Comissioned by the King

Introduction

Read Scripture then pray.

Father today I ask that you open this text to me and that you open it to those here. I pray that you will bring about spiritual transformation in our hearts today. Reveal the truth of your Word to us today and help us to grow in our knowledge of you. Amen

By the end of the book of Matthew we come to the conclusion of a journey that has told the story of the life of Jesus. We’ve heard of His birth, His teaching and ministry, all of the miracles He performed, and eventually His death.

So when we come to this final chapter in the Gospel of Matthew, we come to the point of the Resurrection of Christ. Just as He foretold.

And yet, even with His resurrection and defeat of the grave, He still is not finished. He still has a final command for those who are His true followers, His disciples. And that command comes in the form of The Great Commission.

And yet with this final Chapter of Matthew, we read of the foretold resurrection coming to be

And this call to proclaim the gospel - to make disciples - is a call we need to hear today. It’s a command that we need to remind ourselves of often. If all Scripture serves the purpose to point us to Christ, then the Great Commission is the culmination of that. Jesus’ work on earth has been accomplished, and now our work begins.

And so my question for you today, my question for all of us here is this.

Is your purpose in life to make Christ known?

Is our purpose, as a church, to go and make disciples?

And if you believe that that is your purpose today, and every day, are you doing that?

Are you making disciples?

v. 16-17

v. 16 - As we look at our Scripture today, we see that the eleven disciples (Jesus’ inner circle) head to Galilee to the mountain where He directed them. And although this mountain is not a specified place, it demonstrates the general scene or areawhere Jesus taught in Galilee. And what an awesome place for Jesus to direct His disciples to. Becuase it is here in Galilee that the wider mission is launched where the original mission began.

And in the next verse we see the reaction of the 11 when they see the savior.

v. 17

When the disciples see Jesus, they naturally worship Him, but at the same time, the overall experience was so mysterious and overwhelming that some doubted. And the word here for doubt, distazo, does not indicate a settled unbelief, but instead uncertainty or hesitation. It wasn’t that they did not believe, but that instead, in their amazement, they were confused.

Think of it in terms of our modern language when we see something that is “too good to be true.”

We see the same hesitation in when Jesus appears to the disciples following His resurrection. After appearing and proclaiming Shalom, peace to you, to his disciples they were startled to see him. At first, they were afraid, but He comforted them by showing them His hands and feet and telling them not to be afraid. Even after these things, we read that they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement.

It’s also worth noting that the only other place we see the Greek word distazo in the New Testament is found in Matthew’s account of Peter walking on the water in .

Peter had enough faith to get out of the boat and walk toward Jesus on the water. “But when he saw the wind he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’” Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Why did you hesitate? Why were you uncertain?

And for the disciples to be rebuked for their doubt, uncertainty, hesitation, how much more so should we fight the doubt that we struggle with?

In each of these cases in Scripture, there are people who exhibit faith in Christ’s Resurrection or in His ability to perform a particular miracle. But at the same time, for whatever reason, they express some form of hesitation or doubt.

And we are the same way, and it’s often because we don’t trust in the following statement that Christ is about to give to the disciples.

1. The Authority of Christ (v. 18)

v. 16 - As we look at our Scripture today, we see that the eleven disciples (Jesus’ inner circle) head to Galilee to the mountain where He directed them. And although this mountain is not a specified place, it demonstrates the general scene or areawhere Jesus taught in Galilee. And what an awesome place for Jesus to direct His disciples to. Becuase it is here in Galilee that the wider mission is launched where the original mission began.

And in the next verse we see the reaction of the 11 when they see the savior.

v. 17

When the disciples see Jesus, they naturally worship Him, but at the same time, the overall experience was so mysterious and overwhelming that some doubted. And the word here for doubt, distazo, does not indicate a settled unbelief, but instead uncertainty or hesitation. It wasn’t that they did not believe, but that instead, in their amazement, they were confused.

Think of it in terms of our modern language when we see something that is “too good to be true.”

We see the same hesitation in when Jesus appears to the disciples following His resurrection. After appearing and proclaiming Shalom, peace to you, to his disciples they were startled to see him. At first, they were afraid, but He comforted them by showing them His hands and feet and telling them not to be afraid. Even after these things, we read that they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement.

It’s also worth noting that the only other place we see the Greek word distazo in the New Testament is found in Matthew’s account of Peter walking on the water in .

Peter had enough faith to get out of the boat and walk toward Jesus on the water. “But when he saw the wind he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’” Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Why did you hesitate? Why were you uncertain?

And for the disciples to be rebuked for their doubt, uncertainty, hesitation, how much more so should we fight the doubt that we struggle with?

38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate before them.

In each of these cases in Scripture, there are people who exhibit faith in Christ’s Resurrection or in His ability to perform a particular miracle. But at the same time, for whatever reason, they express some form of hesitation or doubt.

And we are the same way, and it’s often because we don’t trust in the following statement that Christ is about to give to the disciples.

We often skip right over verse 18, and jump head first into the Great Commission. However, it’s very important that we realize that in Jesus opening sentence his response to the disciples hesitation, is to reassure them of his autho rity.

When Jesus gathers His disciples on the mountain, He does not begin with a command, but instead with a claim. And that claim is that “ALL authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

What an awesome reassurance that is! That in the middle of our doubt, in the middle of the storms of life that cause uncertainty, Jesus says, I am in control.

And this declaration, in all of its awesomeness gets even better and has even deeper meaning when we realize that Christ is echoing the words of that say:

In the Eye of the Storm by Max Lucado, Word Publishing, 1991, p. 153

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.

Jesus’ authority is the basis for everything that follows in this text.

