Jesus was and is omnipresent

JESUS WAS AND IS OMNIPRESENT
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
MAATT 28 “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, to
the end of the age” (vv. 19–20).
Matthew 28:20 20andteaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am
with you always, to the very end of the age."
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The Vision Of The Abiding Christ
Matthew 28:20
R. Tuck
Christ everwith us must be, in some way, effectivelyapprehended by us, or it
will be but vague, helpless sentiment. We must be able to see him who is thus
"with us always." What, then, is seeing the living Christ?
I. THE WORLD'S WAY OF SEEING CHRIST. The "world" is our Lord's
term for men who are outside his specialrenewal, who are left to the guidance
of the senses andthe mind in their "feeling after God, if haply they might find
him." The man in Christ is the man to whom God is the inspiration and the
life. The man of the world is the man who is satisfiedto be his own inspiration

and his own life. The "world" represents such a seeing of Christ as is possible
to the senses;and even to the senses God"manifestin the flesh" has been
shown. The "world," on its ownterms, and in its own ways, has seenthe
Christ. He has been lookedupon, handled, and listened to. He has made his
impressions on lawyer and Pharisee, Sadduceeand scribe, priest and princely
governor, as well as on the common people. The senses couldsee Christ, but
they could not see much. And so to the "world," Christ is really lost, gone
away. "He is not," says the world; "for I cannot see him." And with this it
thinks to settle the question. But exactly what we have to contend with is the
world's incapacityto see the unseen. It is not best to have our Lord in the
sphere of our senses. Once having had, for a while, the sense manifestationof
Christ, it is better, every waybetter, that the sense limits should be removed.
Want we want now, and what we have, is an "unlocalized, invisible, spiritually
present, everywhere-presentSaviour."
II. THE DISCIPLES'WAY OF SEEING CHRIST. Fortheir good, their
Masteroften puzzled those disciples. As they satat table with him in the
upper room, they were in a most bewildered state of mind. They could not get
at their Lord's meaning. He was going away. He was coming again. He was
going awayin order that he might come again. Others would not be able to see
him, but they would be able. Perhaps they lighted on this explanation. He
means that the memory of his life and character, and the influence of his wise
teachings, will abide with us, and that will be, in some sense, like having him
present with us. And that would be a wonderful advance on the "world's"
way of seeing Christ. And yet even that way is too limited. Forthose first
disciples it put Christ into the limits of their personalknowledge and
experience of him, and that could not have been his meaning when he said,
"But ye see me." For us it limits the apprehension of Christ to the Gospel
records. He would have us reachsomething altogetherhigher than that. He
himself is "with us all the days."

III. CHRIST'S WAY OF SHOWING HIMSELF TO US. Jesus, in the upper
room, talkedmuch to his disciples about the Spirit. They could not at first
think of their Lord as Spirit, because they had him with them in the flesh. But
he tried to make them feel that this Spirit would do for them permanently just
what he had done for them temporarily. He would comfort them, watch over
them, teachthem, sanctify them. And at lasthe ventured to say, "When your
eyes are fully opened, you will see that the Comforter, who 'abides with you
alway,'will really be me come back to you again." "I will not leave you
comfortless:I will come to you." It is as if he had said," I pass from the region
of bodily senses. I shall not be only a mental memory. To the opened, trusting,
loving heart I shall come, to be the spirit and life of his spirit; to be a new and
nobler selfin him." In their measure the greatapostles seemto have caught
their Lord's meaning. St. Peter, standing beside the sick AEneas, spoke as if
he actually saw the Lord there present, and said, "AEneas, Jesus Christ
maketh thee whole." St. John seems to be always with Christ. You never see
him but you seemto see also his Master. You never listen to a word from his
lips, or read a word from his pen, but you feel that, behind the words, is the
inspiration of the Masterhimself. St. Paul seems to gain a twofold sight of the
ever-presentChrist. Sometimes he sees himself, as it were, enspheredin
Christ: "I knew a man in Christ. Sometimes he realizes Christ as a mysterious
other One, Divine One, who dwells within us. He speaks ofChrist in us," and
says, with the most surprising spiritual insight, "I live: yet not I; Christ liveth
in me." Christ is with us all the days, and we may know that he is; we may
even see him. - R.T.
Biblical Illustrator
And, lo, I am with you alway.
Matthew 28:20
Christ continually present with His Church
G. Calthrop, M. A.

I. That the Saviour is speaking of MORE THAN THAT PRESENCE,
WHICH IS INSEPARABLE FROM THE NATURE OF HIS OWN
ESSENTIALAND ETERNALGODHEAD. In the case ofour Lord the
Godheadis so modified by its alliance with the Humanity — modified not in
itself, for there no modification would be possible — but in its action upon the
Church, — that what is brought into contactwith us, is the human sympathy
of the Saviour, glorified by its connectionwith the Deity of His person.
II. The factthat communion with the Saviour is MADE POSSIBLE BYTHE
ADVENT OF THE COMFORTER;that the coming of the Spirit is, to all
intents and purposes, a coming of the Saviour to the people who love Him.
The personality that is in Him whom we address, must vibrate to the touch of
the personalitythat is in us, — or else communion will not have taken place.
This has been made possible, though Christ is absentin the body, by the
advent of the Holy Ghost. No one will be disposedto question that the
personality of God can revealitself to the personality of man without the
intervention of a visible form, and without the employment of articulate
language. There are modes of fellowshipbetweenspirit and spirit with which
we are unacquainted, yet real and efficacious. He is said to dwell in the
believer. We speak not of grace but of living communication. And where the
Spirit comes Christ comes;and where the Spirit and Christ come the Father
comes.
III. This coming of Christ to His people, precious as it is, is SUITED TO A
STATE OF IMPERFECTION AND DISCIPLINE. We look forward to
something beyond that which we enjoy now. There was the coming of Christ
in the flesh. That passedaway. It gave way to the coming by the Spirit. That is
better, more spiritual, but insufficient. We look forward to the final,
exhaustive coming.
(G. Calthrop, M. A.)

The present Saviour
J. Hamilton, D. D.
Some benefits of Christ's perpetual presence with His people, especially when
that presence is realized.
1. It is sanctifying.
2. Sustaining.
3. Comforting.
(J. Hamilton, D. D.)
Christ's parting promise
C. M. Short.
I. THE PROMISE — "I am with you alway." What did Christ mean by this.
1. Can we attachto the words a meaning similar to that conveyedwhen
speaking ofthe dead. We say that they still live in the hearts of those who
knew and loved them. After the lapse of years we canoften recallwith
vividness the features of one departed.
2. Men may live in their works. Is Christ only present as other goodmen are?
We who believe in Christ as a supernatural revelationregard this parting
promise as implying infinitely more than this. It meant the indwelling of a
Personalenergydistinct from any memory of Him. Is it replied that this is
incomprehensible; life is incomprehensible. Christ is not a power generatedin
nature.

II. THE FULFILMENT OF THE PROMISE.
(C. M. Short.)
The presence ofChrist
E. Bersier, D. D.
1. That presence is spiritual. Not the consecratedhost. The believers in the
upper room had nothing to appealto their senses.
2. This presence ofChrist consists in something more than there is in His
word. Caesar, Plato are still with us in their words; but there is infinitely
more in the presence ofChrist. Behind the written word there is the living
word, the invisible Saviour who manifests Himself to the heart.
3. This presence is especiallypromised to the Church, and is the secretofits
triumph over infidelity and persecution.
4. But what makes men doubt the presence ofChrist in the Church is the sight
of the inward state of the Church itself.
5. But what Christ announces to the Church He announces to the individual
soul.
6. Affliction may be a proof of the Lord's presence.

7. Is there anything on earth grander than faithful love? "I am with you
alway."
(E. Bersier, D. D.)
Christ present, though appearancesmay seemto the contrary
E. Bersier, D. D.
In gloomy winter's day no tree moves its verdant top in our fields; no flower
casts its perfume to the winds; everything appears dead in nature. Will you
tell me that the sun has not risen? No, although he has disappeared behind a
curtain of clouds, he makes his powerful actioneverywhere felt; and without
the sun, which you do not see, there would remain for you only an icy shroud,
and the darkness of night. The soulhas its winter also, when the Sun of
Righteousnessno longer sheds on it more than a pale glimmer, when
obedience is performed without joy.
(E. Bersier, D. D.)
DesirablenessofChrist's presence
B. Beddome.
I. Christ's presence is exceedinglydesirable to the saints.
1. The presence of Christ is an evidence of His love.
2. Christ's presence is attended with the most desirable effects;none canenjoy
it without deriving the greatestadvantages from it.
3. Presentcommunion with Christ is an earnestof everlasting fruition.

II. A seemingly departing Christ may be constrained, as it were, to abide with
His people.
1. By the exercise ofa lively faith.
2. By fervent prayer.
3. By a suitable conduct towards him.
(B. Beddome.)
Christ's presence essential
A. L. R. Foote.
Nothing could supply the room of Christ to His Church; not the gospels,
though they recordHis eventful life and death; not the epistles, though they
contain the full revelation of His own truth; not ministers, though they are His
ambassadors;not ordinances, though they are the channels of grace, and so
many meeting places betweenour souls and Him whom our souls love. None
of these, nor all of these together, can be to the Church, in the steadof its own
Divine Redeemerand Head. Without His continued presence and aid, the
Church would speedily come to an end. People may talk as they please about
the omnipotence of truth, and the adaptation of Christianity to man, but in a
world like this, hostile to the truth, and alienated from God, no security short
of that presented in the actual indwelling of Christ in His Church, His own
kingdom and house, will be sufficient. To this we owe it, that there has been a
Church in the world up to this hour; to this we owe it, that there shall be a
Church in it to the end of time.

