Today, we consider
the final point from Matthew 28:16-20: power.
“Teach them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And remain aware of this: I am with you
always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 16:20)
Our guest pastor,
Tom Mahairas, shared a profound insight about Jesus’s statement. In biblical
Greek, the phrase is not read “I am with you”, but rather “I with you am.”
Pastor Tom spoke of the reality of Christ as God with us, and God in us. When
we come to faith in Christ and commit to obedient discipleship, we have the
privilege of experiencing and expressing His presence and power.
This thought is
reflected in the long ending of the book of Mark, where Jesus details some of
those experiences and expressions: These
signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons;
they will speak in languages they never studied; they will handle snakes in
safety; if they drink any deadly thing they will experience no harm; they will
put their hands on sick people and the sick will be healed. (see Mark
16:17-18). These things occur not because we have become super-human, but
because we are ever in the company of King Jesus who has authorized us to
represent Him in the earth. It is the ultimate ministry partnership.
But in order to
stand in this partnership, we must be fully convinced of who Jesus is. Pastor
Tom warned us of the danger of diastasis
(standing between two ways instead of committing to one). Such behavior calls
forth the echoes of Joshua and Elijah: “Choose this day whom you will serve”; “How
long will you stand between two ways?” (see Joshua 24:15; First Kings 18:21)
What privileged
existence to work in concert with Christ! “I, with you, am.” Yes, Lord. We are Your body; You are our Head; we
live and move by Your presence and power. We stand with You.
“I pray for My disciples, and for those whom they will disciple. May
they all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You. I pray that they
will be in Us, so that the world will believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:20-21)
No comments:
Post a Comment