Precisely as was the case with the Lord at the Burning
Bush in Exodus, Jesus’ I Am! to
his apostles at the end of Matthew has nothing abstract or other-worldly about
it. In both instances the context and the language make it clear that the
divine I Am!, far from
being a philosophical revelation of essence,
is inseparable from the prepositions with or for, indicating
a necessary relationship of intense care and interest between God and his
creatures. Jesus never merely “is”, in a standoffish and static mode of
existence. Rather Jesus always is-with and is-for. We could in
fact paraphrase the declaration I am
with you!, both by the Lord of Israel in Exodus and here by Jesus in
Matthew as, ‘Everything that I am is for you’ or ‘My place is always at your
side’. What could be a more irresistible declaration of unconditional love? All
the reciprocal intimacy and boundless, heart-ravishing trust that this
confidence—I EXIST FOR YOU!—established
between God and Moses, Jesus now bestows on the group of the Eleven, that is to
say on the Church and, implicitly, on all humanity. And he daily awaits our response.
Photograph by Brother Brian. Meditation by Father Simeon.
