Omnipresence

The human location passages (like John 11:14-15; 14:2-4,28; 16:28; 17:11-13; Acts 1:6-11) portray Jesus in one place rather than another, and as departing and returning even after his exaltation and ascention.

However, Jesus promises to be among those gathered in his name and to be with his disciples to the end of the age. Other passages speak of filling all things, making a home with believers and being in heaven and earth simultaneously. Do these statements establish omnipresence?

Defining Omnipresence

Cambridge Dictionary defines the noun omnipresence:

the fact of being present or having an effect everywhere at the same time. — Cambridge Dictionary

The definition includes both presence and effects. The claim assessed here is that Jesus is universally present. This is stronger than a claim of widespread influence or mission support.

The Father explicitly describes his universal reach:

Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away?
Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD.
Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.

— Jeremiah 23:23-24 (ESV)

The Father fills heaven and earth and sees hidden people.

Matthew 18:20 (Gathering in Jesus Name)

In contrast to the LORD's omnipresence, Jesus' promise addresses followers gathered under his authority:

“If your brother sins against you:

  1. go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
  2. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
  3. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.

And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name (authority), there am I among them.”

— Matthew 18:15-20 (ESV)

Gathering in Jesus' name expresses allegiance to him and acting under his authority. Jesus' authority is exercised through his commissioned followers. He made this promise while his disciples regarded him as their Rabbi. Jesus could not have been physically present at every location where his disciples gathered.

Warning

Some bible translations add paragraph breaks or biased titles to the text which were not part of the original manuscripts. This gives the impression that the topic changed from dealing with sin to omnipresence.

When Matthew's message should be read together as it was originally intended.

Paul's Presence in Spirit

When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. — 1 Corinthians 5:4-5 (ESV)

Paul, a human messenger, describes his spirit as present in a disciplinary assembly. A plausible interpretation is Paul shares the assembly's judgement and purpose through his message and entrusted authority without being bodily present. Paul could not have meant "omnipresence". "Presence" language does not establishes omnipresence.

Matthew 28:20 (With Disciples to the End)

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." — Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)

Jesus continues to support the disciples' work under the authority granted to him.

In this context Jesus was concerned about the Kingdom of God. The goal is to make "disciples of all nations". Jesus previously said that he would return to gather his own (Matthew 24:23-44).

Matthew also records Jesus speaking of his future return: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory” (Matthew 25:31). It does not establish that the promise “I am with you always” is about continuous physical presence. Matthew presents both the continuing promise and the future coming, so they should be read together without treating either as a contradiction.

Furthermore, a parallel witness in the book of Acts states:

So when they had come together, they asked him (Jesus), “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said,

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

— Acts 1:6-11 (ESV)

This shows that the disciples did not think that Jesus was omnipresent.

Acts 18:9-10 (Assurance and Human Protection)

In the Corinth vision, the speaker is called "the Lord", not explicitly Jesus.

And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” — Acts 18:9-10 (ESV)

Although Acts 9:10-17 supports the interpretation that "the visionary Lord is Jesus". Nevertheless, Acts 18:9-10 does not establish Jesus's presence or omnipresence. For example Isaiah 41:10 use the same language:

fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

— Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)

Isaiah's promise was made by the LORD (YHWH) (Isaiah 41:4,13), not Jesus. This parallel concerns help and protection, instead of bodily proximity.

Gallio dismisses a dispute about religious law (Acts 18:12-17). Sosthenes is beaten, but no bodily harm to Paul is recorded. In Acts 23:10-24, soldiers rescue Paul before the reassurance in verse 11. His nephew then exposes a plot, and the commander arranges an armed escort. In Acts 27:23-25, an angel gives Paul divine assurance. The centurion later prevents the soldiers from killing the prisoners, and everyone reaches land safely (Acts 27:42-44).

The most likely interpretation is that the Father providentially helped Paul through His people. Those involved need not knowingly serve God the Father.

