The entire book of Matthew deals with the Triune God being with the tripartite man. It reveals that the presence of Jesus is Immanuel (Matt. 1:21, 23; 18:20; 28:20). In chapter one, two names are revealed—Jesus and Immanuel. Matthew 18:20 says, "For where two or three are gathered together into My name, there I am in their midst." To which of these two names does "My name" refer? According to chapter one, the name given by God was Jesus, but those who experienced Him called His name Immanuel. From God's view the name into which we are gathered is Jesus, but from our view the name is Immanuel. We should be gathered into the name of Immanuel.
Not many realize that the name into which we are gathered is Immanuel. Most would say that we are gathered into the name of Jesus. To say that "My name" in verse 20 refers to Jesus does not require any vision or revelation, but to say that the name mentioned here is Immanuel requires vision, revelation, and experience. Immanuel is something new. Today in our experience, the very Jesus into whose name we are gathered is Immanuel. In Matthew 28:20, the Lord says, "I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age." The One who is with us all the days is Immanuel. Immanuel is the presence of Jesus.
Matthew is a book on Immanuel—God incarnated to be with us. The practical Immanuel is the Spirit of reality (John 14:16-20). When Peter and the other disciples heard the Lord's word in Matthew 18:20 and 28:20, they may have wondered how the Lord would be with them. They may have thought that the Lord would be with them in the same way that He was with them before His death and resurrection. They may have considered that the Lord would continue to be with them physically, and this may have made them quite happy. But in John 14 the Lord Jesus said, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever" (v. 16). Then in verses 17 and 18 the Lord indicated that He would become this Comforter.
In John 14 the Lord was helping His disciples to realize the Divine Trinity. The Divine Trinity is embodied in the Son (Col. 2:9). As the embodiment of the Triune God, the Son was a Comforter to all of His disciples. But because of His coming death, the disciples may have thought that they would lose the Lord as their Comforter. For this reason, the Lord prepared His disciples by telling them that He would ask the Father to give them another Comforter. The second Comforter would be the first Comforter in another form (John 14:16-20).
In Matthew 28:20 the "I" is Immanuel. In John 14 the "I" who will come in verse 18 is the Spirit of reality in verse 17. There is a progression in the divine revelation from the Gospel of Matthew to the Gospel of John. Today the Spirit of reality is Immanuel. In Acts and the Epistles, the Spirit of reality is the very presence of the consummated Triune God in our spirit. He, the Triune God, is with us, the tripartite man, mainly in an inward way. The Triune God cannot complete His intention to dispense Himself into our being outside of us. Therefore, His being with us must be inward.