With

With

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

THE TEXT FROM MY FRIEND ANDREA dropped, out of the blue, into my messaging app on a Tuesday morning. She told me she was thinking and praying for me that day, but then the text shifted, ending with these words: “I was also thinking about your sister, and even though I never had the chance to meet her, I have to assume she had all of your amazing qualities. I miss her with you.”

Immediately, tears crept into my eyes, dropping unashamedly on my cheeks. I’ve known my friend for a decade, but my sister died from breast cancer a few years before we met. Even more than the sweet sentiment was the phrase I miss her with you.

Her phrase reminds me of how Matthew, echoing the words of the prophet Isaiah, described Jesus as Immanuel, God with us (see Matthew 1:23). When Isaiah mentioned Immanuel, he meant that the birth of the child would signify God’s presence with the Jews in their deliverance. But Matthew, after describing the miraculous conception of Jesus in his narrative, gives it a different meaning: fully divine and fully human, Jesus is truly God with us. Immanuel makes the presence of the divine something that is direct, immediate, and personal. The word with moves us from sympathy to empathy, and it signals to someone, I’m on your side. Together, we’ve got this.

Jesus—who walked dusty roads with disciples, washed the dirt off their feet, healed those on the margins of society, spent time at the tables of tax collectors and in the company of fishermen, taught crowds who feasted on his message and filled their bellies with bread and fish, wept at the death of his friend Lazarus, calmed storms and loved well—our Jesus was and is a personal and immediate God who has always been and will always be with us. The promise was fulfilled through his life and ministry and even beyond—at the end of his ministry on earth, he told his followers that he would always be with them. Oh, what a friend we have in Jesus.

Lord, thank you for your constant presence. We are so grateful you are with us. Amen.

-Kristin

One Good Step: Send a friend a note to tell her you are “with” her.