Description
The Deeper Presence of Jesus in Our Gatherings
In this episode, we consider Jesus’ words from Matthew 18:20. We explore… (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
Well now this is an interesting one. The words of Jesus himself in Matthew chapter 18 verse 20. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
Now we know that Jesus sent his Holy Spirit, and that he lives in us, he resides with us , so that we are never apart from Jesus at any time. But there’s something beyond this, when he talks about the gathering of believers, just two or three, when we are together in his name, then Jesus is among us. He’s not just with us, he’s among us.
And this is a deeper sense of presence, I think. In the unity of faith, in the unity of believers, we together usher in something more like the presence of God by honouring his name and by saying that we are here for you, God, and you are welcome here, if that’s not too presumptuous of us.
This verse also challenges us to act as though Jesus is among us, because he is. Not in a way that we can see or touch, but truly, spiritually among us.
And if Jesus is with us, that should affect our entire conduct, shouldn’t it? How we treat each other, with whom we’re gathered. How we respect and revere the time that we’re spending together and how we look to Jesus, how we look to God to direct that time, to give us insight, understanding, to pour out His love and grace on us.
Jesus being among us, we can read a lot into this verse without straining it or stretching it, I think.
Jesus wants to be everything to us. And by gathering in His name, we see some of that start to come to pass in our relationships, in our unity, in our mission. So let us never give up gathering in his name. Let us always remember that as we do this in his name, he really and truly is with us.
Thank you, Jesus, for this promise. It’s so reassuring. We know that you left, you ascended into heaven, but you didn’t leave us alone. You are always with us, but especially so when we gather in your name.
Amen.
