Obviously this is Matthew’s gospel. Jesus is back in Galilee. He is not in Judea. He is on a mountain top again! Very much reminiscent of Moses on the Mountain top.
In Matthew’s gospel this is the final word. The final word has meaning. It is important and significant. There is nothing that follows. This is it.
The final instruction. The final parting words. “Go, make disciples of the Gentiles.” There is in a sense in this “Great Commission” a sense of expansionism. The church is about to reach out to other peoples, tribes and nations.
Did you hear how doubt was still present? Some doubt has always been present. Doubt as a part of faith.
It might seem in the early stages to be an impossibility…this mission established by Jesus. But the community also received a word of promise—“I am with you always, to the end of the age.” It is to be a word – that is trusted and valued.
Although the church started out small – as being a rather insignificant and inconsequential Jewish sect – whose founder was actually executed by the Romans…it went on to penetrate every known corner of the then known earth.
The early apostles did well. They listened and they followed…they went, as directed.
Which of course, is not to say that there were not mis-steps along the way…and some bad choices made…because there were!
But under the circumstances…the early church did the best that it could.
It fought off persecution from the Romans, persecution from the Jews, persecution from the nations and even persecution within its own ranks…
It did not take long for heresies to develop. One group believing one thing and another group believing something completely different.
The threats were real…from without and from within.
I am sure that you will agree that the early church had to do something to combat these challenges.
What developed were a series of creeds. The word creed comes from the root word “credo,” which means “I believe.” Belief is both personal and corporate.
It may surprise some of you to know that the first creed of the church was rather simply stated as, “Jesus is Lord!” Or, as “Jesus is MY LORD.”
Personal, succinct and to the point. It said it all. It could easily fit into any hymnal anywhere, with room to spare.
But more was necessary, more was needed as people wondered what that meant? What do you mean Jesus is Lord, or Jesus is my Lord.
We must remember that the name Jesus was at one time, very common. What Jesus? Which Jesus? Why is he so special? Why is he your Lord?
So the next creed to be developed was the Apostles’ Creed. It goes back to the first century.
Some people believed that it was actually written by the apostles. Most scholars believe it was attributed to the apostles.
Early legends said that each line of the creed was written by a different apostle.
This creed was good…but it still had its faults. It was personal and individual it was not meant for corporate worship. Corporate worship called for the plural voice…not the singular – first person voice.
What developed next was the creed to end all creeds…the Nicene creed. This creed came out of one of the first great gatherings of the church under Constantine in the year 324, in a city called Nicaea. It was a corporate creed. It was meant for corporate worship. The apostle’s creed quickly became associated with Baptism. It was actually called the believer’s creed. The Nicene creed became associated with the Eucharist, with Holy Communion.
But controversies and heresies still arose. There was need for yet another creed…a final creed, as it were, an end-all creed.
This final creed was named after a church father – Athanasius, a bishop. It became called the Athanasian creed. It spelled out the Trinity and the Trinitarian beliefs, in particular. It now became the final word. This was the churches answer to conflict and disagreement about the Trinity. This was to serve as the churches final statement of belief.
But no creed can ever say everything that needs to be said. No creed is ever perfect. Today the creeds are falling out of use. They are from an ancient time. They no longer are relevant. They do not speak to me. They should be discarded completely.
And I could not disagree more. They have meaning. They have beauty. They tie us to our past. They are historic. And yes, they still speak volumes. The creeds unite us together as one, they do not separate.
So having said all this – let’s check out what the Athanasian Creed has to say about the Holy Trinity: