LIving Out the Great Commission

Matthew 28:18-20
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.

So for one of my classes this semester we are going through a Bible study type book. We are supposed to look at one chapter a week. Each chapter has a core truth that it wishes to impart, a memory verse, am inductive Bible study guide, and then a reading that delves farther into the core truth. Well, the memory verse for the first week was Matthew 28:18-20. This is a passage that I have grown up at least knowing about, but I have never actually memorized it and have always really thought it was important but never actually just sat down and read it and really focus on what it is trying to impart. Well, after I got over the initial disgust of myself for not having done thes things, I sat down, memorized it and began to answer the questions the book provided. They are simple questions about a simple few verses, but they really changed my outlook on my faith and how I live my life. And because it had this affect on me, I thought, "Hey, maybe it will have this affect on other people as well." So, in my attempt to change the lives of others I thought I would post those questions, my responses to them, and maybe a few more thoughts.

The first question that the text asks is in an attempt to really put the passage of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) in context. I am not near as good as my roommate at putting Biblical passages in context (he is a Biblical studies major after all), but I can at least give you a basic feel of the events that preceded these words of Jesus. These are the last words of Jesus in Matthew, so it is immediately following his rise from the grave. He met with his disciples and he told them to go and make disciples of all nations. Now, I don't know about you, but if I were a disciple, I would probably be a little bit freaked out by this. I mean think about it. Jesus was crucified three days ago and you were expecting to have to go visit his grave to claim his body (although he told you that he was going to rise from the dead) and then all of a sudden you start hearing rumors that his body is gone and you are told to go to Galilee and wait for him, although you know for a fact he is dead. Wow. That would be a lot to take in. I am sure that there is more dialogue than just what is recorded in scripture. However, it shows the importance of the statement that out of everything said in this glorious reunion, this passage is what is recorded in scripture. Jesus had risen from the grave and the knowledge that he felt most important to impart on the disciples before he left is that of the Great Commission. That is pretty powerful.

The next question asks what these three verses tell us about Jesus. In truth, this passage teaches us a lot about Jesus. Let's look at it verse by verse. The first verse establishes Jesus' dominion over all of the heavens and all of the earth. The devil likes to think he is in control, but in reality, our God has never lost control. All authority has been given to Christ. Not just some, or a large amount even, but absolutely all authority has been given to Jesus. Our God is all powerful and all authority God possessess has now been passed to His son Jesus Christ. The next verse is a command from Jesus to his disciples (and to us) to go to ALL nations and make disciples. This verse shows the love Jesus has for the world. He did not want the disciples to be the only ones who received the good news of Jesus Christ. He did not even want Israel to be the only country to receive the good news. Jesus told his disciples to make disciples of ALL NATIONS! I just want to make sure you understand this part. There are around seven billion people in the world. Jesus wants us to share the gospel with every single one of them. And now that I think about it, he wanted us to do more than just share the gospel. He actually wanted us to make disciples of all nations. Making disciples requires an actual committment to all those people. Not just a, "Hey, Jesus loves you, accept him as Lord, here is a Bible, and see ya!" We are called to really mentor and disciple all people and show them the love of Christ. Jesus commanded this of us because he loves every single person in this world and wants them all to experience that love. This seems like a very daunting task doesn't it? Reaching seven billion people and making them all disciples? Yes, it is rather overwhelming. However, the next verse gives us a promise from Jesus that he will be with us always. This means that he trusts us enough to put the task of reaching the world on our shoulders, but he loves us enough to walk beside us the entire way. I say this because it is true. But at the same time, he does establish his authority, meaning that going and making disciples is not a gentle request. It is a command given by the creator of the universe and if we do not follow through, we are actually undermining this authority.

The book does have a few more questions, but I feel I have covered the main point. It breaks my heart when I read this verse because I know for a fact that I could be doing so much more. As a matter of fact, I don't do much at all and I hate that about myself. I cannot be content in simply going to school to be a minister, I need to live my life doing ministry. No amount of school can get me into heaven, and no amount of school can help tell people about Christ. It is a call that every single Christian must accept. If you are reading this as a non-Christian, then I sincerely apologize to you because I have failed to do my job. Christ called us to be better than what we are, but gave us the Holy Spirit to elevate us in order to accomplish all that the Lord has planned for us.