The King’s Mission (Matthew 28:16-20)

Matthew 28:16-20

The King’s Mission

Lord’s Day, April 12, 2026, at Land O’ Lakes Bible Church

i. Introduction

I’m guessing if you we were to take a survey of what the purpose and the mission of the church is, we would get a wide range of answers. Even if that survey was strictly of those who profess to be Christian.

My guess there would be many who would argue that the mission and purpose of the church is to simply do good in the world. To fight for social justice, to serve the poor and needy among us. Others would argue that the purpose and mission of the church is to merely win as many people to the faith and have as many as possible in the church each Sunday.

The reason for my guesses here, and I don’t think I’m far off, is because of the wide variety of focuses we see in churches. And though in and of themselves, these things aren’t evil, they miss the point of the mission given to us by King Jesus. A mission that is to shape us as his people, both individually and corporately as the assembled body of Christ. It is this mission that we want to turn this morning as we conclude our study of the Gospel According to Matthew in what is affectionately called the Great Commission.

Please then for the last time this morning, open with me to the Gospel According to Matthew. We will be in Matthew 28:16-20 this morning. Matthew 28:16-20. If you do not have a Bible, there is a Red Bible there in your seats and we would encourage you to take that out and turn with us to page #993 there.

As we conclude the Gospel According to Matthew, let’s give a quick recap of where we have been in the account recorded for us of Jesus from this previous tax collector, now turned disciple. Matthew has been written to point us to Jesus, God’s Forever King!

For the opening of Matthew 1 shows us that Jesus is the Son of David and then traces the lineage from Abraham through David and his descendants full of kings. This showing us how Jesus comes as the Promised Son of David who was to sit on his throne forever. Jesus has declared this along the way as he refers to himself as the Son of Man. A title coming from the book of Daniel. We read there:

Daniel 7:13–14 (ESV)

13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

However, this claim as the Son of Man looks grim following Jesus’s death on the cross. The Forever King has now been slaughtered like a lamb and buried in the tomb. But as we saw last week, Jesus not only died, but was raised as the Victorious King! For his death was in accordance to his purposes to come and save his people from their sins as promised back in Matthew 1:21. Jesus came to be a spotless lamb whose life was given in exchange for the lives of sinners, so that his righteousness may be imputed to those who are united to him by faith!

This all being signaled in not only Jesus’s death, but his resurrection. For in rising from the grave, Jesus crushes the head of the serpent and death itself as sin and death had no claim on him! For in Jesus, death is dead!

And as Jesus now has been raised, he has appeared to the two women, the two Mary’s and instructed them to instruct his brothers to meet him. This meeting sets the agenda for not only these disciples, but all disciples through the ages until Jesus returns.

Let us then hear the word of the Lord as found here in Matthew 28:16-20. …

As you know, each week I try and some up the main idea of this passage and then try to labor to make that my main argument for the sermon. And as condensed as I could, here it is this morning:

Main Idea: As followers of Jesus, we have been entrusted to go and make disciples of all nations who delight in the supremacy of Christ; a mission that is governed by the authority of Christ and carried on by his lasting presence.

1. The Worship of Jesus

2. The Authority of Jesus

3. The Mission of Jesus

4. The Presence of Jesus

I. The Worship of Jesus (Matthew 28:16-17)

Back in verse 10 here in Matthew 28, we saw Jesus instruct the two Mary’s to not fear and to go to his brothers and give them instruction to meet him in Galilee. Then here in verse 16, we read…

The disciples hear these words that Jesus spoke to the two women, and they obey the instruction of the King. And while Matthew does not mention which mountain that they are to go to, the eleven knew precisely where to go and meet their Master. Whether this was something that Jesus had told them earlier that they now have recalled or whether they just knew from all the time they had spent with Jesus, they know. And they go. And as they arrive and see the Risen Messiah King, notice their response there in verse 17…

The response to the Risen Messiah King is Worship! Declaring that he is worthy of their allegiance and devotion. Declaring him to be the true King! Worship fills the hearts of the 11, just as it had to the two women back in verse 9.

Now, we do see there following that they worshiped, it written, but some doubted (διστάζω). When we hear doubt, we are often tempted to think about unbelief and skepticism. But that is not what the sentence structure is communicating here. In fact, the word we have translated as doubted could also be communicated as a hesitancy.

Hesitancy in wanting to believe and worship Jesus, but hesitant because of the shocking nature of all that has happened. From them seeing Jesus betrayed, put to death, buried, and now here risen in their presence. Hesitancy of possible fear of his desiring to cast them off after their abandoning him. Hesitancy for so many reasons. But this hesitancy does not appear to detract from their worship of Jesus!

