What God-with-us means for our work of discipleship

As we approach another celebration of Christmas, we can expect many of the seasonal norms: the days are short and are only getting shorter, the weather has gotten cooler, and Christmas standards have already flooded the radio and most stores you might find yourself in.

Along with these changes comes the season of Advent, a season that invites the church to recall Christ’s first advent and anticipate his second advent, his glorious return. It is a collective remembering that considers the start and finish points of the work of the church. There, between Jesus’ first and second advent, we find everything the church does. We preach Christ crucified and resurrected while anticipating our own resurrection when he returns in glory.

In the next couple of months, we will likely hear this proclamation: “‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’)” (Matthew 1:23). By quoting Isaiah 7:14, Matthew gives the title of “Immanuel” to Jesus. This title feels comfortable and comforting: God, the Creator of all things, lowers himself to be with his creation. God takes on flesh to be with us, to suffer on our behalf, and to redeem us.

The problem with familiar passages is that we may assume to know all there is to know about them and, because of this, do not need to revisit well-trodden paths. My invitation to you is to walk down this familiar path and choose to dwell on Matthew’s use of Isaiah 7:14 in introducing Jesus. How might we consider Matthew’s use of the “God-with-us” theme as an invitation to a Christ-centred view of discipleship? And, supposing that Matthew really is inviting us to this sort of discipleship, how might we live out this vision in our context?

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God-with-us
as a promise of nearness

The first Gospel is unique in its inclusion of the Immanuel prophecy, not just among the Gospels but among the New Testament as a whole. Matthew 1:23 is the only place in the New Testament that the word “Immanuel” appears. We might think this is only a minor inclusion—one that the other New Testament writers didn’t feel the need to use. While the word “Immanuel” appears only once, the idea of “God-with-us” is a theme right through the book. In his introduction, Matthew includes the prophecy from Isaiah 7:14—Mary fulfills the role of the virgin and Jesus is the child of promise. This theme returns at a variety of critical points in Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew 11:28–30 speaks of Christ’s nearness to those who “yoke” themselves to him. Matthew 18:15–20 includes a promise of proximity whenever two or three face conflict with a desire for peace, and Matthew 28:18–20 famously promises that Jesus will be “with you always, to the very end of the age.”

It’s this final promise that seals the significance of God-with-us for the modern church. God-with-us makes perfect sense when Jesus is physically with the disciples; the Great Commission, though, affirms that this nearness does not end in Christ’s ascension. Rather, Jesus assures us of his continued nearness. As the church proclaims and teaches the gospel, God is near to her.

Considering that this promise remains true today, what might God’s promise of proximity say about our work of discipleship, as well as our own spiritual formation? Matthew has already woven that into this book. In Matthew 11 and 18, both passages speak to God’s nearness in particular situations—and how that nearness describes a critical aspect of Matthew’s imagination of discipleship.

God-with-us
as divine rest

This assurance of God’s nearness in discipleship is not an idea that begins with Matthew. In Exodus 33, Moses is speaking with God in the tent of meeting. In that conversation, God states that “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (v. 14). God promises this in response to Moses’ desire to have God “teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you” (v. 13).

Likely, Jesus has this exact exchange in mind as he turns to the crowd to say, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30, emphasis added). In Matthew 11, Jesus connects his closeness, his teaching, and Divine Rest, just as we saw in Exodus 33.

God-with-us makes perfect sense when Jesus is physically with the disciples; the Great Commission, though, affirms that this nearness does not end in Christ’s ascension.

To experience Divine Rest, we need to draw near to Christ, to say “Yes” to his call. We might look to add rest or restful times to our schedules, intentional times of getting away or unplugging. While those are good things, they are not the root of rest. True rest comes from the proximity of Christ to us (we choose to “come to him” as he has already approached us) and submission to his teaching (taking up his yoke). We cannot focus on designing the ideal program or ministry plan to the point of losing sight of the One who desires nearness and draws near to his people.

We must ask: are we designing an environment that removes distractions and draws attention to God that people might draw near to Christ as he has drawn near to us? Or are we manufacturing an experience that merely imitates his rest? Jesus invites us to accept his yoke, to do the work he has set for us to do and experience his rest.

God-with-us
in the midst of conflict

Matthew 18 adds another situation where we can expect to find God’s Presence. Matthew 18:15–20 is often quoted as two separate passages: one on church discipline (vv. 15–17) and another promising the nearness of Christ when groups of Christians gather (vv. 19–20). We ought to recognize that this section is written as it is for a reason. There is no break between these two pieces. Peter’s question about forgiveness in verse 21 confirms that the prior verses also have conflict in view.

The promise of God’s presence (v. 20) affirms that when members of the church face tension and conflict head on, God will be near them and will aid (v. 18) their desire to be reconciled to one another. Might it be that we should regard situations of conflict as holy moments? Not that the conflict itself is holy, but the moment is made holy by God’s people saying “Yes” to God’s call to reconcile to one another. When God’s people choose to face conflict and, with grace and humility, work for reconciliation, we can expect God’s presence to be there. God’s nearness empowers us to lean into conflict and seek reconciliation. As the church joins in God’s work of redeeming and reconciling creation to himself, we ought to expect that we will need to seek reconciliation to one another!

God-with-us
as a transformative experience

Matthew conceptualizes God’s nearness to us as the key factor in the discipleship equation. The Sermon on the Mount, among other texts in this book, makes clear that there are expectations for disciples of Christ to act on. We are freed from a works-based theology that demands that we perfectly live out of the Law; we are incapable of it. “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) is possible only when we experience God-with-us.

Discipleship is fundamentally a quest to experience the transforming nearness of the God who has chosen to be near to us.

This is a challenging path to stay on with deep ditches on either side. On one side is the temptation to manufacture moments or experiences that imitate the true presence of God. We chase experiences and we are left wanting as the imitation falls well below the experience of the real Presence. On the other side, we are tempted to sit back and simply wait for God’s presence to shape us, as though we have no part to play in our discipleship. Jesus’ call is to approach him (Matthew 11:28), not to stay still. We are to learn and act upon his teaching. Fortunately for us, our feeble attempt to live out the teaching of Scripture is empowered by the God-who-is-near. It is exactly because God chooses to make himself near us that we can learn his ways and rightly bear his name. It’s God’s nearness that allows us to do the work that Jesus has given us to do and to respond well to conflict as it arises.

God-with-us
as absolute necessity

As the church celebrates Advent once again this year, let us reflect upon Immanuel, God with us. In our desire to be discipled—to be redeemed and made whole—let us recognize the absolute necessity of the nearness of God. If it is the presence of God that we look for, then we ought to go to those places where God promises his nearness. As far as Matthew is concerned, God promises his presence to those who seek reconciliation in conflict, to those who accept Jesus’ yoke, and to those who go into the world to proclaim the gospel.

In this season of recalling God-with-us, it is right for us to take stock of the relationships in our lives that need reconciliation and do our part in bringing wholeness to those relationships. It is also fitting for us to reflect upon how we are seeking spiritual formation. In all honesty, are we seeking the very presence of God or are we settling for an imitation that we can produce of our own effort? May we join Moses in saying, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (Exodus 33:15). This Advent, let us be reminded of the gospel truth that God is very much with us, to the very end of the age, and that God calls all to draw near to him.