Spotlight on Scripture

The Trinity…..What on earth, or in heaven, is it?
 
“and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. “ 
Amen                                                                                                    Matt. 28 v. 20
 
These words of Jesus are so comforting, aren’t they? Just what we want to hear and to cling onto, to be strengthened by as we, after His ascension, contemplate life without the physical, earthly presence of Jesus among us. But some years ago I came to see something in them which was more than comfort and strength. To explain what I mean I have to take you back to my involvement, with three others, in the making of the church banner (pictured) and which can be seen hanging in St. Hilda’s Church, Jesmond.
 
After several months of working on it, and as we came to its completion, I began to see something in those words of Jesus which I had not been aware of before. “I am with you always”, Jesus had said; words that were among the last He spoke to His disciples. Perhaps it was working on them as we did that I began to see in those words that Jesus was, as it were, encapsulating the Trinity: for in those words the three persons of the Trinity are acknowledged.
 
Moses, when commissioned by God to lead the Israelites out from their slavery in Egypt asks; “Who shall I say has sent me?” “Tell them, I AM, has sent you”, is the reply. So…….I AM, the name of God.
 
When an angel spoke, in a dream, to Joseph who was at that time engaged to Mary, he was told not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife for “She will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew then goes on to explain that this is to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah and adds, “and they shall call His name Immanuel”, which is translated, “God with us”. So…. “I am with you”, God the Father and God the Son.
 
In His High-priestly prayer on the night before He died, Jesus says to the listening disciples, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.” John 14. v. 6
Another helper, the Holy Spirit, to be with them always.
 
So now…            I AM                  -            Father
                        With you                   -            Son
                        Always               -            Holy Spirit
                       
Now, you may or may not agree with what I came to see in these words of Jesus, but what you will agree with, I suspect, is that the concept of the Holy Trinity is neither easy to understand, nor to explain. I have not tried to explain or to understand the Trinity, but I have tried to recognize it in the context of Jesus’ own words, words which, I believe, speak of a relationship of completeness, unity and love.
 
The concept of the Trinity is indeed, a mystery, and always will be. One of the characters in the Adrian Plass book ‘The Horizontal Epistles of Andromeda Veal’ puts it this way;
 
“You know, there a four things I like about the Trinity. First, I love having a father in God. Second, I love having a friend and brother in Jesus. Third, I love having a comforter and guide in the Holy Spirit. 
And fourth, …I love the fact that it’s a mystery. Three persons – One God. It’s a mystery and I love it. Why would I want to spoil things by trying to explain it?”
 
To reflect on;
“And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of time.” Jesus not only offers us comfort by His words, but promises us also the wisdom, love and might of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – the glorious Trinity.
 

Joan Grenfell.