I Am With You Always (Matthew 28:20)

 


Tuesday, April 29, 2025


Psalm 145

Exodus 15:19-27

Matthew 28:11-20


Observance: Catherine of Siena, spiritual teacher (d. 1380)


I Am With You Always (Matthew 28:20)


[Jesus said] … I am with you always, to the end of the age.


Our God is not a distant God; we do not have to call out from the other end of the house to get his attention. Nor is he a mechanical God; there is no switch to flick to set him to “blessings: on”. God is not stingy, nor is he even sensible in the amount he gives away; his mercy is over all that he has made.


Consider also the name of God we are given in today’s first lesson: “I am the Lord, your healer”. Christ the Great Physician heals all our diseases, and behold, he is with us always, to the end of the age.


The scriptures are laden with repeated declarations from the Lord of two things: that he is good, and he is near. Jesus, as the greatest revelation of God, is the one in whom we die, and the one in whom we live. Nothing could be closer than what the Lord Jesus has taught us about this.


If something in the Bible is written more than once, then we understand the repetition to be for the sake of emphasis. And these two things – that God is good, and God is near – shout from every page of scripture. God knows us and he knows we need constant reminding of this fact.


Sometimes it feels like God isn’t being good, or isn’t being near. This is why God also teaches us about providence: that he is in control of everything. When we see something terrible happen, we acknowledge in faith that God has used it to stop something worse from happening. When we feel distant from God, we acknowledge that God is using it to teach us how to feel nearer. It isn’t easy, but we must remember that Christ is drawing us up out of a very dark place, and into a very good one. The journey isn’t easy, but it is simple – as simple as having the faith of a child.


What spiritual disciplines or exercises do you practise to experience Christ’s nearer presence?


Lord Our Healer, who binds up our wounds of sin and restores us to life in Christ: make yourself known to us, so that we may know of your goodness, and rest in your nearness.

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