Peter, looking back, sees the disciple whom Jesus loved coming after him...

… And he said: Lord! And what about this one?

Jesus said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what does it matter to you?" Thou shalt follow Me. (John 21:19-22).

Here is the last word of the Lord on earth, not only to Peter, but to all mankind:

follow me.

sm moi bkolomqei. —

With this word the Lord departs, to what distance, earthly or heavenly, we do not know; we only know that wherever He is, on earth or in heaven, He is with us everywhere and always. It is in this eternal Presence – the Coming of the Lord, παρουσία – that the main meaning of the last meeting before eternal separation, the meeting of the Resurrected One with the disciples in the First Gospel (28:26).

And the eleven went up to Galilee, to the mountain whither Jesus had commanded them;

I think to the Mount of Beatitudes. If this is so, then here too the beginning of the Blessed News merges with its end in the circle of eternity.

It is very likely that this phenomenon in Matthew's testimony coincides with Paul's (1 Cor. 15:b): "At once he appeared to more than five hundred brethren."

… He went up to the mountain, and when He sat down, the disciples came to Him.

And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (Matt. 5:1-5).

It is the same time of the year now, on the last day of the Lord, as then, on the first, the beginning of April; the same place –

The sun also rises from behind the bare and red-hot peaks of Gilead, and the lake, still shady in a deep hollow between the mountains, sleeps like a child in a cradle. Both the sky and the mountains are reflected in the mirror of the waters with such clarity that if you look at them for a long time, it seems that those reflected are real. And everything is desolate and solemnly silent on earth and in heaven, as in the bridegroom's palace prepared for the wedding feast and waiting for guests: everything is ready, come to the wedding feast It was once, in time, and will always be, in eternity.

XIV

… On the mountain... (the disciples) went where Jesus commanded them.

And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him...

And Jesus drew near, and said unto them, All power in heaven and on earth has been given unto me.