(A. L. R. Foote.)
The ever-presentSaviour
J. Vaughan, M. A.
1. This is the language of One who had been through the passageofdeath and
known the bitterness of separation.
2. It is difficult to realize this invisible presence;it is more real when realized.
It is spiritual, always with us.
3. It conveys the idea' that before the mind of the speakerall the days lay
ranged in their order to the last.
4. It is an inner presence.
5. Mostminds, whateverthey be, do bestin fellowship.
(J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The charm of the Divine presence
J. Vaughan, M. A.
Suppose a friend who combines everything which goes to make your idea of
friendship — intellectual, wise, modest, fond, true, good. Suppose such a
person just set to your particular taste — in harmony with every thought; his
societylike a continual strain of music. You lean on his judgment — you are
happy in his love. What a bloom on life — what a sunlight — what a charm —

what a necessitythat person would become to you! But what is that compared
to Christ — to a man who has once learned the secretof finding His presence
a reality? who knows and loves Him as his own near, dear, loving Saviour —
the Brother of his soul — much more than another self. The very fact that He
is there — though He did nothing, though there were no actual intercourse,
though He were not seen — has an untold spell upon you. Did you never feel
what the presence ofa very little child would be, though there were not
another man in the world? Think of what even a silent presence canbe! But it
is not silent.
(J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Christ's perpetual presence
J. T. Stannard.
I. What an insight we have here into the essentialnature of Christianity itself,
and what a guarantee for its permanence and power. It is something more
than an outward revelationof facts, more than a community of brethren: it is
a life.
II. May we not see in this promise the designedpreventative againstor
remedy for certain evils sure to infest and corrode the life of His kingdom.
III. It is of the guarantee of the permanence and power of Christianity in
Christ's constantpresence that I would now speak. The higher the principle of
life the longer it is in coming to maturity; but also the surer when maturity is
reached. This explains the slow progress of Christianity.
(J. T. Stannard.)
Christ's presence our stimulus

D. Wise
There is a touching factrelated in the history of a Highland chief of the noble
house of McGregor, who fell wounded by two balls at the battle of
Prestonpans. Seeing their chief fall, the clan wavered, and gave the enemy an
advantage. The old chieftain, beholding the effects ofhis disaster, raised
himself up on his elbow, while the blood gushed in streams from his wounds,
and cried aloud, "I am not dead, my children; I am looking at you, to see you
do your duty." These words revived the sinking courage of his brave
Highlanders. There was a charm in the fact that they still fought under the eye
of their chief. It roused them to put forth their mightiest energies, and they
did all that human strength could do to turn and stem the dreadful tide of
battle. And is there not a charm to you, O believer, in the factthat you
contend in the battle-field of life under the eye of your Saviour? Wherever you
are, howeveryou are oppressedby foes, howeverexhaustedby the stern strife
with evil, the eye of Christ is fixed most lovingly upon you.
(D. Wise,)
Christ's presence all-sufficient
John Trapp.
When Christ saith, "I am with you alway," you may add what you will: to
protect you, to direct you, to comfort you, to carry on the work of grace in
you, and in the end to crownyou with immortality and glory. All this and
more is included in this precious promise.
(John Trapp.)
Presence superiorto memory
Canon Liddon.
He promises His presence. How different the case wouldbe if He had only
said, "The memory of My life and work shall be with you always." Whata

difference there is betweena mere memory and a presence. At first, indeed,
when we have just lost a relation or a friend, memory, in its importunity and
anguish, seems to be and to do all that a presence could do, perhaps even
more. It gathers up the past and heaps it on the present; it crowds into the
thoughts of a few minutes the incidents of a lifetime; it has about it a greatness
and a vividness which was wanting while its objectwas still with us. But even
a memory decays. Thatit should do so seems impossible at first. We protest to
ourselves and to the world, that it will be as fresh as everto the last day of our
lives. But memory is only an effort of the human mind, while a presence is
independent of it; and the human mind has limited powers which are easily
exhausted; it cannotalways continue on the strain; and so a time comes when
the first freshness passes away, and then other thoughts, interests, and
occupations crowdin upon us and claim their share of the little all that we
have to give. And so, what seems to us to be so fresh and imperishable is
already indistinct and faded. Oh!, think of any private friend, think of any of
the celebratedmen whose names were on the lips of every one, and who had
died within the last two or three years!At first it seemedas if you might
predict with confidence that the world would go on thinking and talking about
them for at leasta generation;but already, the sure and fatal action of time
upon a living memory, howevergreatand striking, is making itself felt; and
even in our thoughts about them they are passing rapidly into that world of
shadows, where shadows soon die awayinto the undistinguishable haze and
gloombeyond them. It is otherwise with a presence;whether we see the
presence ornot, we know that it is here. If our friend is in the next room,
busily occupied and unable to give us his time just now, still, the knowledge
that he is close at hand, and can be applied to if necessary, is itself a comfort
and a strength to us; we can go to him if we like. His being here places us in a
very different position from that which we should occupy if he had left us; if
we could only think of him as having been with us in times past, though really
absent now. A presence, I say, is a fact independent of our moods of mind, a
fact whether we recognize it or not; and in our Divine Saviour's presence
there is indeed a fulness of joy which means hope, work, power, eventual
victory.
(Canon Liddon.)

Christ's presence securesthe Church's victory
This is a factorin the life and work of Christ's Church with which persons do
not reckonwho look at her only from the outside, and judge of her strength
and prospects as they would judge of any human society. Theysay that she
will die out because this or that force, which has, no doubt, weightin the
affairs of men, is for the time being telling heavily againsther. If large sections
of public feeling, or literature, or the public policy of some great country, or
the influence of a new and enterprising philosophy, or the bias of a group of
powerful minds are againsther, forthwith we hear the cry, "The mission of
the apostles is coming to an end; the Church of Christ will presently fail!" Do
not be in too greata haste, my friends, about this. You have yet to reckonwith
a force invisible, and perhaps, as far as you are concerned, unsuspected, but
never more real, never more operative than it is at this moment. You have
forgottenthe PresenceofChrist. He did not retreat to heaven when His first
apostles died; He promised to be with them to the end of time; He spoke not
merely to the eleven men before Him, but to the vast multitude of successors
who defiled before His eyes down to the utmost limits of the Christian ages:
"Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world!" With us by His
Spirit; with us in the greatsacramentof His love; with us amid weaknesses,
divisions, failures, disappointments. He is with us still, and it is His Presence
which alone sustains His envoys, and which gives to their work whatever it
has had, or has, or has to have, of.
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(20) All things whatsoeverI have commanded you.—The words obviously
point, in the first instance, to the teaching of our Lord recordedin the

Gospels—the new laws of life, exceeding broad and deep, of the Sermon on the
Mount, the new commandment of Love for the inner life (John 13:34), the new
outward ordinances of Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. But we may well
believe that they went further than this, and that the words may covermuch
unrecorded teaching which they had heard in the darkness, and were to
reproduce in light (Matthew 10:27).
I am with you alway.—Literally, all the days, or, at all times; the words
emphasising continuity more than the Englishadverb. The “days” that were
coming might seemlong and dark and dreary, but He, their Lord, would be
with them, in eachof those days, even to the far-off end.
Even unto the end of the world.—Literally, of the age. The phrase is the same
as that in Matthew 13:39-40;Matthew 13:49; Matthew 24:13. In Hebrews
9:26 it is used of the time of the appearance ofChrist in the flesh, as the
beginning of the last age of the world. Like all such words, its meaning widens
or contracts according to our point of view. Here the contextdetermines its
significance as stretching forward to the end of the age, or aeon, which began
with the first Advent of the Christ and shall last until the second.
We ask, as we close the Gospel, why it ends thus? why there should be no
record of a fact so momentous as the Ascension? The questionis one which we
cannot fully answer. There is an obvious abruptness in the close ofthe book as
a book. It may be that it was left unfinished. It may be that the factof the
Ascensionenteredinto the elementary instruction of every catechumen, and
was therefore takenfor granted; or that it was thought of as implied in the
promise of Christ’s perpetual presence;or, lastly, that that promise seemed,
in its grandeur and its blessedness, to be the consummation of all that Christ
had come to accomplish, and therefore as the fitting close ofthe recordof His
life and work.

BensonCommentary
Matthew 28:20. Teaching them to observe all things, &c. — Here we have, 1st,
The duty of the apostles andministers of Christ, which is, to teach his
disciples to observe all things that he has commanded; that is, they must
instruct them in all the doctrines and precepts taught by Christ, and inculcate
upon them the necessityofunderstanding and believing the former, and
obeying the latter; and must assistthem in applying Christ’s general
commands to particular cases. Theymust teachthem, not their own or any
man’s fancies and inventions, but the truths and institutions of Christ; to
them they must religiously adhere, and in the knowledge ofthem must train
up his followers. As Christ does not here command any thing to be taught
which he himself had not taught, we may infer that every thing fundamental
and essentialto salvationmay be found in the gospels, andthat even the
apostles themselves had not a right to teach any thing as necessaryto salvation
which Christ himself had not assertedto be Song of Solomon2 d, The duty of
Christ’s disciples, of all that are dedicatedto him in baptism; they must
observe all things whatsoeverthathe has commanded, and in order thereto,
must submit to the teaching of those whom he sends. Our admissioninto the
visible church is in order to something further; namely, our being prepared
for and employed in his service. By our baptism we are obliged, 1st, To make
the doctrines of Christ the rule of our faith, and his commands the directory
of our practice. We are under the law to Christ, and must obey, and in all our
obedience must have an eye to the command, and do what we do as unto the
Lord. 2d, To observe all things that he hath commanded without exception;
all the moral duties, and all the instituted ordinances. Our obedience to the
laws of Christ is not sincere if it be not universal; we must stand complete in
his whole will. And, lo, I am with you alway — Here our Lord gives his
apostles, andall the ministers of his gospel, truly sentby him, an assurance of
his spiritual presence with them in the executionof this commissionunto the
end of time; and this exceeding greatand precious promise he ushers in with
ιδου, Lo! or behold! to strengthen their faith and engagetheir regard to it. As
if he had said, Take notice ofthis; it is what you may assure yourselves of and
rely upon. “I am with you; I, the eternalSon of God; I, who have the angels at
my command, and make the devils tremble by my frown; I, who in your sight