Even if "the Lord" could be identified as Jesus, the same principle applies, that people were orchestrated by "the Lord" to protect Paul. These accounts narrate no public bodily appearance of Jesus confronting attackers or physically carrying out these rescues despite Acts 23:11 saying:

The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.” — Acts 23:11 (ESV)

The Greek ἐπιστὰς αὐτῷ means “having stood beside him”. This phrase also refers to the LORD (YHWH) in Psalm 109 in the context of help and protection:

With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD; I will praise Him in the midst of the throng. For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from those who condemn his soul to death. — Psalm 109:30-31 (ESV)

Acts 23:11 does not specify that Paul saw a material body of "the Lord", but more likely that "the Lord" help and protected him through means of circumstances and people.

John 3:13 (Simultaneously On Earth & Heaven)

No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. — John 3:13 (NKJV)

The ESV omits the longer ending, “who is in heaven”. A NET textual note records its omission in P66, P75, א and B. The shorter text, preferred here, describes ascent and descent without explicitly asserting simultaneous heavenly residence.

No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. — John 3:13 (ESV)

The longer reading is textually disputed, because it would imply a contradiction that requires Jesus to be simultaneously present in both heaven and on earth.

This statement is not a quotation of Jesus words, but instead a commentary added by either a scribe or the author of the book of John to testify that Jesus has in the meantime ascended to heaven.

The addition of this commentary which happens to be a textual variation cannot reliably be used to proof or disproof Jesus omnipresence.

John 14:20-23 (Indwelling)

The Greek preposition en, a small word that links words, is commonly translated “in” and has several possible meanings depending on context. BibleHub’s Strong’s Greek 1722 entry collects Strong’s and Thayer’s Bible word-reference works and is not an original scholarly source. It lists “in, on, at, by, with, among”, including uses where “in” shows the means by which something happens. A word’s possible meanings alone do not determine its meaning in John 14–17; the surrounding passage and grammar control the sense. It should not automatically be read as being literally inside someone.

John 14 connects this language about being in each other with love, obedience, and the Father and Son making their home with the disciple. The context therefore describes presence in a relationship, not a statement that Jesus is omnipresent inside believers.

Ephesians 1:22, 4:10 (Filling All Things)

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. — Ephesians 1:22-23 (ESV)

He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. — Ephesians 4:10 (ESV)

Out of context these expressions seem to state that “Jesus is personally present everywhere in the universe.” However, Paul's subject is the exalted Christ and his body of believers.

In Ephesians 1:20-23, God the Father raises Christ, seats him above every power, and gives him as head to the church. Paul immediately identifies this church as Christ's body and his fullness. Christ's authority over all things forms the setting, but the passage specifically connects that authority with his relationship to the church. Authority everywhere is not the same as personal presence everywhere.

Ephesians 4:7-16 develops this relationship. Christ ascends and gives gifts to his people (4:7-8). He provides apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers to equip believers for ministry and build up the body of Christ (4:11-12). The passage ends with the body growing as each part works (4:15-16). “Fill all things” belongs within this account of Christ supplying and building his church, not an explanation of how his person occupies space.

The letter's other uses of fullness reinforce this context. Believers are to be filled with the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19) and grow towards the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Neither expression means that believers become omnipresent. Fullness here concerns their shared life and maturity.

Christ's filling as takes place through his body. Christ carries out his work through believers. The scope of that work need not be limited to the church, but work reaching throughout the world does not require his person to be present at every location.

These passages concern Christ's headship and the life, ministry and growth of his church. They do not establish personal omnipresence.

Revelation 2:1 (Walking Among Churches)

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. — Revelation 2:1 (ESV)

Revelation 1:20 identifies the lampstands as seven churches. Some view this as evidence that Jesus is omnipresent at all churches. However, the vision more likely portrays Christ's oversight among communities.

Symbolic walking does not explicitly claim presence at every location.

Summary

These passages provide no solid evidence that Jesus is omnipresent.