Oi, you....

'What does 'Lo' mean?' asked a member of the congregation after church today, pointing at the famous  inscription  under St James's picture, The Ascension of our Saviour.

A quick reference to the Greek of the New Testament, made possible by a passing curate with a smartphone, shows that the King James translators (the inscription under the painting is from Matthew 28.20 in the King James Version) used the English word 'lo' to translate the Greek word 'idou.'

Idou literally means 'look' or 'behold' and it has the sense of: pay attention/sit up and listen/ open your ears and get ready for something really important.

After church we were thinking of a modern equivalent for 'lo' which is not exactly a word you hear bandied around on the streets of Bermondsey.

After a bit of deliberation we decided on 'Oi you lot.'

The really crucial thing of course is the message itself. It was given at the point of the Ascension when Jesus said to the disciples; “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

It set out the mission they were to be engaged in, and it assured them of his continuous blessing as they went out to make disciples.

As we follow in their footseteps, seeking to make disciples of all peoples, we can be confident that Jesus will be with us always, too, and that's the really important thing, the thing to sit up, and take notice as the Lord says to us: idou/lo/look/behold/oi you.

PS The link with the King James version also explains the missing 's' on 'alway.' That is simply how that word was spelt in 1611.