have causedthe storms to cease,the blind to see, the lame to walk, the dead to
rise, only with the word of my mouth; I, who have all power in heaven and
earth committed to me — am with you; not, I will be with you, but, I am with
you, and that alway, Gr. πασας τας ημερας, all the days, or every day:
Wheresoeveryou are, and whensoeveryou do any thing toward the executing
of the commissionwhich I have given you, I am with you in the doing of it,
and that too to the very end of the world: that is, so long as I have a church
upon earth, which shall be till my coming againto judge the world, all this
while I promise to be with you, and consequentlyas long as the world shall
last.” — Bishop Beveridge, On Christ’s Presencewith his Ministers. Some
would translate εως της σοντελειας του αιωνος, until the conclusionof the
age;understanding by the expressionthe dissolution of the Jewishstate. But
as Christ’s presence with his surviving apostles and other ministers was as
necessaryafterthe destruction of Jerusalem, and the overthrow of the Jewish
commonwealth, as before these events, nothing canbe more unreasonable
than to limit these words by such an interpretation. Nor indeed can they with
any propriety be interpreted in any other than the most extensive sense;the
influence of Christ’s Spirit being essentiallynecessaryto the successofthe
gospelin every age and nation; and our Lord, in the last discourse which he
delivered to his disciples before his passion, having graciouslypromised it,
saying, I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter to
abide with you; εος τον αιωνα, for ever. Our Lord could not mean that this
other Comforter should abide merely with the persons to whom he then
spoke, they being to die quickly: but that he should abide with them during
their lives, and with their successorsafterward;or with them and all the
ministers of the gospelin the severalages ofthe church; with all to whom this
commissionextends; with all, that, being duly calledand sent, thus baptize
and thus teach. When the end of the world is come, and the kingdom is
delivered up to God even the Father, there will then be no further need of
ministers and their ministration; but till then they shall continue, and the
greatintentions of the institution shall be answered. This is a most
encouraging wordto all the faithful ministers of Christ; that what was saidto
the apostles was,and is, saidto them all. I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. Maythis gracious promise cause us to gird up the loins of our minds,
and increase ourzeal, fervour, and diligence; inducing us to accountno

labour too great, no service too much, no suffering too severe, so that we may
but finish our course with joy, and fulfil the ministry we are engagedin!
Two solemn farewells we find our Lord Jesus giving to his church; and his
parting word at both of them is very encouraging;one was here, when he
closedup his personal converse with them, and then his parting word was, Lo,
I am with you alway; I leave you, yet still I am with you. The other was, when
he closedup the canonof the Scripture by the pen of his beloved disciple, and
then his parting word was, Surely I come quickly. I leave you for awhile, but I
will be with you againshortly, Revelation22:20. By this it appears that his
love to his church continues the same, though she is deprived of his visible and
bodily presence;and that it is his will we should maintain both our
communion with him, and our expectationof him. The word amen, with
which this gospelconcludes, is wanting in four MSS., and in the Vulgate,
Coptic, and Armenian versions. It is probable, however, that it was inserted
by the evangelist, not only as an intimation of the conclusionof his book, but
as an asseverationofthe certaintruth of the things contained in it. And,
considering the connectionof the word with the preceding promise, which was
undoubtedly the greateststrengthand joy of St. Matthew’s heart: “it is very
natural,” says Dr. Doddridge, “to suppose that it has some such reference as
this to that promise: ‘Amen! blessedJesus, — so may it indeed be; and may
this important promise be fulfilled to us and to our successors to the remotest
ages, in its full extent!’ St. John uses the like term in more express language,
in the lastverse but one of the Revelation:Surely I come quickly, Amen! Even
so come, Lord Jesus.”
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
28:16-20 This evangelistpassesoverother appearances ofChrist, recordedby
Luke and John, and hastens to the most solemn; one appointed before his
death, and after his resurrection. All that see the Lord Jesus with an eye of
faith, will worship him. Yet the faith of the sincere may be very weak and
wavering. But Christ gave such convincing proofs of his resurrection, as made
their faith to triumph over doubts. He now solemnly commissionedthe

apostles and his ministers to go forth among all nations. The salvationthey
were to preach, is a common salvation;whoeverwill, let him come, and take
the benefit; all are welcome to Christ Jesus. Christianity is the religion of a
sinner who applies for salvationfrom deservedwrath and from sin; he applies
to the mercy of the Father, through the atonement of the incarnate Son, and
by the sanctificationof the Holy Spirit, and gives up himself to be the
worshipper and servant of God, as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three
Persons but one God, in all his ordinances and commandments. Baptism is an
outward sign of that inward washing, or sanctificationof the Spirit, which
seals and evidences the believer's justification. Let us examine ourselves,
whether we really possessthe inward and spiritual grace ofa death unto sin,
and a new birth unto righteousness,by which those who were the children of
wrath become the children of God. Believers shallhave the constant presence
of their Lord always;all days, every day. There is no day, no hour of the day,
in which our Lord Jesus is not present with his churches and with his
ministers; if there were, in that day, that hour, they would be undone. The
God of Israel, the Saviour, is sometimes a God that hideth himself, but never a
God at a distance. To these precious words Amen is added. Even so, Lord
Jesus, be thou with us and all thy people; cause thy face to shine upon us, that
thy waymay be knownupon earth, thy saving health among all nations.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
Lo, I am with you - That is, by my Spirit, my providence, my attending
counseland guidance. I will strengthen, assist, anddirect you. This also
proves that Christ is divine. If he is a mere man, or a creature, though of the
highest order, how could he promise to be "with" his disciples "always,"orat
all? They would be scatteredfarand wide. His disciples would greatly
increase. If he was "with them" always, he was God; for no finite creature
could thus be presentwith many people scatteredin different parts of the
world.
Unto the end of the world - The word rendered "world," here, sometimes
means "age orstate" and by some it has been supposed to mean, I will be with
you until the end of this "age," orduring the continuance of the Jewishstate,
to the destruction of Jerusalem. But as the presence ofChrist was no less

necessaryafterthat than before, there seems to be no propriety in limiting the
promise to his own age. It may therefore be consideredas a gracious
assurance thathe would aid, strengthen, guide, and defend all his disciples,
but more especiallyhis ministers, to the end of time.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
20. Teaching them—This is teaching in the more usual sense ofthe term; or
instructing the converted and baptized disciples.
to observe all things whatsoeverI have commanded you: and, lo, I—The "I"
here is emphatic. It is enough that I
am with you alway—"allthe days"; that is, till making converts, baptizing,
and building them up by Christian instruction, shall be no more.
even unto the end of the world. Amen—This glorious Commission embraces
two primary departments, the Missionaryand the Pastoral, withtwo sublime
and comprehensive Encouragements to undertake and go through with them.
First, The Missionarydepartment (Mt 28:18): "Go, make disciples of all
nations." In the corresponding passage ofMark (Mr 16:15)it is, "Go ye into
all the world, and preachthe Gospelto every creature." The only difference
is, that in this passagethe sphere, in its world-wide compass and its
universality of objects, is more fully and definitely expressed;while in the
former the greataim and certain result is delightfully expressedin the
command to "make disciples of all nations." "Go, conquer the world for Me;
carry the glad tidings into all lands and to every ear, and deem not this work
at an end till all nations shall have embraced the Gospeland enrolled
themselves My disciples." Now, Was all this meant to be done by the Eleven
men nearestto Him of the multitude then crowding around the risen

Redeemer? Impossible. Was it to be done even in their lifetime? Surely not. In
that little band Jesus virtually addressedHimself to all who, in every age,
should take up from them the same work. Before the eyes of the Church's
risen Head were spread out, in those Elevenmen, all His servants of every
age;and one and all of them receivedHis commissionat that moment. Well,
what next? Set the sealof visible discipleship upon the converts, by "baptizing
them into the name," that is, into the whole fulness of the grace "ofthe
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," as belonging to them who
believe. (See on [1392]2Co 13:14). This done, the Missionarydepartment of
your work, which in its own nature is temporary, must merge in another,
which is permanent. This is
Second, The Pastoraldepartment (Mt 28:20): "Teachthem"—teachthese
baptized members of the Church visible—"to observe all things whatsoeverI
have commanded you," My apostles, during the three years ye have been with
Me.
What must have been the feelings which such a Commissionawakened? "We
who have scarce conqueredour own misgivings—we, fishermenof Galilee,
with no letters, no means, no influence over the humblest creature, conquer
the world for Thee, Lord? Nay, Lord, do not mock us." "I mock you not, nor
send you a warfare on your own charges. For"—Here we are brought to
Third, The Encouragements to undertake and go through with this work.
These are two; one in the van, the other in the rear of the Commissionitself.
First Encouragement:"All power in heaven"—the whole power of Heaven's
love and wisdomand strength, "and all powerin earth"—poweroverall
persons, all passions, allprinciples, all movements—to bend them to this one
high object, the evangelizationof the world: All this "is given unto Me." as the

risen Lord of all, to be by Me placed at your command—"Go ye therefore."
But there remains a
SecondEncouragement:"And lo! I am with you all the days"—notonly to
perpetuity, but without one day's interruption, "evento the end of the world,"
The "Amen" is of doubtful genuineness in this place. If, however, it belongs to
the text, it is the Evangelist's ownclosing word.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Ver. 18-20. Mark saith, Mark 16:15-18, And he said unto them, Go ye into all
the world, and preach the gospelto every creature. He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved;but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these
signs shall follow them that believe;In my name they shall castout devils;
they shall speak with new tongues;they shall take up serpents; and if they
drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick,
and they shall recover. Our blessedLord in these three last verses:
1. Asserts his powerand authority.
2. He delegates a power.
3. He subjoins a promise.
The powerand authority which he asserts to himself is, All power both in
heaven and earth, Acts 10:36,42 Eph 1:20-22;powerof remission of sins, Luke
24:47, of congregating, teaching, and governing his church; a powerto give
eternal life to whomsoeverhe pleased. This was inherent in him as God
blessedfor ever, given to him as our Mediatorand Redeemer, given him when

he came into the world, but more especiallyconfirmed to him and manifested
to be given him at his resurrection and ascension, Philippians 2:9,10. Having
declaredhis power, he delegates it:
Go ye therefore, and teachall nations; the Greek is mayhteusate, make
disciples all nations; but that must be first by preaching and instructing them
in the principles of the Christian faith, and Mark expounds it, telling us our
Saviour said, Go ye into all the world, and preachthe gospelto every creature,
that is, to every reasonable creature capable ofhearing and receiving it. I
cannot be of their mind, who think that persons may be baptized before they
are taught; we want precedents of any such baptism in Scripture, though
indeed we find precedents of persons baptized who had but a small degree of
the knowledge ofthe gospel;but it should seemthat they were all first taught
that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and were not baptized till they
professedsuchbelief, Acts 8:37, and John baptized them in Jordan, confessing
their sins, Matthew 3:6. But it doth not therefore follow, that children of such
professors are not to be baptized, for the apostles were commandedto baptize
all nations: children are a greatpart of any nation, if not the greatestpart,
and although amongstthe Jews those that were convertedto the Jewish
religion were first instructed in the law of God before they were circumcised,
yet the fathers being once admitted, the children were circumcisedat eight
days old; nor were they under any covenantdifferent from us, though we be
under a more clearmanifestationof the same covenantof grace, ofwhich
circumcisionwas a sign and sealto them, as baptism is to us. Infants are
capable of the obligations of baptism, for the obligationariseth from the
equity of the thing, not from the understanding and capacityof the person;
they are also capable of the same privileges, for of such is the kingdom of God,
as our Saviour hath taught us.
All nations: the apostles were by this precept obliged to go up and down the
world preaching the gospel, but not presently. So it is plain that the apostles
understood their commission, from Acts 1:8 Acts 3:26 13:46 18:6,7 Ga 2:7.

