galilee, the disciples woke Jesus up. He told them that they had ‘little faith’. Then, when Peter took his eyes off of the Lord and began to sink in the waves, Jesus told Peter that he had ‘little faith’.

 When Jesus was warning the disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees, and the disciples thought that he was talking about not having any bread, Jesus said that they had ‘little faith’ for worrying about provisions for the journey. The greater issue, though, was that they missed the point; his warning was about the misleading example of the Pharisees infiltrating their lives (Matthew 16: 5-12).

 When the disciples were unable to cast out a particularly troublesome demon, Jesus again charged them with having ‘little faith’, that is, faith not even the size of a mustard seed (Matthew 17: 14-21). 

 It took time for the disciples to recognize the significance of Jesus as Emmanuel, that is, ‘God with us’. The disciples’ vision had to be retrained to recognize Jesus in every needy person that they met. For example, early on, the disciples tried to prevent the children from coming to Jesus, but Jesus corrected them.

 “Then children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” And he laid his hands on them and went on his way” (Matthew 19: 13-15).

 This enhanced vision, this ability to look at people with heavenly eyes, comes with training in discipleship, or least it should. And, if it doesn’t, then the discipleship is incomplete. Go a life-time like this and big problems may arise. Jesus told a parable that stands as a warning about not seeing Jesus in others. 

 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. (Matthew 25: 31-33). 

 This looks like a vision of judgment day based on the familiar scene of shepherds dividing their flock. Many Christians assume that, because they have faith in Jesus, this will be a good day for them. Maybe, it depends on whether or not they put that faith to work. 

 “Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ (Matthew 25: 34-36). 

 The king, of course, is Jesus. The kingdom is the Kingdom of Heaven. The method of measuring who will inherit the kingdom might seem unusual to many Christians. There is nothing here about faith; it is all about actions.

 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me’” (Matthew 25: 27-40). 

 Well, that’s a shocker. The faith of the disciples evidently led them to do what Jesus did, and that was to serve people in need. The treatment of the marginalized in society, that is, “the least of these” who are hungry for adequate food, who are thirsty for good water

without lead or forever chemicals, who are so poorly clothed they can’t get a job, who are sick for lack of affordable medicines and health care, or have been imprisoned for real or trumped up charges. Helping those in need is equivalent to helping Jesus. Who would have thunk it? What will happen to those Christians who refuse to lift a finger to help those who are hungry, thirsty, poorly clothed, without health care, or in prison?

 “Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You who are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25: 41-46). 

 Tough words. Apparently, those would-be disciples missed the part about obeying what Jesus’ taught, particularly the part about putting the lessons into practice. They neither obeyed, nor did they see Jesus when he was with them. 

 Jesus said “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 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”