Focus: Our Emmanuel

Text: Mt.28:20

"Lo, I am with you alway."

At the start of the Gospel of Matthew we have the name of Jesus Christ announced as Emmanuel, which means 'God with us', or to put it another way, 'God among men'. Matthew writes, "They shall call his name EMMANUEL, which being interpreted is, God with us" (Mt.1:23). John puts it this way, "And the Word was made flesh, and DWELT among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (Jh.1:14). 

God with us happened through a process. According to John, "The Word was GOD…," and then the Word which is God "became FLESH… and DWELT among us." You can see that He became our Emmanuel through the process of the incarnation. He is not our Emmanuel by mouth; He paid the ultimate price. 

Now at the end of the same Gospel, Jesus Christ announces to His disciples, "Lo, I am with you alway." Here He promises us His eternal presence as we go about His kingdom business, which is both local and global. Christ's kingdom business is soul business. It is traditionally known as the Great Commission, centering on disciplining all nations or every ethnic group. 

Souls are in deep need of spiritual rebirth. They need converting through gospel preaching and disciplining through the indoctrination of the words of Christ. Mark tells us that "they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working WITH them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen" (Mk.16:20). The Lord went and worked with His disciples in their mission. He confirmed His word through signs or miracles following their preaching. 

That means that demonstrations of power attended their proclamation. They did not speak in vain. Their words were not empty but clothed with power. The presence of Christ turned their words into deeds of power. Paul says, "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1Cor.2:4). Gospel preaching was loaded with the power of Christ's presence. His company worked miracles.

The resurrection makes permanent the presence of Jesus Christ among His people. The incarnate presence of Christ was something impermanent. It ended with His death, but with the resurrection His presence is not only universal but also permanent. He is with us everywhere. He never forsakes us. He goes everywhere with us, and by the signs we experience the evidence of His presence. Nicodemus said to Christ, "Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be WITH him" (Jh.3:2). 

The presence or company of Jesus Christ makes miracles possible. The company or presence of Jesus Christ in one's life produces visible and tangible proofs.

The Amplified Version brings out the intensity or weight of the Greek of Hebrews 13:5, which says, "I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!" Here we have the divine assurance that God will constantly and continuously be with us, and He will never renege on His promise. 

The presence of God is our greatest asset. Christ will be with us till our work on earth is done. His presence emboldens us. His presence is our power and protection. His presence inspires confidence in us and inundates us with joy.

Christ is our Emmanuel, and truly, He is ever near. In Christ the transcendent God becomes the Immanent God. The God who is distant from us is now in our neighborhood - in our locality and in our personal spaces. Christ is forever the closest friend of every believer - our Emmanuel!

Bishop Moses E. Peter