And this is important. Because what comes next is impossible unless it is fueled by worship. To borrow from John Piper and his book, Let the Nations Be Glad, “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.”

And if missions exists because worship doesn’t, worship then is the very fuel for missions. For missions is those who delight in the supremacy of Christ going and helping others come to delight in the supremacy of Christ!

A supremacy we see declared by Jesus to his disciples as we move to verse 18 and point #2.

II. The Authority of Jesus (Matthew 28:18)

Verse 18…

The supremacy of Christ is declared here with this bold statement that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to him. An authority that is not entirely new but is at work now in a unique way.

For along the way, Jesus has described himself often as the Son of Man, alluding back to Daniel 7, which we looked at in the introduction. The Son of Man who was to be given dominion and glory and a kingdom. 

A kingdom first offered to him by Satan himself back in Matthew 4:1-11. For following Jesus’s forty days of fasting day and night, the evil one came to tempt Jesus three times. And in the final temptation, Satan shows him all the kingdoms of the world. And he tells Jesus that all can be his, if he will fall down and worship him.

Satan here offers Jesus rule and authority over the earth if he will serve him. But Jesus resisted and refused Satan and chose the harder but righteous path of the cross. For it is through the cross that Jesus gains not just authority over the earth, but all authority in heaven and earth so that the two may be reconciled.

For previously, the earth was at odds with heaven as God’s rule was being rejected upon the earth by sinful man. But now, in Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross and his glorious resurrection, all authority has been given to Jesus in both. An authority that will be used for the glorious reconciliation between the heavens and the earth as God’s rule is advanced in the building of his kingdom!

A kingdom that has no authority that can oppose it, since all authority belongs to King Jesus! For he has dominion over the visible and invisible. Dominion over thrones, rulers, and authorities, both in this world and over those of the evil one. Dominion over creation itself. For Christ is the one who is preeminent overall.

This dominion had first been given to Adam, but then it was lost as he was found unworthy. Now, in the new and better Adam of Jesus, this dominion is reclaimed and will be exercised under Christ and his bride, the church. A kingdom that the gates of hell cannot prevail, going back to Matthew 16:18.

Hearing then of this kind of authority of Jesus can be a scary thing, especially as we struggle with authority. But we must see here that the authority of Jesus is a good and right authority. An authority that regains what was there in the very good beginning. An authority that works not for evil, but good! An authority that guarantees the outcome of this mission that Jesus is about to launch us into as his disciples! A guarantee to do that which seems impossible.

For it is by the authority of this King we are being sent out into the world to fulfill the authoritative mission of the King. The very authority that guarantees the success of the mission. For who can prevail against our King? That’s point #2.

III. The Mission of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20a)

As to the what of this all-authoritative mission, look with me there at verse 19 and the first part of verse 20…

It is tempting for us, especially the way English grammar goes, to think there are multiple commands here in this mission which is known as the Great Commission. But the reality is, there is but one command. One command that is to shape the very mission of the church, the mission of God’s people. The command, make disciples (μαθητεύω).

This can be seen clearly in the original Greek, as it is the only verb. It is then surrounded by three participles which clarify this mission! A mission that calls present disciples to go and make other disciples of Jesus among those who do not yet belong to Jesus.

Or to borrow from the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C., Mark Dever and his little book titled, Discipling, “We are to help others follow Jesus.” That’s the definition of discipleship, the process of making disciples.

A mission that is clarified then by its three participles.

1. Go

First, we are commissioned to go. For Jesus says, go make disciples of all nations. While make disciples is the only command, the participle go takes on the imperative nature of the verb it is clarifying. But even as go is emphasized here in the call to make disciples of all nations, it is a commissioning out into the world.

Jesus is now sending his disciples out, not just to Israel, but to the whole world to proclaim the message of the kingdom of heaven and it’s all authoritative King, King Jesus who has triumphed even over death in his being raised from the dead!

The disciples are not to stand there waiting for the world to come to them. They are being sent out into the world to be fishers of men. They are being sent out to continue the work of the Sower, sowing the seeds of the gospel, scattering it constantly and to all nations.

For this was the goal in creation, for God’s glory to fill the earth. This was Adam’s mission, but he failed. And now, through Christ, we are to return to this mission, declaring the glory of the Lord to the ends of the earth. Making disciples among every tongue and tribe and nation as we declare that God has made a way to reconcile a holy God and sinful man through the redeeming love of Jesus and the shedding of his blood!

In order then to go make disciples of all nations, we must seek to be wise in how we seek to fulfill this. For we cannot all go, nor should we all be in a constant going nature, moving from place to place in hopes to fulfill the Great Commission.

