Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Hymn 408

Read Matthew 28:16-20

The climax and key to Matthew’s gospel lies in the promise of Matthew 28:20, the final verse of his account.

It’s the promise of I AM - very God, begotten, not created - to be present, to be near, to be imminent!

I want us to explore that promise together and to see three things in connection with it:

to whom it applies (the Place of the Promise)

how it’s possible (the Power for the Promise)

how it shapes our mission (the Purpose of the Promise)

The Promise of His Presence

The theme of God’s presence is central to Matthew’s gospel.

Matthew begins his gospel by describing the birth of the one who, in fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy (Is 7:14), would be born of the virgin and given the name Immanuel.

And, as if to underline the relevance of that name to his narrative, Matthew explains the meaning of it: God with us!

Then, in the closing verse of his gospel, Matthew features the words of the risen Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples: And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Mt 28:20).

God with us.... and surely I am with you always - bookends to Matthew’s account, which lead us to one its key themes: the presence of God.

Now, let’s be clear what we mean when we refer to the presence of God.

Our God is an omnipresent God, transcending all spatial limitations, present in the fullness of his being throughout heaven and earth, near to all men and women.

This is what the Psalmist expresses in Psalm 139:7-8:

This, though, is not what the promise of Matthew 28:20 is about.

This isn’t about God being with you as you mow your lawn or as you walk the aisles of your local supermarket, true as that may be.

It isn’t about God being with the man on the Clapham omnibus, as he looks out and appreciates some marvel of God’s creation.

And surely is the way the NIV translates the Greek word ἰδού.

That’s a bit weak.

Perhaps you will have lo or behold.

It means “Look!

Surprise!”

Jesus is about to tell them something which is an incredible surprise - I am with you always!

There’s a great difference between being in the general presence of someone and having a close, personal encounter with them.

The Lord promises the latter: a personal, close quarters encounter with the living God.

It’s the sort of intimate relationship with God that is only available in the context of a covenant for the protection of God’s holiness.

And whenever God shows up in a covenant context, it’s always surprising!

When God met Abraham, he appeared as a smoking oven, a furnace moving through the air and passing between the pieces of the dead animals that Abraham had cut up.

When he appeared to Moses and the people of Israel, he was a consuming fire on top of Mount Sinai.

When he entered Solomon’s temple, he came down in a glory cloud so powerful, majestic and great that nobody could enter the building.

You see, it’s one thing to experience God in a general sense, but quite another to be with him, to meet him personally.

Whenever God shows up, in the deeply personal, intimate context of a covenant relationship, it’s surprising!

And never more so than when God showed up in the person of his Son, Immanuel.

You’ll recall how Moses asked to see the face of God when he was on Mount Sinai and God said, “No, but I’ll show you my back.”

Moses would speak to God with such intimacy that it was as if the two were talking ‘face to face’.

But he couldn’t actually see the face of God and live.

It would have killed him.

But John says:

Brothers and sisters, we have seen the full radiance of God's glory through the gospel; we’ve seen it in the face of Christ!

The same God who commanded light to shine out of darkness has, through the gospel, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ (2 Cor 4:6).

What would Moses be saying if he were here now?

The very thing he was denied - sight of the glory of God - is available to us through Christ.

That’s the meaning of the promise; it’s the essence of the New Covenant.

The Place of the Promise

Now, some of you may be thinking, ok, if Jesus was still here bodily, if we could see him as the disciples saw him in his resurrection glory, that would be an incredible surprise.

But how and where is this promise fulfilled today?

The answer lies in the words of the promise: I will be with YOU always.

And our original language experts help us to see that this is the plural, collective you.

In English “you” can refer to one person or to many, it can be singular and plural.

But in Matthew 28:20, the promise is to a group, to a plural you.

Of course, we can have a personal encounter with God through his Word.

More than that, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we know we’ve received the indwelling Spirit and so have God’s presence with us at all times.

But I think Matthew 28:20 is about something even more precious.

This was a promise made to a group, to be enjoyed by them collectively!

The “you” comprised initially those disciples who had assembled in Galilee at the mountain of Jesus’ choosing to worship him.

In a similar way, centuries earlier, Israel had assembled at another mountain, Sinai, designated by God in his early communications with Moses as the place to which Israel would come to worship him.

We need to note the typology, which Matthew intends us to see.

As the nation of Israel camped around Sinai, God came to them; the Almighty descended to the top of the mountain and entered into covenant with them, promising them his continuing presence and his voice.

And as the disciples gathered at the mountain in Galilee, Immanuel came to them and made his New Covenant promise: I am with you always.

For Israel, Sinai became a symbol of the covenant promise of God’s presence with them.

And later in their history, with the establishment of the temple of God in Jerusalem, Mount Zion assumed the same significance.

Those great covenant mountains were the places God chose to become present with the people of his choice.

Now the disciples had been gathered together in another mountain-centred fellowship, under the authority of the Son of God to worship, to keep his commands, and to enjoy the blessing of his presence.

And since the promise was given till the end of the age, it’s clear that it wasn’t just for the eleven to enjoy, but for those who would come after them to be built together on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone, to become a holy temple in the Lord, a house in which God lives by his Spirit!

The place of the promise, then, where it is fulfilled today, is among the community of God’s chosen people, his holy nation, his special possession.

It’s a promise which I believe we enjoy when we gather together in our churches.

Haven’t we been called into this mountain-centred fellowship?

The writer of Hebrews says:

Yes, we’ve been called together into a mountain-centred community to enjoy the most intimate experience of God’s presence until the end of the age.

What a privilege!

But how is the promise fulfilled?

How do we see the glory of God evidencing his presence with us when we come together?

Paul gives us the answer:

The answer is in YOU, my brothers and sisters.

That is where I will see the evidence of God’s presence with his chosen people - in the faces of my brothers and sisters in the Lord, who are being transformed with ever-increasing glory into the likeness of the one they love and serve!

What does that mean for our collective gatherings?

What can we expect from them in light of the Lord’s promise?

Matthew frequently points forward to the closing scene of his gospel by drawing our focus to the Lord Jesus on a mountain with a crowd gathered around him.

Matthew wanted us to see what the presence of God meant to the community that was physically gathered around the Lord then and what it would mean for the people of God throughout the new covenant age.

What did it mean for Immanuel to be present?

Let’s just take one day of his life by way of example.

In Matthew 5, we have one of those scenes which points us forward to Matthew 28; we have the Lord on a mountain, the crowds gathered and taking their seat around him and, it says, he began to teach them (Mt 5:1-2).

This was the Sermon on the Mount, the teaching for life in the community of God’s people.

And we read that when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law (Mt 7:28-29).

Then in chapter 8, he descends the mountain and the crowds follow Jesus and he heals a man with leprosy, Peter’s mother-in-law, the centurion’s servant and many others.

The centurion recognises his authority to heal: just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

For I myself am a man under authority (Mt 8:8–9).

As evening approaches, Jesus gives orders to his disciples to cross the lake and, as he sleeps, a furious storm whips up and waves sweep over the boat.

“Lord, save us” cry the disciples.

And we see Jesus authority over the winds and the waves, as he makes it completely calm.

“What kind of man is this?

Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Mt 8:27).

Immanuel was God with them to teach, to heal, to answer prayer, to calm the storms, to bring peace, to turn doubts into worship!

And that’s just one day!

With them to feed, as in the feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000 (the latter, again, on a mountain).

With them to rebuke and correct, as on the Mount of Olives.