A Final Word

April 1 (Matthew 28:30)

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.  (ESV)

There will come a day when I will eat my last slice of New York style pizza.  It is a melancholy thought, but that day will come, as will the day I listen to a favorite song or watch a favorite movie for the last time.  It is likely I will not realize my enjoyment of a particular activity is indeed my last, but when I have died, people can identify that final pizza, song, and movie for what they were.  And the same will be true for Scripture.

Many of us have our favorite parts, and the final words of Jesus at the end of Matthew’s gospel are cherished by countless Christians.  We know them by heart, but we love to hear and read them again and again.  Yet there will come a time for each of us when we will read those final words of Jesus for the final time, and then the Word Who was made flesh and dwelled among us, Jesus Himself, will speak those words back to us, but perhaps with a slight change.  “I told you I would be with you always!”  I can imagine Him saying it with a broadening smile, a twinkle in His eye, and arms outstretched.

The things of earth will grow dim and vanish for every person.  Our prized possessions will pass into another’s keeping, and while the paper and binding of our Bibles will not go with us from this life to the next, the words of their truth will carry us on and open into truth as we have never experienced it, for then we will know even as we are known.  We will no longer read and listen to our favorite words, but will be in the presence of the One Who is the Word, our risen Lord Jesus, waiting for us in proof of His final word.

Thank You, Lord, for the words You have spoken in Scripture and directly to my heart.  May they continue to nourish me with Your promises until the time they are promises no more, but my everlasting reality with You.  Amen.

Copyright © 2018 by Steven R. Perkins

Jesus With You All the Time

August 30 (Matthew 28:20)

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.  (ESV)

This is a beautiful promise that Jesus makes in the very last verse of the Gospel of Matthew, yet the English simply does not capture all of it.  Greek word order is highly flexible, allowing it to express concepts both by the meanings of the words and by their arrangement.  The first part of our Lord’s promise actually reads, I-with you-I am.  Notice the position of the words.  Where is Jesus?  At the beginning and the end of the promise.  Where are we?  In the middle.  He literally has us surrounded, wrapped in his embrace.

As for the word “always,” well, that is a fair enough translation, but the Greek actually reads “throughout all days.”  Day in and day out, Jesus is with us.  When we get up in the morning, when we go to bed at night, and then again the next.  And again the next.  And again and again.

Now put all that together.  Jesus has you in his loving embrace and He will never let you go.  He is not just in the corner of the room watching.  He is intimately involved in every fear, worry, concern, joy, celebration, and hope that you have every single minute of every day of your life.  How about that for a promise!

Jesus, my heart leaps at the thought of how close You are to me at all times!  Thank You, my Lord and Savior, for such a beautiful and powerful promise.  I want to live a life based on this truth and nothing else.  I love You, Jesus!  Amen.

Copyright © 2015 by Steven R. Perkins