The Most Holy Trinity | 30 May 2021

Today is Sunday the 30 May, the Feast of The Most Holy Trinity.  

The monks of Pluscarden Abbey sing the Benedictus: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel!  He has visited his people and redeemed them."

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Matthew.  

Matthew 28:16-20  

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”    

All four gospels tell a story which many in today’s world have forgotten, or have never even known. It is the story of how Jesus became the king of the world. That’s where we have been going, ever since, back near the beginning, Jesus came into Galilee announcing that ‘heaven’s kingdom is at hand’. Is this how you think of the Gospels?  

This is the great message of the whole gospel. Jesus is King and Lord, not just ‘in heaven’ (that would be quite a ‘safe’ idea) but on earth as well. But what does that actually mean? If Jesus is really King and Lord, why is the world still in such a mess? How does he exercise this ‘lordship’? How does this sovereignty, claimed so strongly in this passage, work out on the ground?  

As you hear this short passage read again, ask yourself this question: how did Jesus come to this point of being king?  

And the encouragement we need is found in the final words of Matthew’s gospel, picking up neatly the promise made to Joseph at the very beginning. His name will be ‘Emmanuel’, said the angel, which means ‘God with us’. That God-with-us promise, that heaven-on-earth assurance, has come true in Jesus. I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ That is a promise you can stake your life on. It is also a challenge: if Jesus himself is ‘with you’, what should you be doing? How then should you live? Easter is a time to ask precisely that sort of question. It is also a time to discover God’s powerful answer.    

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.