The Great Commission

Our passage tonight is 5 short verses, but these five verses are still being unpacked. Here we have the end of Matthew’s account of Jesus Christ. We have Jesus’ giving the mission of the church, including how it should be established, who they were to go to, and what they were to teach. Jesus’ words in these verses tonight have implications for race relations, the relationship between the Old and New Testaments, the sacraments, election, Trinitarian theology, and Christian virtue. Putting all of this here in five verses makes my job incredibly easy and incredibly difficult at the same time. There’s plenty to say, but no way to say it all. But we do what we can, the Lord being our helper.

We have reason to be disturbed and reason to be encouraged that there are eleven disciples obeying Jesus’ directions to meet together at a particular place. There was no Judas, and we know that ended badly. But on the other hand we do have Peter, someone who denied Jesus when he needed him most. We have Thomas, a man who would not believe eye-witness testimony about Jesus’ resurrection (something Christianity depends on almost completely). And there among those eleven were other less than educated, less than perfect people like you and me.

They saw Jesus and worshiped him, but some doubted. It’s hard to know what they doubted, but we’re reminded that the Church has always been a place where faith is intermingled with doubt. Perhaps they doubted it was really him, or whether they should worship this human being. They didn’t have a Nicene Creed. If they knew it at all, the only Arianism they knew was bubbling below the surface in their own hearts.

But even with doubt present, Jesus still shows up. He draws near. He is not afraid of their doubts, or ours. He will do as he pleases with the hearts of those he has chosen to be his own people, whether they have questions and doubts like Thomas, or like Paul, are persecutors of the church. The risen Jesus is not kept away by our doubt and sin.

And among this audience, these first members of Christ’s kingdom, he tells them the following. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Christ’s kingdom has been established. So here is the last command he will give in the flesh. It’s not what you would expect from a new king. It’s not self-serving or decadent, it’s mission-focused. He tells them to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...” He doesn’t tell them to go fight a war. He tells them to go and win hearts and minds to the truth, to the actual way things are, to reality, that God is here. He has made them and cares for them, to the point of dying for them. He’s conquered death so he can be with them forever. Convince them in your words and actions, but go, make disciples. Make them of all nations. Not just people like you. Go into Africa. Go into Asia. Go North, South, East and West. This means there is something very different going on now, then it was under the Old Testament Law, as it was seen at that time. All nations were to be conquered, but not in military terms, not like the first Joshua, but this conquest was of hearts conquered with the truth, the way, and the life.

These new disciples were to enter into Christ’s death and resurrection in baptism. Again, having died to lostness, to falsehood, and death, they were to be reborn in Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life. And this baptism was in the one name of the three persons of God: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This one name and three persons meant that robust insight and wisdom was going to be needed. This would arguably be the strongest most straightforward presentation of the Trinity in the Bible. And the sacraments alone were not going to be sufficient for these new disciples. They had to be taught everything that Jesus had commanded, whether Old Testament or New Testament. And the job wasn’t just to teach them, they weren’t just downloading knowledge. These eleven men were to teach them to observe or keep everything Jesus had commanded.

So not only did they need to figure out how to navigate to and persuasively communicate with all nations., they needed to be able to articulate the truth, including Trinitarian theology and the relationship between the Old and New Covenants and walk them through death to self into a new life in Christ through baptism.

So not only did they need to figure out how to navigate to and persuasively communicate with all nations, they needed to be able to articulate the truth in love, including Trinitarian theology and the relationship between the Old and New Covenants and walk them through death-to-self into a new life in Christ through baptism.

As parting words go, this was a far cry from, “Oh by the way, could you please remember to unplug the toaster?” You might think of Moses’ last words of encouragement and exhortation, sending God’s people into their new and seemingly uncertain future. Only when Jesus ascended, it wasn’t merely up a mountain. In these five verses, like Moses, Jesus is giving a monumental task to this kingdom’s new subjects. An impossible task, actually. How could they, with their doubts and their past unfaithfulness be expected to deliver what Jesus’ was asking them to deliver here in his last words? Because he goes on to say, “And behold, I myself am with you always to the end of the age.” In the Greek, that I is emphatic. It’s I, me, not a memory of me, my very person will emphatically be with you always, to the end of the age.

As parting words go, this was a far cry from, “Oh by the way, could you please remember to unplug the toaster?” You might even think of Moses’ last words of encouragement and exhortation, sending God’s people into their new and seemingly uncertain future. Only at the end of Jesus’ time on earth, when he ascended, it was much higher than a mountain. In these five verses, like Moses, Jesus is giving a monumental task to this new kingdom’s subjects. An impossible task, actually. How could they, with their doubts and their past unfaithfulness be expected to deliver what Jesus’ was asking them to deliver here in his last words? Because he goes on to say, “And behold, I myself am with you always to the end of the age.” In the Greek, that I is emphatic. It’s I, me, not a memory of me, my very person will emphatically be with you always, to the end of the age.

These men knew that no matter how much they studied the Bible, no matter how well they fit in to new cultures, they weren’t going to be able to make disciples of all nations. No matter how hard they tried to be holy or wise, they weren’t going to be Trinitarian theologians or gurus in personal morality. The only way any of this was going to work was that this person, this man who all authority in heaven and on earth had been given, the only way this new reality could happen was if Jesus himself was with them as they went. Only if he went before them, would his church be established. Only a person who really died and really rose from death, the true Son of God could make this happen.

And it is happening. Even in this very moment. Those men did those things. They became Bible scholars, exegetes of culture, comprehenders and ministers of sacramental mysteries, tamers of the will, moral examples. These men who started out as doubters became these things because Jesus went before them and walked with them. And he continues to build his kingdom, a kingdom of the true king, even now and until his great return.

And these words were written so we could not only be encouraged by the results, but to be the results. To be disciples and to make disciples. Let us also put aside our shortcomings and look to Jesus and go with him where he leads, and do what he tells us to do. And along the way, by his presence and his grace, we will become who he wants us to become.

These men knew that no matter how much they studied the Bible, no matter how well they fit in to new cultures, they weren’t going to be able to make disciples of all nations. No matter how hard they tried to be holy or wise, they weren’t going to be Trinitarian theologians or gurus in personal morality. The only way any of this was going to work was that this person, this man who all authority in heaven and on earth had been given, the only way this new reality could happen was if Jesus himself was with them as they went. Only if he went before them, would his church be established. Only a person who really died and really rose from death, the true Son of God could make this happen.

And it is happening. Even in this very moment. Those men did those things. They became Bible scholars, exegetes of culture, comprehenders and ministers of sacramental mysteries, tamers of the will, moral examples. These men who started out as doubters became these things because Jesus went before them and walked with them. And he continues to build his kingdom, a kingdom of the true king, even now and until his great return.

And these words were written so we could not only be encouraged by the results, but to be the results. To be disciples and to make disciples. Let us also put aside our shortcomings and look to Jesus and go with him where he leads, and do what he tells us to do. And along the way, by his presence and his grace, we will become who he wants us to become.