They were first to preach and to baptize amongstthe Jews, and then thus to
disciple all nations. Pastors andteachers who succeededthe apostles were not
under this obligation, but were to be fixed in churches gathered, as we learn
from the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles of the apostles. Theyby this
commissionhave authority in any place to preachand to baptize, but are not
under an obligationto fix no where, but to go up and down preaching in all
nations.
Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost. Baptizing them is no more than washing them with water. We read of
the baptism of pots and cups, Mark 7:8, (we translate it washing, ) which we
know may be by dipping them in water, or by pouring or sprinkling of water
upon them. It is true, the first baptisms of which we read in holy writ were by
dippings of the persons baptized. It was in a hot country, where it might be at
any time without the danger of persons’lives. Where it may be, we judge it
reasonable, andmost resembling our burial with Christ by baptism into
death; but we cannotthink it necessary, forGod loveth mercy rather than
sacrifice, andthe thing signified by baptism, viz. the washing awayof the
soul’s sins with the blood of Christ, is in Scripture expressedto us by pouring
and sprinkling, Ezekiel36:25 Hebrews 12:24 1 Peter1:2.
In the name of the Father, &c.; in the Greek it is, eis to onoma, into the name.
In the name doth not only import the naming of the names of the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghostupon them, but, in the authority, or (which is indeed the
chief) into the professionofthe trinity of the persons in the one Divine Being:
dedicating the persons baptized to Godthe Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and
thereby obliging them to worship and serve God the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost; for in baptism there is both a solemndedication of the personto God,
and a solemnstipulation: the person baptized either covenanting for himself
that he will be the Lord’s, or his parents covenanting for him that he shall be
the Lord’s; which covenantdoth both oblige the parents to do what in them
lieth in order to that end, and also the child, the parents covenanting for no

more than the child was under a natural and religious obligationto perform,
if such covenanthad never been made by its parents on its behalf.
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoeverI have commanded you.
There is a teaching must go before baptism of persons grownup; and this was
the constantpractice of the apostles. It is fit men should act as rational
creatures, understanding what they do. And there is a teaching which must
follow baptism; for baptism without obedience, and a living up to that
covenantin which we are engaged, willsave no soul, but lay it under a greater
condemnation. The apostles might teachnothing but what Christ had
commanded them, and they were bound to teach whatsoeverChristhad
commanded them. Here now is the rule of the baptized person’s obedience.
We are bound to no obedience but of the commands of Christ, and to a perfect
obedience of them, under the penalty of eternalcondemnation. When Mark
saith, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, it doth not imply that
baptism is absolutely necessaryto salvation, or in the same order with faith in
Christ; but that the contempt of it is damnable, as being a piece of
presumptuous disobedience;and such a faith is to be understood there, under
the notion of believing, as workethby love.
And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world: I am and I will
be with you, and those who succeedyou in the work of the ministry, being
calledof me thereunto. I will be with you, protecting you, and upholding that
ordinance, and blessing you, and all others of my faithful ministers that
labour for making me and my gospelknown, with success.
Unto the end of the world; not of this age only, but of the world: my ministry
begun in you shall not fail, nor shall the adding of souls to the number of them
who shall be saved (as a tokenof my gracious presence withyou) fail, till the
world shall be determined, and the new heavens and the new earth shall
appear. What Mark addeth concerning the signs that should follow those that

believed, had a particular reference to the times immediately following
Christ’s ascensioninto heaven, and is to be understood of those miraculous
operations which were to be wrought by the apostles, andothers, for a further
confirmation of the doctrine of the gospelby them preached. Matthew says
nothing of them here. There is no promise of Christ’s presence with his
ministers to enable to such operations to the end of the world; but with his
ministers preaching, baptizing, and teaching men to observe and to do
whatsoeverhe hath commanded them, he hath promised to be, till time shall
be no more.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Teaching them to observe all things,.... All ordinances, not only baptism, but
the Lord's supper; all positive institutions, and moral duties; all obligations,
both to God and men; all relative duties that respectthe world, or one
another, those that are without, and those that are within; and these are to be
taught them, and therefore to be insisted on in the ministry of the word; and
not merely in order that they may know them, and have the theory of them,
but that the may put them into practice:
whatsoeverI have commanded you; every thing that Christ has commanded,
be it what it will, and nothing else;for Christ's ministers are not to teachfor
doctrines the commandments of men; or enjoin that on the churches, which is
of their own, or other men's devising, and was never ordered by Christ; and
for their encouragementhe adds,
and lo! I am with you always, even unto the end of the world: meaning, not
merely to the end of their lives, which would be the end of the world to them;
nor to the end of the Jewishworld, or state, which was not a great wayoff,
though this is sometimes the sense ofthis phrase; but to the end of the world
to come, the Gospelchurch state, which now took place;or to the end of the
present world, the universe: not that the apostles shouldlive to the end of it;
but that whereas Christ would have a church and people to the end of the
world, and the Gospeland the ordinances of it should be administered so long,
and there should be Gospelministers till that time; Christ's sense is, that he

would grant his presence to them, his immediate disciples, and to all that
should succeedthem in future generations, to the end of time: and which is to
be understood not of his corporealpresence,whichthey should not have till
then, but of his spiritual presence;and that he would be with them, in a
spiritual sense, to assistthem in their work, to comfort them under all
discouragements,to supply them with his grace, andto protect them from all
enemies, and preserve from all evils; which is a greatencouragementboth to
administer the word and ordinances, and attend on them.
Geneva Study Bible
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoeverI have commanded you: and,
lo, I am with you {g} alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
(g) Forever: and this refers to the manner of the presence ofhis Spirit, by
means of which he makes us partakers both of himself and of all his benefits,
even though he is absent from us in body.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Matthew 28:20 Διδάσκοντες αὐτούς, κ.τ.λ.]withoutbeing conjoinedby καί,
therefore not co-ordinate with, but subordinate to the βαπτίζοντες, intimating
that a certain ethicalteaching must necessarilyaccompanyin every case the
administration of baptism: while ye teachthem to observe everything, etc.
This moral instruction must not be omittedFN[44]when you baptize, but it
must be regarded as an essentialpart of the ordinance. That being the case,
infant baptism cannot possibly have been contemplated in βαπτίζ, nor, of
course, in πάντα τ. ἔθνη either.
καὶ ἰδοὺ, κ.τ.λ.]Encouragementto execute the commissionentrusted to them,
Matthew 28:19.

ἐγώ] with strong emphasis:I who am invested with that high ἐξουσία to which
I have just referred.
μεθʼ ὑμῶν εἰμι] namely, through the working of that power which has been
committed to me, Matthew 28:18, and with which I will continue to protect,
support, strengthenyou, etc. Comp. Acts 18:10;2 Corinthians 12:9-10. The
ὑμεῖς are the disciples to whom the Lord is speaking, not the church; the
present tense (not ἔσομαι)points to the fact of His having now entered, and
that permanently, into His estate of exaltation. The promised help itself,
however, is that vouchsafedby the glorified Redeemerin order to the carrying
out of His own work (Php 3:21; Php 4:13; Colossians 1:29;2 Corinthians
12:9), imparted through the medium of the Spirit (John 14-16), which is
regardedas the Spirit of Christ (see on Romans 8:9), and sometimes
manifesting itself also in signs and wonders (Mark 16:20;Romans 15:19; 2
Corinthians 12:12; Hebrews 2:14), in visions and revelations (2 Corinthians
12:1; Acts 12:17). But in connectionwith this matter (comp. on Matthew
18:20)we must discard entirely the unscriptural idea of a substantialubiquity
(in opposition to Luther, Calovius, Philippi). Beza wellobserves:“Ut qui
corpore estabsens, virtute tamen sit totus praesentissimus.”
πάσας τ. ἡμέρ.]all the days that were still to elapse ἕως τ. συντελ. τοῦ αἰῶνος,
i.e. until the close ofthe current age (see onMatthew 24:3), which would be
coincident with the secondadvent, and after the gospelhad been proclaimed
throughout the whole world (Matthew 24:14);“continua praesentia,” Bengel.
[44] N1 Οὐκ ἀρκεῖ υὰρ τὸ βάπτισμα καὶ τὰ δόυματα πρὸς σωτηρίαν, εἰ μὴ καὶ
πολιτεία προσείη, Euthymius Zigabenus, who thus admirably points out that
what is meant by διδάσκοντες, κ.τ.λ., is not the teaching of the gospelwith a
view to conversion. The ἀκοὴ πίστεως (Galatians 3:2) and the πίστις ἐξ ἀκοῆς
(Romans 10:17) are understood, as a matter of course, to have preceded the

baptism. Comp. TheodorSchott, who, however, without being justified by
anything in the text, is disposedto restrict the ὅσα ἰνεσειλάμ. ὑμῖν, on the one
hand, to the instructions containedin the farewelladdresses (from the night
before the crucifixion on to the ascension), and τηρεῖν, on the other, to a
faithful observance onthe part of the convert of what he already knew.
Comp., on the contrary, Matthew 19:17;John 14:15; John 14:21;John 15:10;
1 Timothy 6:14; 1 John 2:3 f., 1 John 3:22 f., 1 John 5:2 f.; Revelation12:17;
Revelation14:12;Sir 29:1, in all which passagesτηρεῖντὰς ἐντολάς means
observe, i.e. to obey, the commandments. Admirable, however, is the comment
of Bengel:“Ut baptizatis convenit, fidei virtute.”
REMARK 1.
According to John 21:14, the Lord’s appearance atthe sea of Tiberias, John
21, which Matthew not only omits, but which he does not seemto have been
aware of (see on Matthew 28:10), must have preceded that referred to in our
passage.
REMARK 2.
Matthew makes no mention of the return of Jesus and His disciples to Judaea,
or of the ascensionfrom the Mount of Olives; he follows a tradition in which
those two facts had not yet found a place, just as they appear to have been
likewise omitted in the lostconclusionof Mark; then it so happened that the
apostolic λόγια terminated with our Lord's parting address, Matthew 28:19 f.
We must beware of imputing to the evangelistany subjective motive for
making no mention of any other appearance but that which took place on the
mountain in Galilee;for had he omitted and recordedevents in this arbitrary
fashion, and merely as he thought fit, and that, too, when dealing with the
sublimest and most marvellous portion of the gospelnarrative, he would have

