Matthew 28:18–20 - The Comprehensive Commission

The 'Great Commission' must be your top priority.

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Gospels: Week 12 — Jesus' Resurrection and commission

SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF... Although both the Imperial authorities and the religious establishment have tried to keep a lid on the fact that Jesus' body was no longer in its tomb, hundreds of people have now seen and interacted with our risen Savior. Matthew records one of Jesus' final moments on earth with His eleven remaining disciples.

Matthew 28:18–20 (NASB95)

¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them [the eleven disciples], saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Belgic Confession

Article 28: The Obligations of Church Members

We believe that

since the Church

is the gathering of those who are saved

and there is no salvation apart from it,

no one ought to withdraw from it,

content to be by himself,

regardless of his status or condition.

But all people are obliged

to join and unite with it,

keeping the unity of the church

by submitting to its instruction and discipline,

by bending their necks under the yoke of Jesus Christ,

and by serving to build up one another,

according to the gifts God has given them

as members of each other

in the same body.

And to preserve this unity more effectively,

it is the duty of all believers,

according to God’s Word,

to separate themselves

from those who do not belong to the Church,

in order to join this assembly

wherever God has established it,

even if civil authorities and royal decrees forbid

and death and physical punishment result.

And so,

all who withdraw from the Church

or do not join it

act contrary to God’s ordinance.

Summary

We've read many of the profound statements that Jesus made throughout His earthly ministry once again this year as we've read through the four gospels these last three months. But the statement He makes here, having gathered His eleven disciples one last time before He ascends back to the right hand of God the Father Almighty, belongs at or near the top of anyone's list. All authority, Jesus announces, over both heaven and earth, has been given to me.

We could spend the whole post unpacking the glorious truths of that statement, starting with how you need not worry about all of the complex particulars of this world that seem so out of control. All of it is under King Jesus' authority. But there's a key reason that Jesus choses this moment, as He commissions His Church, to announce His authority: He wants us to know that the following command doesn't come as simply good advice or a friendly suggestion.

We, the members of His Church, are under orders to do what's laid out in these verses by the One who has all authority in heaven and on earth. These actions Jesus lays out are not optional activities just to dabble in if we have a few extra moments. Rather, this commission must be our top priority in life, with our worldly pursuits (family / career / hobbies) set aside for when we have a few extra moments.

How many of us have got this ratio correct?

  Dig Deeper  

The primary command that Jesus gives in His 'Great Commission' is to:

MAKE DISCIPLES

A disciple, as defined by theologian D.A. Carson, is simply a person "who hears, understands and obeys Jesus' teaching."

Jesus gives three key ways for us - that is, His Church - to fulfill this commission:

First, Christ's Church is one that's always on the go. As it soon would be made clear to these first eleven members of His Church, they would need to hit the road to proclaim the Gospel (Good News) to the nations. But that word 'nations' means more than just far away, foreign destinations. The original Greek word is one you already know: ethnos, and it's often translated throughout the New Testament as 'Gentiles'. In other words, then, the Church is to go to all those who remain outside of it.

Secondly, all of those ethnos need to be washed, or as Jesus puts it, baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Heidelberg Catechism explains that baptism signifies that "just as surely as water washes away dirt from the body, so certainly Christ's blood and His Spirit wash away my soul's impurity - in other words, all my sins."

Finally, disciples must be taught. Taught what? A couple of years of Sunday School and Catechism classes? Absolutely! But that's just the beginning! Jesus' syllabus is simple: disciples must be taught to observe all that He has commanded. That means not just every word of the Sermon on the Mount, or just all of Jesus' parables, or even just all of the topics Jesus addresses throughout all four of the gospels. It means every word of the entire Bible, all of which has been inspired by Jesus' Spirit. That means a lifetime of being taught and teaching.

So, as Donald Hagner correctly concludes, "The emphasis in the Commission thus falls not on the initial proclamation of the gospel but more on the arduous task of nurturing into the experience of discipleship."

The Church's task of making disciples by going, baptizing and teaching is way beyond any of our abilities to accomplish it, even when we combine our forces and work well together (which we far too often fail at). That's why Jesus ends this short but comprehensive commission with one of the Bible's most comforting promises:

I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who gave all authority on heaven and on earth to His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you order your life in such a way that making disciples is your top priority;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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