“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28: 20).

We’ve spent the last few weeks talking about some of the great heroes of the Bible.  Esther, Josiah, Gideon, and many others all had their “Let’s Go!” moment when God calls them to take great actions to help God’s people.  They did great things, lived great lives, and their stories came to awesome conclusions. 

The thing I love about the closing in the Gospel of Matthew is that while the book ends, Jesus keeps the story going.

After His resurrection and before he left Earth, Jesus gave the apostles two amazing things.  He first called them to be active in this world.  Jesus commanded them to, “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (V19) Jesus is calling us to act in his name.  

The second thing was his promise to always be with us.  “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age,” (V 20) are His last words on Earth to the apostles.  Jesus reveals that He is here with us, everywhere and every day, and He is empowering us to act.

While this Great Commission is an incredible call to action for followers of Jesus, I believe what makes it truly wonderful is that he doesn’t just call us to act, and then leave us to it.  Through the Spirit, Jesus is here with us and alongside us.  Even better, the Spirit is acting everywhere and is calling us to act alongside Jesus.  When we feel the Spirit calling us to act, we are not alone.  Jesus is here.  He is there. He is everywhere.

Are you ready to go along?

What is God setting in front of you?  He is with you! You have his authority! Where is one place or one action you can take this week, big or small, to act with faith and courage in the Great Commission of Jesus?

If you’d like to read or re-read the overview/summary of this week’s passage, you can find it here.