been acting a most unjustifiable part, and only ruining his own credit for
historicalfidelity. By the apostles the ascension, the actualbodily mounting up
into heaven, was regardedas a fact about which there could not be any
possible doubt, and without- which they would have felt the secondadvent to
be simply inconceivable (Php 2:9; Php 3:20; Ephesians 4:10; 1 Peter3:22;
John 20:17), and accordinglyit is presupposed in the concluding words of our
Gospel;but the embodying of it in an outward incident, supposedto have
occurredin presence of the apostles, is to be attributed to a tradition which
Luke, it is true, has adopted (as regards the author of the appendix to Mark,
see on Mark 16:19 f.), but which has been rejectedby our evangelistand John,
notwithstanding that in any case this latter would have been an eyewitness.
But yet the fact itself that the Lord, shortly after His resurrection, ascended
into heaven, and that not merely in spirit (which, and that in entire opposition
to Scripture, would either exclude the resurrection of the actual body, or
presuppose a seconddeath), but in the body as perfectly transformed and
glorified at the moment of the ascension, is one of the truths of which we are
also fully convinced, confirmed as it is by the whole New Testament, and
furnishing, as it does, an indispensable basis for anything like certainty in
regard to Christian eschatology. Onthe ascension, see Luke 24:51, Rem.
Expositor's Greek Testament
Matthew 28:20. διδάσκοντες α., teaching them, present participle, implying
that Christian instruction is to be a continuous process,not subordinate to
and preparing for baptism, but continuing after baptism with a view to
enabling disciples to walk worthily of their vocation.—τηρεῖν:the teaching is
with a view not to gnosis but to practice;the aim not orthodox opinion but
right living.—πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖν: the materials of instruction are to
be Christ’s own teaching. This points to the desirableness forthe Church’s use
of an oral or written tradition of Christ’s words: these to be the rule of faith
and practice.—καὶ ἰδοὺ, introducing an important promise to the missionaries
of the new universal religion to keepthem in courage and goodhope amid all
difficulties.—ἐγὼ μεθʼ ὑμῶν, I the Risen, Exalted, All-powerful One, with you
my apostles andrepresentatives engagedin the heroic task of propagating the
faith.—εἰμὶ, am, not will be, conveying the feeling of certainty, but also spoken
from the eternalpoint of view, sub specie aeternitatis, for which distinctions of

here and there, now and then, do not exist. Cf. John 8:58, “before Abraham
was I am”. In the Fourth Gospelthe categoriesofthe Absolute and the
Eternal dominate throughout.—πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας, all the days, of which, it is
implied, there may be many; the vista of the future is lengthening.—ἕως τῆς
συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος, until the close of the current age, when He is to come
again;an event, however, not indispensable for the comfort of men who are to
enjoy an uninterrupted spiritual presence.
This greatfinal word of Jesus is worthy of the Speakerand of the situation.
Perhaps it is not to be taken as an exact report of what Jesus saidto His
disciples at a certain time and place. In it the realand the ideal seemto be
blended; what Jesus saidthere and then with what the Church of the apostolic
age had gradually come to regard as the will of their RisenLord, with
growing clearness as the years advanced, with perfect clearness afterIsrael’s
crisis bad come. We find here (1) a cosmic significance assignedto Christ (all
powerin heavenand on earth); (2) an absolutely universal destination of the
Gospel;(3) baptism as the rite of admission to discipleship; (4) a rudimentary
baptismal Trinity; (5) a spiritual presence ofChrist similar to that spokenof
in the Fourth Gospel. To this measure of Christian enlightenment the
Apostolic Church, as representedby our evangelist, had attained when he
wrote his Gospel, probably after the destruction of Jerusalem. Thereinis
summed up the Church’s confessionoffaith conceivedas uttered by the lips of
the RisenOne. “Expresslynot as words of Jesus walking onthe earth, but as
words of Him who appeared from heaven, the evangelisthere presents in
summary form what the Christian community had come to recogniseas the
will and the promise of their exalted Lord” (Weiss-Meyer).
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
20. I am with you alway] The Lord Jesus had already taught His disciples
during the forty days how He could be present with them and yet be unseen
by them. They could then the more easily believe this promise.

the end of the world] See note ch. Matthew 13:39.
Amen] Omitted in the leading MSS. The lastwords of St Matthew’s Gospel
fall solemnly on the ear, the sense ofthe continual presence ofChrist is not
broken even by an accountof the Ascension. No true subject candoubt that
the King is enthroned in Heaven.
Bengel's Gnomen
Matthew 28:20. Αὐτοὺς, them) The disciples had been instructed in order that
they might instruct others.—τηρεῖν, to observe, to keep)as it becomes the
baptized to do by virtue of faith, not merely as a legalperformance. John
often speaks thus. This verb deserves especialattention, from its occurrence in
this solemnplace.—ἐνετειλάμηυ, I have commanded) These commandments
are to be found in Matthew 5; John 15 etc.—μεθʼὑμῶν, with you) even when
you shall be scatteredapart through the whole world. This promise belongs
also to the whole Church, for our Lord adds, “evento the end of the world.”—
πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας, always)literally, all the days, i.e., every single day. A
continual presence, and one most actually present; see Mark 16:17;Mark
16:19-20.[1236]—ἝΩς Τῆς ΣΥΝΤΕΛΕΊΑς ΤΟῦ ΑἸῶΝΟς, unto the end of the
world) Forthen we shall be with the Lord [as He is even now with us]. [To
Him, therefore, Reader, commit thyself, and remain in Him; so will it be best
for thee in time and in eternity.—B. G. V.]1237]
[1236]Therefore the Christian Church will never entirely expire.—B. G. V.
[1237]Bengel, J. A. (1860). Vol. 1: Gnomon of the New Testament(M. E.
Bengel& J. C. F. Steudel, Ed.) (J. Bandinel & A. R. Fausset, Trans.)(403–
490). Edinburgh: T&T Clark.
Pulpit Commentary

Verse 20. - Teaching (διδάσκοντες)them (i.e. all the nations) to observe all
things, etc. The word for "teaching" is quite different from that used in ver.
19, and there wrongly translated. Instruction is the secondnecessary
condition for discipleship. In the case ofadults, as was said above, some
teaching must precede the initiation; but this has to be supplemented
subsequently in order to build up the convert in the faith and make him
perfect; while infants must be taught "as soonas they are able to learn, what a
solemn vow, promise, and professionthey have here made." All must be
taught the Christian faith and duty, and how to obtain God's help to enable
them to please him, and to continue in the way of salvation, so that they may
"die from sin, and rise againunto righteousness;continually mortifying all
their evil and corrupt affections, and daily proceeding in all virtue and
godliness of living" ('Public Baptism of Infants'). "He gives," says St.
Chrysostom, "the one charge with a view to doctrine [i.e. the form of
baptism], the other concerning commandments" ('Horn.,' 90.). All that Christ
commanded, both in doctrine and morals, all that he had taught and enjoined
during the three past years, they were henceforwardto take as their textbook,
and enforce on all who were admitted into the Church by baptism. As the
Greek is, "I commanded," being aoristand not perfect, it may be rightly
opined that Christ here alludes also to various details which he setforth and
enjoined during these greatforty days, betweenhis resurrection and
ascension, whenhe gave commandments unto the apostles whom he had
chosen, and spake to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God
(Acts 1:2, 3). And, lo. "After that, because he had enjoined on them great
things, to raise their courage, he says. Lo! "etc. (Chrysostom). I am with you
alway(ἐγὼ μεθ ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας). Every word is emphatic. The
Ascensionwas at hand; this implied an absence ofhis visible presence, to be
replacedby a spiritual presence, more perfect, potent, effectual, infinite. It is I
myself, I, God and Man,who am (not "will be") henceforwardeverpresent
among you, with you as Companion, Friend, Guide, Saviour, God. I am with
you in all your ministrations, prayers public and private, baptisms,
communions, exhortations, doctrine, discipline And this, not now and then,
not at certain times only, but "all the days" of your pilgrimage, all the dark
days of trial and persecutionand affliction; all the days when you, my
apostles, are gatheredto your rest, and have committed your work to other

hands; my presence shallnever be withdrawn for a single moment. Often had
God made an analogouspromise to his servants under the old dispensation -
to Moses (Exodus 3:12), to Joshua (Deuteronomy31:23), to Jeremiah
(Jeremiah 1:8); but this spiritual presence ofChrist is something unknown to
previous history, a nearness unspeakable, in the Church at large and in the
Christian's heart. Even unto the end of the world; the consummation of the
age, as Matthew 24:3 (where see note). When the new era is ushered in,
evangelizing work will cease;Godshall be all in all; all shall know him from
the leastunto the greatest. And they shall everbe with the Lord; "wherefore
comfort one another with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:18). Amen. The
word is here an interpolation, but it expresses whatevery pious reader must
say in his heart, "So be it, O Lord; be with us unto the end; guide and
strengthen us in life, and bring us safelythrough the valley of the shadow of
death, to thy blessedpresence, where is the fulness of joy forevermore!"
Vincent's Word Studies
End of the world (συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος)
Rev., in margin, and lit., consummation of the age. The current age is meant;
and the consummation is coincident with the secondcoming of Christ, after
the Gospelshallhave been proclaimed throughout the world. "The Saviour's
mind goes no farther; for after that, evangelizing work will cease. No man,
after that, will need to teach his neighbor, saying, 'Know the Lord'"
(Jeremiah 31:34)(Morison "On Matthew").
How is Jesus omnipresent?
by Matt Slick

