And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Matthew 28:20

There are few things that cause me as much sadness as goodbyes. I remember when we relocated to Ohio for a ministry calling back in 2010. I had been born and raised in California. I was leaving behind all of my family, close friends, and familiar places that had formed me for almost four decades. The feeling of loss was almost unbearable. Honestly, I was barely able to get through a conversation without breaking down in tears. 

I always wondered something similar with the disciples as Jesus prepared to ascend to heaven. As He instructed them in the good work He was leaving them to do, what kind of feelings of loss were they recalling inside? All those hours spent with Jesus traveling to towns and cities, ministering to people, sharing the gospel, healing the sick, and feeding the hungry. Imagine all the moments in between that aren’t even mentioned in the gospel accounts. Walking down the road together, sharing stories, sitting around the fire at night, joking about silly things, and having moments of vulnerability with each other as they contemplated a future that they had all guessed so wrongly about. 

How were these men feeling as Jesus was getting ready to leave them behind in the flesh? Jesus knew. Because He didn’t merely instruct them but He told them where He would be as they began a work that was about to take the world by storm. He would be with them always. It almost feels like poetry the way Jesus says the words to the end of the age. In other words, there would never be a time, place or season when Jesus would not be with these men He had devoted His three years of earthly ministry to. 

He said behold, I am with you always. In other words, look and see that my presence will not be like a flickering light bulb that inevitably grows dim and then burns out. It’s not like a device with a battery in it that is on the verge of losing power. It’s not like a car with too little fuel that begins to sputter on fumes. It is not like the broken promise of someone who pledged their faithfulness but lost interest in keeping it.

The presence of Jesus is like the shining of the sun. You will never know a day that it’s not shining. There will be clouds to obscure its light, and rain to lessen its warmth, but the sun remains fixed in the heavens. But even that metaphor breaks down because the sun is a created object that has no guarantee of everlasting light and warmth. The sun is not the Son. The Son is a light that will retain it’s brightness forever beyond the end of all the earthly and universal ages.

Doyou need to remember this truth anew today? That Jesus will be turning the corner with you into the new year? That if everything around you fails and collapses, and it could, He is with you always, to the end of the age. 

Reflect

Describe some feelings of loss you’ve experienced this year. Meditate on the promise of Jesus to be with you always, and how that will strengthen you as you contemplate the new year.