One of my students pointed out that the gospel records leave many questions unanswered. Jesus states at the end of Matthew's gospel that He will be with us to the end of the age. But Matthew gives no clue to us how this will be so. In Mark's account, in what way is the Lord "working with them" in Mark 16:20? And so on and so forth in Luke as well. There are questions unanswered.
Matthew does not tell us how or in what manner Jesus would be with us until the end of the age, and this is more than a little troubling. Was he suggesting an allegorical view of what he was writing? Not hardly, for then the ascension passages would have to be allegorical. A spiritual view? Many seem to hold to that, but in the end it leaves much to be desired. A literal view?
What is confusing here is how concrete and uncomplex we are in comparison to a triune God. It seems to me that the conclusion to the promise of Christ on earth prior to His departure for heaven was answered in Acts, when the Holy Spirit came on each one of them as tongues of fire. When Jesus was on the earth, both Father and Holy Spirit were as well, because They are three in one. Now when Holy Spirit is with us, Jesus and the Father are as well for the same reason. The confusion for me and my students come when I apply my limitations to God; the limitations of a single person in a singular form. At the same time, it would have been wonderful if Matthew had been more concrete about the mechanics. Now what is an age?
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