Email: When Jesus ascendedinto Heaven, it is written that He is now at the
right hand of God our Father. We know that God, who is Spirit, is
omnipresent. Is Jesus, who is in a glorified body, also omnipresent? If so, does
this mean when we are transformed into our glorified bodies, we too will be
omnipresent? If not, how exactly is Jesus with eachone of us?
Response:This is a goodquestion. Is Jesus, who is in a glorified body,
omnipresent? The answeris yes. But, this involves a little explanation.
The doctrine of the incarnation of Christ is that Jesus, who was the Divine
Word (John 1:1), became flesh and dwelt among us (v.14). This means that
the Word added to his person a human nature. Now, this does not mean that
the word has two natures. What it means is that the person of Jesus has two
natures. In other words, Jesus the man is both the word and human. That is,
he is both divine and human. This is why Colossians 2:9 says "for in him
dwells all the fullness of deity in bodily form." Officially, this doctrine is
known as the hypostatic Union.
All right, so the Bible teaches that Jesus is both God and Man at the same
time. Remember, he has two natures. But we need to understand that as a
man, by definition, he can only be in one place at a time; that is, his physical
human side is only in one place at a time. There is no instance of a human
being omnipresent. Jesus, as a man (yes, he is a man right now, see 1 Tim. 2:5;
Col. 2:9) is locatedin one place in the heavens. But, since he has a divine
nature and one of the attributes of divinity is omnipresence, then we can say
that Jesus is omnipresent. Let me break it down a little more.
There is anotherdoctrine known as the Communication of the Properties.
This is the teaching that in the one person of Christ there are two natures and
that eachof the two natures has attributes. Furthermore, it states that those

attributes of eachnature are ascribedto the single person of Jesus. Therefore,
we say that the man Jesus, who is also divine, can "claim" the attributes of
divinity. Likewise, the attributes of humanity are "claimed" (ascribed)to
Jesus as well. Let me give you two examples that substantiate this.
In John 17:5, Jesus says, "And now, glorify Thou Me togetherwith Thyself,
Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was." How is it
possible that Jesus, the man, could lay claim to the glory that he had with the
Father before the world was? Jesus the man was born on earth and had a
beginning. Yet, we see that Jesus was claiming the glory he had with God the
Father from ancienttimes. How? Becausehe was claiming the attributes of
divinity.
In Matt. 28:19-20, Jesussays, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Fatherand the Son and the Holy
Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am
with you always, evento the end of the age.” Notice thatin verse 20 Jesus says
that he will always be with the disciples. How can Jesus the man always be
with the disciples? Obviously the command of Christ is not just for the
disciples but for all which claim to be Christians as they carry out the
command to "make disciples of all the nations." We find the answerwhenwe
realize that the divine attributes of omnipresence, which is one of the
properties of being divine, are claimed by Jesus. Therefore,eventhough he
was a man, he could also saythat he would be with the disciples whereverthey
go and whenever they go.
To summarize, Jesus'human nature is not omnipresent. But, his divine nature
is. However, it is the one personof Christ who shares both natures
(communicatio idiomatum), and it is the one person who is omnipresent.

All right, now back to the rest of the question. Will we also be glorified as
Jesus was glorifiedin his resurrectionand be omnipresent? No. We do not
share God's divine nature. Therefore, we will not be omnipresent.
Matt Slick
About The Author
Matt Slick is the Presidentand Founder of the Christian Apologetics and
ResearchMinistry.
The Omnipresent Son of God
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Fatherand 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, to the end of
the age” (vv. 19–20).
- Matthew 28:18–20
Once we acknowledgethe bodily ascensionof Christ (Acts 1:6–11), we are
forcedto deal with certainquestions raisedby passagessuch as the one chosen
for today’s study. Since Jesus has ascendedand no longerwalks among us in
the flesh, how can it also be true that He is with us, even “to the end of the
age” (Matt. 28:20)?
The Heidelberg Catechismdeals with this issue in question and answer47,
turning to the hypostatic union to explain how our Savior canbe present with
His people in all places and in all times. According to the hypostatic union,

Christ is both truly human and truly divine. Jesus is the Son of God, and He
has a divine nature that possessesallof our Creator’s attributes, including
omnipresence, omniscience,and so forth (John 1:1). But Jesus is also the son
of Mary, and He has a human nature that possesseseverything that makes
human beings human, including a human mind, soul, and body (Luke 23:46;
John 1:14). In the one person of Jesus, these two natures are perfectly united
without mixture, confusion, separation, ordivision and eachnature retains its
own peculiar properties. For example, His physical body and His human mind
and soul do not become omnipresent because they are united to His deity.
Likewise, the divine Son of God does not cease to be omnipresent simply
because He unites Himself to a true human nature with all its limitations.
Jesus’divine nature makes Him always presentwith us. He is omnipresent in
His deity as God’s Son. Thus, we can commune with Him wherever we are.
We commune with the whole Christ, including His humanity, because the
omnipresent Son of God closes the geographicalgapbetweenus and our
Savior’s humanity, which, like ours, is in only one place at a time. Because
Christ’s divine nature is united to His human nature, we meet with Jesus in
His humanity and in His divinity when we fellowship with the Son of God. Dr.
R.C. Sproul writes:“The person of Christ is still a perfectunion of a divine
nature and a human nature. The human nature is in heaven. The divine
nature is not limited to the physical confines of the body of Jesus… . The
divine nature retains its property of omnipresence. The personof Christ can
be everywhere, but that ability is through the powerof the divine nature, not
the human nature” (Truths We Confess, vol. 1, pp. 246–247).
Coram Deo
One of the most beautiful ways in which we commune with the whole Christ is
in the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:17–34). Since Jesus has a human body with all
its limitations, it does not become omnipresent and distributed around the
world in the elements. Instead, as John Calvin explained, we are raisedto

heaven, where we feed on the whole Christ in His humanity and in His deity.
Let us not neglectthe sacramentand the grace it offers.
Passages forFurther Study
Psalm139:7–12
Jeremiah23:23–24
John 6:22–59
Hebrews 13:5
First published in Tabletalk Magazine, anoutreachof Ligonier. For
permissions, view our Copyright Policy.
STUDYLIGHTRESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
Teaching them to observe all things - Men are ignorant of Divine things, and
must be taught. Only those can be consideredas proper teachers ofthe
ignorant who are thoroughly instructed in whatsoeverChrist has
commanded. Persons who are entrusted with the public ministry of the word
should take care that they teachnot human creeds and confessionsoffaith, in
place of the SacredWritings; but those things, and those only, which Jesus has
commanded.

And, lo, I am with you alway - και ιδου εγω μεθ 'ὑμων ειμι πασας τας ἡμερας -
literally, Behold, I am with you every day. A minister of Christ should
consider, that while his soul simply and uniformly follows Jesus, he shall be
made a constantinstrument of bringing many sons and daughters to glory.
The dark, it is true, must be enlightened, the ignorant instructed, the
profligate reclaimed, the guilty justified, and the unholy sanctified; and who is
sufficient for this work? He with whom the Sonof Godis Every Day, and
none other.
Unto the end of the world - Some translate, ἑως της συντελειας του αιωνος, to
the end of this age;meaning the apostolic age, orJewishdispensation;and
then they refer the promise of Christ's presence to the working of miracles,
and explain this by Mark 16:17-19. Bymy name they shall castout demons,
etc., etc. But though the words are used in this sense in severalplaces, see
Matthew 13:39, Matthew 13:40, Matthew 13:49;Matthew 24:3, yet it is
certain they were repeatedlyused among the primitive ecclesiasticalwriters to
denote the consummation of all things; and it is likely that this is the sense in
which they are used here, which the Anglo-Saxon has happily expressed: -
And I, be with you all days, until world ending; and this is indispensably
necessary, becausethe presence and influence of Jesus Christ are essentially
requisite in every age ofthe world, to enlighten, instruct, and save the lost.
The promise takes in not only the primitive apostles, but also all their
successors in the Christian ministry, as long as the earth shall endure.
Amen - This word is omitted by some of the oldestand most authentic MSS.,
and by some versions and fathers. When it is consideredthat the word amen
simply means so be it! we may at once perceive that it could not be added by
our Lord. For our Lord could not pray that his own will might be done, or his
own promise fulfilled. The word is, therefore, utterly impertinent as a part of
the sacredtext, and could neither have been added by our Lord, nor by the
evangelist. The amens at the end of the sacredbooks have no other authority

than what they derive from the transcribers of copies;and, at best, are only to
be consideredas the pious wish of the writer, or of the Church, that the
promises contained in the sacredvolume may be accomplished. Indeed, it
seems oftento have no other meaning than our finis at the end of our books.
In the MSS. and versions there are various subscriptions, or epigraphs, to this
Gospel:the following are the principal: -
"The Gospelaccording to Matthew - written by him in Jerusalem- in
Palestine - in the east - in the Hebrew dialect - in Hebrew - eight years after
the ascensionofChrist - interpreted by John - by James the brother of the
Lord."
The subscription in some copies of the Arabic version is very full: "The end of
the copy of the Gospelof Matthew the Apostle. He wrote it in the land of
Palestine, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in the Hebrew tongue, eight years
after the bodily ascensionof Jesus the Messiahinto heaven, in the first year of
the reign of Claudius Caesar, king of Rome."
These are sufficient to show how little credit should be attachedto the
subscriptions found at the end of the sacredbooks, eitherin the MSS., or in
the versions.
In concluding my notes on this evangelist, I cannot express myself better than
in the words of the late Mr. Wakefield, to whom this commentary has been in
many instances indebted. "I have now finished my observations on the Gospel
of Matthew: a piece of history, it must be acknowledged, the most singular in
its composition, the most wonderful in its contents, and the most important in
its object, that was ever exhibited to the notice of mankind. Forsimplicity of

narrative, and an artless relation of facts, without any applause or censure, or
digressive remarks, on the part of the historian, upon the characters
introduced in it; without any intermixture of his own opinion, upon any
subject whatsoever;and for a multiplicity of internal marks of credibility, this
Gospelcertainly has no parallel among human productions."
One thing the pious and intelligent reader has, no doubt, alreadynoticed:
there is not one truth, or doctrine, in the whole oracles ofGod, which is not
taught in this evangelist. The outlines of the whole spiritual systemare here
correctlylaid down: even Paul himself has added nothing; he has amplified
and illustrated the truths contained in this Gospel;but, even under the direct
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, neither he nor any other of the apostles have
brought to light any one truth, the prototype of which has not been found in
the words or acts of our blessedLord, as relatedby Matthew, in the work
which has already passedunder review. The Gospelby St. Matthew is the
grand text-book of Christianity; the other Gospels are collateralevidences of
its truth, and the apostolic epistles are comments on the text. In the
commencementof this work, I statedmy wish, "to assistmy fellow laborers in
the vineyard to lead men to Him who is the fountain of all excellence,
goodness,truth, and happiness; - to magnify his Law, and make it honorable;
- to show the wonderful provision made in his Gospelfor the recoveryand
salvationof a sinful world; - to prove that God's greatdesign is to make his
creatures Happy; and that such a salvationas it becomes Godto give, and
such as man needs to receive, is within the grasp of every human soul." -
GeneralPreface, before Genesis. And having thus far done what I could, in
reference to these greatand important purposes, here I registermy thanks to
the ever-blessedGod, Father, Word, and Holy Spirit, that he has permitted
me to castmy mite into this sacredtreasury, to add my feeble testimony to his
Eternal Truth; and has spared me, in the midst of many infirmities and
oppressive labors, to see the conclusionof this Gospel, a consummation which
I had long devoutly wished, but which I had scarcelyhopedever to see
realized. May the Divine Author of this sacredbook give the reader a heart-
felt experience of all the truths it contains;make and keephim wise unto
salvation;build him up in this most holy faith; and give him an inheritance
among the blessed, through Christ Jesus, the Friend of mankind, and the

