Sermon Tone Analysis

The Great Commission

 

| *The New Revised Standard Version* | *The New International Version* | *English Standard Version* |

| 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

| 16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

| 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

|

| 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

| 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

| 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.

|

| 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

| 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

| 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

|

| 19 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, | 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, | 19 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, |

| 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.

And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

| 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

| 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

|

 

This morning we are going to take a look at the Great Commission in Mathew 28:16-20.

From time to time we get requests to do Sunday messages that walk through a bit of scripture.

So that is what we are going to do this morning.

We are going to work through this section of scripture verse by verse in order to develop what Jesus was commanding us through the first disciples.

Everyone who brought their Bible, raise it above your head.

If you want to study the Bible, you need to bring yours with you every week.

Those who have Bibles can find today’s Scripture at the end of Matthew.

These five verses are the mission statement for all churches that call on the name of Jesus, as well as all people who call on Jesus’ name as disciples.

Before we begin we need to provide a disclosure statement.

While I want to be sensitive that today’s content will contain some challenging questions and statements, my overall response is GOOD!

If what we talk about this morning makes you squirm a bit, then you probably need to squirm a bit.

But I will give you fair warning by saying something like, “here is a question that might make some of you uncomfortable.”

So let’s dig in we have a lot of ground to cover in a short time.

Please stand as we read.

Thank you for standing, you may be seated.

You can find references to the Great Commission in: 

 

Mark 16:14-18, Luke 24:36-49, John 20:19-23, and in Acts 1:6-8

 

We aren’t going to take time to read those references now.

But I encourage you to explore those passages on your own.

VERSE 16

 

Verse 16 sets the stage by telling us that the eleven disciples (the original twelve minus Judas Iscariot who hanged himself) have journeyed to a mountain in Galilee, one that Jesus had told them to go to.

VERE 17

 

In verse 17 the eleven see the resurrected Jesus and their immediate response was to worship him.

This worship isn’t what we imagine as worship.

It is not singing, or meditating, or reading the Bible.

The Greek word used here indicates that all eleven engaged in the act of worship and it literally means to bow down and kiss the feet, or the bottom of the garment, or the ground in front of the person worthy of such homage.[1]

This word is used throughout the scripture to refer to prostrating oneself before God.[2]

We are being told that all eleven disciples did this (lay face down on the floor).

Now they didn’t have a nice carpeted surface to lie on.

They are on a mountain, lying in the dirt and rocks.

And if it rained the night before they are laying in the mud.

Got the picture of what worship is?

 

Worship is giving yourself totally over to God in an act of reverence.

Here’s the first warning for you, some of you might be uncomfortable with what I’m going to tell you next.

Worship IS NOT ABOUT YOU!

You get the benefits of participating, but it is for God.

We are to gather on Sunday’s to worship God.

Our society in America has turned this around 180 degrees.

The vast majority of people attending church in North America attend looking to see what they can get out of it.

Then they are disappointed when they don’t connect with God.

And they will never connect with God, the way he desires, unless they come to corporate worship and give themselves totally over to Him.

It doesn’t matter if you like the music, the hour of the day, the color of the walls, the sermon, or how the offering is taken.

It’s not about you.

It is about God.

Followers of Jesus desire to live a life of worship, giving themselves totally over to God every moment of every day.

And when they come together to worship as a body, it is to focus on God and what he likes, not our petty likes or dislikes.

Now verse 17 also tells us that some doubted.

That just doesn’t sound right.

How can these guys have hung-out with Jesus for three years, ate together, slept together, traveled together, witnessed the miracles, seen him crucified, and now risen, and still have any doubts?

The word that we translate as doubt is better thought of as hesitation rather than unbelief.

It could be that they didn’t quite recognize Jesus as first, or they were fearful about how Jesus was going to respond to them in this encounter.

And you have to remember that these guys are Jewish.

They have been taught all their lives that they are to worship only Yahweh.

So maybe they haven’t quite got their theology right yet.

Or maybe the simplest explanation is that they didn’t know how to behave in the presence of a supernatural holy being.

The account in Luke 24 provides some insight into this doubt.

It reads in verses 37-38:

 

37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost.

38 He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?

39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself.

Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

This tells us that the disciples were not sure what they were seeing.

They are afraid because they think they are looking at a ghost.

“Ghost” is being translated from the word /pneuma./

That is the word from which we get our English word pneumatic.

In scripture it can be used to mean wind, breathe, spirit, Holy Spirit, or as Luke uses it here, “ghost.”

In the context of the first century Holy Land, these Jewish disciples understand this word to mean the deceased in graves who may roam the earth at night.[3]

And in the Jewish context the dead were unclean and you were to stay away from the unclean.

So you can see why they might be scared.

Well, the application of all of this is that sometimes we will be hesitant, sometimes we will be wondering.

And that is alright, as long as that is part of the process on our way to developing our personal theology and growing as a disciple.

VERSE 18

 

In verse 18, Jesus proclaims that he has been given all authority on heaven and earth.

He has been *given* it...by God the Father.

This statement clearly provides a distinction between God the Father and God the Son, and Jesus’ claim to all authority shows that he is fully God.

The point of Jesus’ telling this to his disciples is to empower them through the verses that follow.

VERSE 19

 

“Go and make” are the two operative verbs in the next verse.

“Go” is without restriction.

There is no geographic limit, next door is equally as important as around the world.

There is no time limit.

It is not just for a few minutes, or hours, or days.