I am with you
Scripture:
Matthew 28:16-20,
Psalm 33:12,
Romans 8:14-17.
Dear sisters and brothers,
Let us listen to the gospel text for our reflection on the Blessed Trinity Sunday.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew (Matthew 28:16-20):
‘The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”’
Reflection
The today’s gospel text starts with mentioning the number.
It reads as ‘the eleven disciples’.
What does it mean?
Does it make any sense for us as the followers of Jesus Christ?
Yes.
Because, every word in the scripture is with full of life.
The Word of God is active and alive.
It is a two-edged sword.
It not only gives us a message about the past but also conveys a message for our contemporary life, family, society and the Church.
What is it, then?
The scripture conveys that there are twelve disciples, who were called by Jesus Christ after his intense prayer to be with him personally to be sent out.
If it is so, why only the eleven disciples…
What did happen to the one?
Because, we read in today’s gospel text, the eleven disciples, we need to ask a question what happened to the one.
We all know the answer for the question.
We all know who that one person is.
We too have a knowledge of the one.
Who is the one then?
It is Judas.
We know that he was called by Jesus Christ.
He listened intently to the message of Jesus.
Nevertheless, he betrayed Jesus with a kiss.
Why did he do what he did?
You may think that I am now going to justify Judas’ action.
No.
I am not going to do that.
There is a proverb in Tamil, one of the oldest languages in the world.
It goes like this: ‘You have to drink water if you have eaten salt’ (I approximately translated the proverb).
It conveys that every action has a reaction.
Judas faced his own consequences of what he did.
Was it his destiny?
As Christians, we have a destiny to be in communion with our God, the Father, after our death.
Therefore, it is not a destiny.
Was it with a purpose?
Yes, it is a purpose.
Every action of ours, has a purpose.
God has created us with a purpose.
This is my strong belief.
We are not here without a purpose.
We are here with a purpose.
We are born in a particular region, language, culture, belief system, family with a purpose.
Neither we choose to be born in a particular family nor the family choose us.
Judas too was born for a purpose.
Jesus Christ knew about it.
He knows everything before the creation and after the creation of the world.
‘Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!’ (John 8:58).
Again we read:
‘Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered’ (Luke 12:7).
God created every one of us with a purpose.
Judas was also created for a purpose.
I repeat that we too are created for a purpose.
Secondly, we need to realise that our purpose in the world has to end one day.
We complete our journey on this earth starting with our birth and ending with our death going back to God, the Father.
There is a birth.
There is a death.
It is inevitable.
We cannot do anything.
Science has developed a lot.
But there is no answer when we die in a natural world.
The today’s gospel reading categorically conveys a message when it mentions about ‘the eleven disciples’ only.
Yes, dear sisters and brothers,
Judas had a purpose.
He completed it.
He went back to God.
Some may argue back how come Judas went back to God.
As Christians, as the followers of Jesus Christ, we all know…
God is all-forgiving.
God does not show any partiality.
God treats everyone equally without our own merits.
We are here because of His grace.
Life is a gift.
It depends on what we do with our gift of life.
Judas misunderstood the gift of life.
He exploited it.
But, God’s grace was generous.
I am sure that Jesus forgave him.
He prayed for his persecutors on the Cross.
He would have surely forgiven him.
Now, let us leave Judas here and move further to find the purpose of the eleven disciples.
The eleven disciples went further for their purpose to fulfil in their life journey except Judas.
And Jesus called the eleven disciples altogether on the mountain.
Mountain in the scripture symbolises the worship or prayer place.
In other words, I can say that they came together to pray.
There is no mention of the name of the mountain.
It symbolically shows that it can be anywhere.
The only condition is that we need to have a disposition that there is a presence of God.
We need to have a faith to feel the presence of God.
We feel the presence of God in and through the presence of Jesus Christ.
Jesus came amidst the eleven disciples.
The eleven disciples saw him with their naked eyes.
As soon as they saw Jesus Christ, they worshiped him.
But…but…
They doubted.
Why did the eleven disciples doubt?
What did the eleven disciples doubt?
Jesus understood.
He approached them and said to them.
Here, it is important what Jesus Christ says.
What did Jesus Christ say?
Jesus said to them:
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Jesus was given all power in the heaven and on the earth by the Abba Father.
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans beautifully promises (Romans 8:14-17):
Brothers and sisters:
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a Spirit of adoption,
through whom we cry, “Abba, Father!”
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if only we suffer with him
so that we may also be glorified with him.
Jesus gave them a hope, faith and love saying all power in the heaven and on the earth are given by our ‘Abba Father’.
He removed the doubt of the eleven disciples.
Why did Jesus say that to the eleven disciples?
Jesus said to them so that their doubt could be removed from their life.
Jesus said to them so that the eleven disciples can courageously go out and baptise all nations and make them disciples of Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
The eleven must feel confident in the presence of Jesus Christ.
So, Jesus Christ gave them that the formula to baptise all nations, in the form of the Trinitarian God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
But, why?
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:16-17).
We too are given the same power by our baptism as it was given to the disciples.
We, as the disciples of Jesus Christ, have a responsibility to go out and baptise all nations in the name of the Trinitarian God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Does it end here?
No.
We have a great responsibility after the baptism.
We have to teach them, whom we have baptised to observe all that Jesus Christ has commanded us.
What is the command of Jesus Christ?
The command of Jesus Christ is (John 15:12):
‘My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.’
It is not easy to teach what Jesus Christ has commanded us until and unless we observe it ourselves in our lives.
It is difficult.
Loving someone, somewhere, some purpose, is okay with us.
But, loving someone like Jesus Christ is not easy.
Why is not easy?
Jesus Christ loves every creation, every creature, everyone, everywhere, and all the time.
Humanly speaking, it is not possible and easy for us to love like Jesus Christ.
But…
We can…
We need constant help to achieve it.
We need support to lift us up.
We need encouragement when we are discouraged.
We need emotional strength to withstand.
We need the truth.
We need selfless sacrifice.
We need to be transparent.
For all these, we need Jesus Christ in our lives.
Otherwise, it is impossible for us to do it alone.
Not just for once, but ‘always’ we need Jesus Christ in our lives to observe his command.
Jesus Christ knows our hearts clearly.
Jesus Christ understands that we are vulnerable.
For example, Peter’s denial.
He understands that we are broken (John 8:3-11).
That is the reason, Jesus Christ categorically promises us:
‘Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age’.
He is with us ‘always’.
He is our Saviour.
He is our Master.
He is our Messiah.
He loves us always and all-time.
The end of the age…
Whose age is it?
I am not going to interpret what the biblical scholars have to say about the age, but I can say how it is meaningful for me personally.
Yes…
Dear sisters and brothers,
It may be meaningful for me personally when I look at my age to fulfil my purpose for which I am created in a particular family, society, church, region, language, culture in my life journey.
Or
It may be meaningful for you when you look at your age to fulfil your purpose for which you are created in a particular family, society, church, region, language, culture in your life journey.
Or
It may be the world age to fulfil its purpose.
Whatever it may be…
We are blessed people; the Lord has chosen to be his own (Psalm 33:12) by our baptism and promised us to be with us.
Yes…
In spite of all these, what stands significantly is that:
“He is with us always…”
Let us all live in this eternal love.
May the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen…