Savior of sinners, who is the objectand end of this glorious systemof truth!
And to Him, with the Father and EternalSpirit, be glory and dominion,
thanksgiving and obedience, for ever and ever, Amen and amen!
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on Matthew 28:20". "The Adam Clarke
Commentary". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/matthew-
28.html. 1832.
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Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
Lo, I am with you - That is, by my Spirit, my providence, my attending
counseland guidance. I will strengthen, assist, anddirect you. This also
proves that Christ is divine. If he is a mere man, or a creature, though of the
highest order, how could he promise to be “with” his disciples “always,”orat
all? They would be scatteredfarand wide. His disciples would greatly
increase. If he was “with them” always, he was God; for no finite creature
could thus be presentwith many people scatteredin different parts of the
world.
Unto the end of the world - The word rendered “world,” here, sometimes
means “age orstate” and by some it has been supposed to mean, I will be with
you until the end of this “age,”orduring the continuance of the Jewishstate,
to the destruction of Jerusalem. But as the presence of Christ was no less
necessaryafterthat than before, there seems to be no propriety in limiting the
promise to his own age. It may therefore be consideredas a gracious

assurance thathe would aid, strengthen, guide, and defend all his disciples,
but more especiallyhis ministers, to the end of time.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Barnes, Albert. "Commentaryon Matthew 28:20". "Barnes'Notesonthe
Whole Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/matthew-
28.html. 1870.
The Biblical Illustrator
Matthew 28:20
And, lo, I am with you alway.
Christ continually present with His Church
I. That the Saviour is speaking of more than that presence, whichis
inseparable from the nature of his own essentialand eternalgodhead. In the
case ofour Lord the Godhead is so modified by its alliance with the
Humanity-modified not in itself, for there no modification would be possible-
but in its action upon the Church,-that what is brought into contactwith us, is

the human sympathy of the Saviour, glorified by its connectionwith the Deity
of His person.
II. The factthat communion with the Saviour is made possible by the advent
of the comforter; that the coming of the Spirit is, to all intents and purposes, a
coming of the Saviourto the people who love Him. The personality that is in
Him whom we address, must vibrate to the touch of the personality that is in
us,-or else communion will not have takenplace. This has been made possible,
though Christ is absent in the body, by the advent of the Holy Ghost. No one
will be disposedto question that the personality of God can revealitself to the
personality of man without the intervention of a visible form, and without the
employment of articulate language. There are modes of fellowship between
spirit and spirit with which we are unacquainted, yet real and efficacious. He
is said to dwell in the believer. We speak not of grace but of living
communication. And where the Spirit comes Christ comes;and where the
Spirit and Christ come the Father comes.
III. This coming of Christ to His people, precious as it is, is suited to a state of
imperfection and discipline. We look forward to something beyond that which
we enjoy now. There was the coming of Christ in the flesh. That passedaway.
It gave way to the coming by the Spirit. That is better, more spiritual, but
insufficient. We look forward to the final, exhaustive coming. (G. Calthrop,
M. A.)
The present Saviour

Some benefits of Christ’s perpetual presence with His people, especiallywhen
that presence is realized.
1. It is sanctifying.
2. Sustaining.
3. Comforting. (J. Hamilton, D. D.)
Christ’s parting promise
I. The promise-“I am with you alway.” What did Christ mean by this.
1. Can we attachto the words a meaning similar to that conveyedwhen
speaking ofthe dead. We say that they still live in the hearts of those who
knew and loved them. After the lapse of years we canoften recallwith
vividness the features of one departed.
2. Men may live in their works. Is Christ only present as other goodmen are?
We who believe in Christ as a supernatural revelationregard this parting
promise as implying infinitely more than this. It meant the indwelling of a
Personalenergydistinct from any memory of Him. Is it replied that this is
incomprehensible; life is incomprehensible. Christ is not a power generatedin
nature.

II. The fulfilment of the promise. (C. M. Short.)
The presence ofChrist
1. That presence is spiritual. Not the consecratedhost. The believers in the
upper room had nothing to appealto their senses.
2. This presence ofChrist consists in something more than there is in His
word. Caesar, Plato are still with us in their words; but there is infinitely
more in the presence ofChrist. Behind the written word there is the living
word, the invisible Saviour who manifests Himself to the heart.
3. This presence is especiallypromised to the Church, and is the secretofits
triumph over infidelity and persecution.
4. But what makes men doubt the presence ofChrist in the Church is the sight
of the inward state of the Church itself.
5. But what Christ announces to the Church He announces to the individual
soul.
6. Affliction may be a proof of the Lord’s presence.

7. Is there anything on earth grander than faithful love? “I am with you
alway.” (E. Bersier, D. D.)
Christ present, though appearancesmay seemto the contrary
In gloomy winter’s day no tree moves its verdant top in our fields; no flower
casts its perfume to the winds; everything appears dead in nature. Will you
tell me that the sun has not risen? No, although he has disappeared behind a
curtain of clouds, he makes his powerful actioneverywhere felt; and without
the sun, which you do not see, there would remain for you only an icy shroud,
and the darkness of night. The soulhas its winter also, when the Sun of
Righteousnessno longer sheds on it more than a pale glimmer, when
obedience is performed without joy. (E. Bersier, D. D.)
DesirablenessofChrist’s presence
I. Christ’s presence is exceedinglydesirable to the saints.
1. The presence of Christ is an evidence of His love.
2. Christ’s presence is attended with the most desirable effects;none canenjoy
it without deriving the greatestadvantages from it.
3. Presentcommunion with Christ is an earnestof everlasting fruition.

II. A seemingly departing Christ may be constrained, as it were, to abide with
His people.
1. By the exercise ofa lively faith.
2. By fervent prayer.
3. By a suitable conduct towards him. (B. Beddome.)
Christ’s presence essential
Nothing could supply the room of Christ to His Church; not the gospels,
though they recordHis eventful life and death; not the epistles, though they
contain the full revelation of His own truth; not ministers, though they are His
ambassadors;not ordinances, though they are the channels of grace, and so
many meeting places between our souls and Him whom our souls love. None
of these, nor all of these together, can be to the Church, in the steadof its own
Divine Redeemerand Head. Without His continued presence and aid, the
Church would speedily come to an end. People may talk as they please about
the omnipotence of truth, and the adaptation of Christianity to man, but in a
world like this, hostile to the truth, and alienated from God, no security short
of that presented in the actual indwelling of Christ in His Church, His own
kingdom and house, will be sufficient. To this we owe it, that there has been a
Church in the world up to this hour; to this we owe it, that there shall be a
Church in it to the end of time. (A. L. R. Foote.)
The ever-presentSaviour

1. This is the language of One who had been through the passageofdeath and
known the bitterness of separation.
2. It is difficult to realize this invisible presence;it is more real when realized.
It is spiritual, always with us.
3. It conveys the idea’ that before the mind of the speakerall the days lay
ranged in their order to the last.
4. It is an inner presence.
5. Mostminds, whateverthey be, do bestin fellowship. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The charm of the Divine presence
Suppose a friend who combines everything which goes to make your idea of
friendship-intellectual, wise, modest, fond, true, good. Suppose such a person
just setto your particular taste-in harmony with every thought; his society
like a continual strain of music. You leanon his judgment-you are happy in
his love. What a bloom on life-what a sunlight-what a charm-what a necessity
that personwould become to you! But what is that comparedto Christ-to a
man who has once learned the secretoffinding His presence a reality? who
knows and loves Him as his own near, dear, loving Saviour-the Brother of his
soul-much more than another self. The very fact that He is there-though He
did nothing, though there were no actual intercourse, though He were not
seen-has an untold spell upon you. Did you never feel what the presence ofa
very little child would be, though there were not another man in the world?

