God is Present
“I will never leave you or forsake you.” —Hebrews 13:5 Jesus parting words to his closest friends was that he would always be with them. This is a weird thing to say after you have come back from the dead and you are about to ascend to heaven. Of course, rising from the dead and ascending like Jesus did were not exactly normal things to do. The stories about what Jesus did not fit into common expectations in the first century or any century for that matter. But Jesus says that he would “be with them always,” mimicking the promise of God given to the Israelites throughout the Old Testament (Deut. 31:8), and returning to the original plan of God walking with Adam in the Garden. Jesus claimed that he would present with us at all times. However, Jesus left his disciples and returned to the Father. It surely did not look like he would remain in their vicinity, much less be near them in an up-close-and-personal way. I struggle with believing this promise of Jesus. It is hard for m...