In fact, wisdom and maturity will teach us that to fulfill the Great Commission, most of us will and should stay and plant roots in one place for the sake of building up Christ’s Kingdom where we are for the long haul. Laboring to be a light right where the Lord has placed us and given us to serve.

Seeing that the Lord has given us the opportunity to be making disciples in our jobs, in our communities, in our neighborhoods. Us seeing that our kid’s sports team or homeschool coop is not just seeing them connect and have fun, but an opportunity to be a light in the world and declaring the supremacy of Christ to a lost and dying world.

Or that your job is not just a means of paying the bills, it is something that the Lord has given you to use to advance his kingdom. A place to put you around non-believers for the very purpose of initiating spiritual conversations with them and sharing the good news of Jesus!

Beloved, let us go make disciples right here in the Northwoods! Us being a light to those in darkness who are presently perishing in the darkness of their sin and without hope!

But even as many stay, we must see the commission is a call to go make disciples of all nations. We are to labor to be maturing and maturing others, so that there may be those sent out from our midst into the world, declaring that the kingdom of heaven is at hand under the rule of Jesus!

Maybe even some from our midst will soon be called to be sent out from us to go make disciples of all nations. Furthermore, we also do this as we partner with like-minded brothers and sisters who seek to declare the supremacy of Christ to the world so that disciples will be made and continue to bear fruit and multiply!

This following the example of the Church at Antioch there in Acts 13, of setting aside Godly brothers and sisters to go out and take the gospel to the ends of the earth as we send them out from us. An example that we seek to follow as we partner with gospel workers serving in various places around the world!

This is our commission out into the world!

2. Baptize

But we are not just commissioned to go out in proclaim. We are commissioned out to make disciples, which means helping others come under the authority of Jesus as his disciples. This is what we are told when Jesus says, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

For the waters of baptism is an outward sign of an inward reality. For when we go back to the last time we saw baptism in this gospel account, Matthew 3, we see this. John the Baptist preached a message of repentance as he declared that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. People were coming and being baptized and confessing their sin.

Therefore, by baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the task of making disciples is made clearer. For the task isn’t merely to share the gospel, it is to bring others under the authority of Jesus as they publicly identify with him, who also went under the waters in his own baptism.

It is a declaration of dying to the old man and rising anew in Christ! A symbol of inward repentance and turning from sin.

This is why as a church, we affirm that of believers’ baptism. Baptizing only those to whom have actually made a profession of repentance toward God and faith in and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ[1]. And doing so by the practice of immersion, of going under the waters following the implied norm of baptism from both that of John’s baptism and that of Jesus’s.

A practice that symbolizes this reality that to publicly identify with Christ means a call to be buried with Christ as we die to our sin and rise anew in him, in new resurrection of life.

3. Teach

Finally, there is a third participle clarifying this mission to go make disciples of all nations. We are commissioned to go, we are commissioned to help others come under the authority of Jesus as they repent of their sins. And now, we are called there in the start of verse 20, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

I love what J.C. Ryle writes here on this participle of the mission. He writes,

It profits nothing that we go to a place of worship and hear Christ’s ministers, and approve of the Gospel, if our religion goes no further than this.—What are our lives? What is our daily conduct, at home and abroad? Is the Sermon on the Mount our rule and standard? Do we strive to copy Christ’s example? Do we seek to do the things that He commanded?—These are questions that must be answered in the affirmative, if we would prove ourselves born again and children of God. Obedience is the only proof of reality. Faith without works is dead, being alone. “Ye are my friends,” says Jesus, “if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (John 15:14.)[2]

Explain & Apply…

(Explain to non-believers, that it is this glorious commission that we have been given and desire for them to know and believe.)

IV. The Presence of Jesus (Matthew 28:20b)

 Jesus has sent us in and by his authority to make disciples of all nations according to his ways and for his glory. A mission as already stated is to be fueled by our worship of our King. But in our being sent out into the world to make disciples, we are not going about this mission on our own or in our own strength or even by our own authority. It is under the authority of Jesus who holds all authority. But not only that, Jesus who sends us promises to be with us. Look with me at the last part of verse 20…

Jesus here uses this I will be with you always or more literally all days. This language picks up the same kind of language that we saw earlier in our service during our Scripture Reading from Exodus 3. The language of God promises to be with Moses as he goes to Pharaoh.

This promise is again made to Joshua as he prepared and led the people of Israel into the Promised Land after wandering in the wilderness for forty years.

Beloved, Jesus sends us out to do what seemingly is mission impossible. But it is not, because not only does he have all authority in sending us out, but he has also promised to be with us all days. Meaning that we are never alone as we go about the glorious mission of our King, declaring his excellencies! So, what seems to be mission impossible is mission guaranteed because of who Jesus is!

[1]Baptist Catechism #98.

[2]J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860), 411.