Think of what even a silent presence canbe! But it is not silent. (J. Vaughan,
M. A.)
Christ’s perpetual presence
I. What an insight we have here into the essentialnature of Christianity itself,
and what a guarantee for its permanence and power. It is something more
than an outward revelationof facts, more than a community of brethren: it is
a life.
II. May we not see in this promise the designedpreventative againstor
remedy for certain evils sure to infest and corrode the life of His kingdom.
III. It is of the guarantee of the permanence and power of Christianity in
Christ’s constantpresence that I would now speak. The higher the principle of
life the longer it is in coming to maturity; but also the surer when maturity is
reached. This explains the slow progress of Christianity. (J. T. Stannard.)
Christ’s presence our stimulus
There is a touching factrelated in the history of a Highland chief of the noble
house of McGregor, who fell wounded by two balls at the battle of
Prestonpans. Seeing their chief fall, the clan wavered, and gave the enemy an
advantage. The old chieftain, beholding the effects ofhis disaster, raised

himself up on his elbow, while the blood gushed in streams from his wounds,
and cried aloud, “I am not dead, my children; I am looking at you, to see you
do your duty.” These words revived the sinking courage of his brave
Highlanders. There was a charm in the fact that they still fought under the eye
of their chief. It roused them to put forth their mightiest energies, and they
did all that human strength could do to turn and stem the dreadful tide of
battle. And is there not a charm to you, O believer, in the factthat you
contend in the battle-field of life under the eye of your Saviour? Wherever you
are, howeveryou are oppressedby foes, howeverexhaustedby the stern strife
with evil, the eye of Christ is fixed most lovingly upon you. (D. Wise,)
Christ’s presence all-sufficient
When Christ saith, “I am with you alway,” you may add what you will: to
protect you, to direct you, to comfort you, to carry on the work of grace in
you, and in the end to crownyou with immortality and glory. All this and
more is included in this precious promise. (John Trapp.)
Presence superiorto memory
He promises His presence. How different the case wouldbe if He had only
said, “The memory of My life and work shall be with you always.” Whata
difference there is betweena mere memory and a presence. At first, indeed,
when we have just lost a relation or a friend, memory, in its importunity and
anguish, seems to be and to do all that a presence could do, perhaps even
more. It gathers up the past and heaps it on the present; it crowds into the
thoughts of a few minutes the incidents of a lifetime; it has about it a greatness
and a vividness which was wanting while its objectwas still with us. But even
a memory decays. Thatit should do so seems impossible at first. We protest to
ourselves and to the world, that it will be as fresh as everto the last day of our

lives. But memory is only an effort of the human mind, while a presence is
independent of it; and the human mind has limited powers which are easily
exhausted; it cannotalways continue on the strain; and so a time comes when
the first freshness passes away, and then other thoughts, interests, and
occupations crowdin upon us and claim their share of the little all that we
have to give. And so, what seems to us to be so fresh and imperishable is
already indistinct and faded. Oh!, think of any private friend, think of any of
the celebratedmen whose names were on the lips of every one, and who had
died within the last two or three years!At first it seemedas if you might
predict with confidence that the world would go on thinking and talking about
them for at leasta generation;but already, the sure and fatal action of time
upon a living memory, howevergreatand striking, is making itself felt; and
even in our thoughts about them they are passing rapidly into that world of
shadows, where shadows soondie awayinto the undistinguishable haze and
gloombeyond them. It is otherwise with a presence;whether we see the
presence ornot, we know that it is here. If our friend is in the next room,
busily occupied and unable to give us his time just now, still, the knowledge
that he is close at hand, and can be applied to if necessary, is itself a comfort
and a strength to us; we can go to him if we like. His being here places us in a
very different position from that which we should occupy if he had left us; if
we could only think of him as having been with us in times past, though really
absent now. A presence, I say, is a fact independent of our moods of mind, a
fact whether we recognize it or not; and in our Divine Saviour’s presence
there is indeed a fulness of joy which means hope, work, power, eventual
victory. (Canon Liddon.)
Christ’s presence securesthe Church’s victory
This is a factorin the life and work of Christ’s Church with which persons do
not reckonwho look at her only from the outside, and judge of her strength
and prospects as they would judge of any human society. Theysay that she
will die out because this or that force, which has, no doubt, weightin the

affairs of men, is for the time being telling heavily againsther. If large sections
of public feeling, or literature, or the public policy of some great country, or
the influence of a new and enterprising philosophy, or the bias of a group of
powerful minds are againsther, forthwith we hear the cry, “The mission of
the apostles is coming to an end; the Church of Christ will presently fail!” Do
not be in too greata haste, my friends, about this. You have yet to reckonwith
a force invisible, and perhaps, as far as you are concerned, unsuspected, but
never more real, never more operative than it is at this moment. You have
forgottenthe PresenceofChrist. He did not retreat to heaven when His first
apostles died; He promised to be with them to the end of time; He spoke not
merely to the eleven men before Him, but to the vast multitude of successors
who defiled before His eyes down to the utmost limits of the Christian ages:
“Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world!” With us by His
Spirit; with us in the greatsacramentof His love; with us amid weaknesses,
divisions, failures, disappointments. He is with us still, and it is His Presence
which alone sustains His envoys, and which gives to their work whatever it
has had, or has, or has to have, of.
Copyright Statement
Text Courtesyof BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Exell, JosephS. "Commentary on "Matthew 28:20". The Biblical Illustrator.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tbi/matthew-28.html. 1905-
1909. New York.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Teaching them to observe all things,.... All ordinances, not only baptism, but
the Lord's supper; all positive institutions, and moral duties; all obligations,
both to God and men; all relative duties that respectthe world, or one
another, those that are without, and those that are within; and these are to be
taught them, and therefore to be insisted on in the ministry of the word; and
not merely in order that they may know them, and have the theory of them,
but that the may put them into practice:
whatsoeverI have commanded you; every thing that Christ has commanded,
be it what it will, and nothing else;for Christ's ministers are not to teachfor
doctrines the commandments of men; or enjoin that on the churches, which is
of their own, or other men's devising, and was never ordered by Christ; and
for their encouragementhe adds,
and lo! I am with you always, even unto the end of the world: meaning, not
merely to the end of their lives, which would be the end of the world to them;
nor to the end of the Jewishworld, or state, which was not a great wayoff,
though this is sometimes the sense ofthis phrase; but to the end of the world
to come, the Gospelchurch state, which now took place;or to the end of the
present world, the universe: not that the apostles shouldlive to the end of it;
but that whereas Christ would have a church and people to the end of the
world, and the Gospeland the ordinances of it should be administered so long,
and there should be Gospelministers till that time; Christ's sense is, that he
would grant his presence to them, his immediate disciples, and to all that
should succeedthem in future generations, to the end of time: and which is to
be understood not of his corporealpresence,whichthey should not have till
then, but of his spiritual presence;and that he would be with them, in a
spiritual sense, to assistthem in their work, to comfort them under all
discouragements,to supply them with his grace, andto protect them from all
enemies, and preserve from all evils; which is a greatencouragementboth to
administer the word and ordinances, and attend on them.

Copyright Statement
The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Modernisedand adapted
for the computer by Larry Pierce of Online Bible. All Rightes Reserved,
Larry Pierce, Winterbourne, Ontario.
A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard
Bearer, 1 Iron Oaks Dr, Paris, AR, 72855
Bibliography
Gill, John. "Commentary on Matthew 28:20". "The New JohnGill Exposition
of the Entire Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/matthew-28.html. 1999.
Geneva Study Bible
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoeverI have commanded you: and,
lo, I am with you g alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen.
(g) Forever: and this refers to the manner of the presence ofhis Spirit, by
means of which he makes us partakers both of himself and of all his benefits,
even though he is absent from us in body.
Copyright Statement
Text Courtesyof BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography

Beza, Theodore. "Commentaryon Matthew 28:20". "The 1599 Geneva Study
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsb/matthew-28.html.
1599-1645.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Teaching them — This is teaching in the more usual sense of the term; or
instructing the converted and baptized disciples.
to observe all things whatsoeverI have commanded you: and, lo, I — The “I”
here is emphatic. It is enough that I
am with you alway — “all the days”; that is, till making converts, baptizing,
and building them up by Christian instruction, shall be no more.
even unto the end of the world. Amen — This glorious Commissionembraces
two primary departments, the Missionaryand the Pastoral, withtwo sublime
and comprehensive Encouragements to undertake and go through with them.
First, The Missionarydepartment (Matthew 28:18): “Go, make disciples of all
nations.” In the corresponding passage ofMark (Mark 16:15) it is, “Go ye
into all the world, and preachthe Gospelto every creature.” The only
difference is, that in this passagethe sphere, in its world-wide compass and its
universality of objects, is more fully and definitely expressed;while in the
former the greataim and certain result is delightfully expressedin the
command to “make disciples of all nations.” “Go, conquerthe world for Me;
carry the glad tidings into all lands and to every ear, and deem not this work
at an end till all nations shall have embraced the Gospeland enrolled

themselves My disciples.” Now, Was all this meant to be done by the Eleven
men nearestto Him of the multitude then crowding around the risen
Redeemer? Impossible. Was it to be done even in their lifetime? Surely not. In
that little band Jesus virtually addressedHimself to all who, in every age,
should take up from them the same work. Before the eyes of the Church‘s
risen Head were spread out, in those Elevenmen, all His servants of every
age;and one and all of them receivedHis commissionat that moment. Well,
what next? Set the sealof visible discipleship upon the converts, by “baptizing
them into the name,” that is, into the whole fullness of the grace “ofthe
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” as belonging to them who
believe. (See on 2 Corinthians 13:14). This done, the Missionarydepartment
of your work, which in its own nature is temporary, must merge in another,
which is permanent. This is
Second, The Pastoraldepartment (Matthew 28:20):“Teachthem” - teach
these baptized members of the Church visible - “to observe all things
whatsoeverI have commanded you,” My apostles, during the three years ye
have been with Me.
What must have been the feelings which such a Commissionawakened? “WE
who have scarce conqueredour own misgivings - we, fishermen of Galilee,
with no letters, no means, no influence over the humblest creature, conquer
the world for Thee, Lord? Nay, Lord, do not mock us.” “I mock you not, nor
send you a warfare on your own charges. For” -Here we are brought to
Third, The Encouragements to undertake and go through with this work.
These are two; one in the van, the other in the rear of the Commissionitself.
First Encouragement:“All power in heaven” - the whole powerof Heaven‘s
love and wisdomand strength, “and all powerin earth” - powerover all

persons, all passions, allprinciples, all movements - to bend them to this one
high object, the evangelizationof the world: All this “is given unto Me.” as the
risen Lord of all, to be by Me placed at your command - “Go ye therefore.”
But there remains a
SecondEncouragement:“And lo! I am with you all the days” - not only to
perpetuity, but without one day‘s interruption, “evento the end of the world,”
The “Amen" is of doubtful genuineness in this place. If, however, it belongs to
the text, it is the Evangelist‘s ownclosing word.
Copyright Statement
These files are a derivative of an electronic edition prepared from text
scannedby Woodside Bible Fellowship.
This expanded edition of the Jameison-Faussett-BrownCommentary is in the
public domain and may be freely used and distributed.
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.;Fausset,A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary on
Matthew 28:20". "CommentaryCritical and Explanatory on the Whole
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfb/matthew-28.html.
1871-8.
People's New Testament
Teaching them. The secondpart of the commissionis next given. The first
part commands the making of disciples, and tells how they must be made. The
secondpart provides for the instruction of the disciples in righteousness.This
is to be done by "teaching them."

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