And we often need to be reminded of this authority. That our savior is the ruler of all, not just on the earth, but in heaven as well.

It reminds me that I need to have more faith in Christ.

And it reminds me of a story I read in a devotional not too long ago.

In U.S. Navel Institute Proceedings, the magazine of the Naval Institute, Frank Koch illustrates the importance of obeying the Laws of the Lighthouse.

Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities.

Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing reported, "Light, bearing on the starboard bow."

"Is it steady or moving astern?" the captain called out.

The lookout replied, "Steady, Captain," which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship.

The captain then called to the signalman, "Signal that ship: &ls;We are on a collision course, advise you change course twenty degrees.'"

Back came the signal, "Advisable for you to change course twenty degrees."

The captain said, "Send: "I'm a captain, change course twenty degrees.'"

"I'm a seaman second-class," came the reply. "You had better change course twenty degrees."

By that time the captain was furious. He spat out, "Send: &ls;I'm a battleship. Change course twenty degrees.'"

Back came the flashing light, "I'm a lighthouse."

We changed course.

Jesus’ authority is the basis for everything that follows in this text.

There are many different kinds of authority. There’s moral authority, political authority, religious authority, and so on. And yet here, Christ says all authority has been given to me.

There are those who disagree on where authority in the church should come from, especially among other

Often times believers will say of their conversion, “I decided to make Jesus my personal Lord and Savior” and while there is a lot of truth to that statement, we have to be careful to understand that we don’t decide to make Jesus Lord, He is Lord regardless of what we think of Him.

Jesus died on the cross, conquered the grave, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the Father of ALL creation - Jesus is Lord over all.

Philippians Chapter 2 solidifies this truth in saying:

For this reason God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

And we see this authority outlined and demonstrated throughout the scriptures.

Jesus has authority over nature and nations.

He calmed the sea with a rebuke and calls the disciples to make disciples of all nations.

He has authority over disease and demons.

He healed the blind and the lepers, made the lame walk and makes the demons flee.

He has authority over sin and death - and as the Son of God Jesus has the authority to forgive sin.

He has authority over your life and my life and every life of every living thing!

What great reassurance that gives me to know!

So what do we as a result of this? How is this reassurance not only a comfort to us, but also a call to act?

Philippians Chapter 2 solidifies this truth in saying:

For this reason God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Christ’s authority brings about tow specfic actions in the life of a believer.

Jesus’ authority compels us to go.

The Great Commission isn’t a man made program.

Our obedience to the great commission is not tied to our own willpower.

Jesus authority compels us to go.

And we don’t share the Gosple reluctantly or out of obligation, we do it because Jesus is worthy of the worship of every person on the planet. Those in your home, those where you work, those where you go to school, those at the grocery store or at the ball game. Christ is worthy of the worship of them all.

And we can share Him with all, becuase his authority gives us something that is hard to find elsewhere.

Jesus’ authority gives us confidence as we go.

Not only does Christ’s authority compel us to go, it gives us confidence as we go. While the Great Commission calls us to step out of our comfort zone to reach the unreached for Christ, we are given the confidence to do so knowing that God is in control.

When you tell your coworkers or your friends or even the stranger you ran into in town that they are following false idols, and that if they don't turn to Jesus, they will die forever it doesn’t always make sense to them.

The world views this as arrogant, and because so, many in the church are timid when it comes to sharing the Gospel. However, if Matthew's Gospel is true - if Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world, if He rose from the grave in victory over sin and death,and if there is no one like Him and He reigns as Lord over all—then telling the lost world about Jesus is the only thing that makes sense!

Platt, David. Exalting Jesus in Matthew (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) . B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

What doesn't make sense is millions of Christians sitting back and saying nothing to the lost.

We’ve been given the confidence, knowing that the One who sent us is sovereign over all and worthy of worship from all.

And not only have we been given the confidence to go, we’ve been commanded to...

The authority has been given to Christ, therefore we go. And why do we go? Because it is commanded of us.

2. The Command of Christ (v. 19-20a)

Jesus universal Lordship over all now demands a universal mission for all who are saved. With this command, the disciples’ restriction to Israel alone is lifted, and all nations becomes the new mission.

This is the culmination of the theme we see throughout the Gospel, the calling of a people of God far wider than that of the Old Testament.

It’s a calling in which membership is based not on race but on a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

And in the same way, that the disciples were called, we are called to this mission.

If you’ll look back at verse 19, we see one imperative verb (make disciples) and its surrounded by three participles going, baptizing, and teaching.

We share the word.

The first step to making disciples is to share the Gospel.

We don’t just live according to the Gospel, although this is important, but we speak about the Gospel as we live according to it.

As we learn in the Holy Spirit empowers us to do this -But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

If you are a believer, the Spirit of God lives inside of you and allows you to bear witness to the Gospel to everyone around you.

As i mentioned earlier, it’s a great tragedy that millions of Christians sit back and say nothing to the lost.

For our church to be evangelistic, then our strategy is that every member of the church engage the world with the Gospel.

We go and share, not because it is suggested, we go and share because it is commanded and it is imperative.

But what else is commanded of us in making disciples?

Making disciples doesn’t end when people respond to the Gospel.

After we have shared the word, then we show the word.

We show the word.

We show the word by follwing Chris’t command to baptize, which is another aspect of the process of discipleship.

In the New Testament we see the word for baptism mentioned 73 times. Baptism symbolizes identification with the person of Christ and inclusion in the body of Christ.

And once again, the act of baptism is done in direct obedience to the command given by Christ in this Scripture. Through baptism we publicly identify with Jesus, and by doing so we demonstrate our faith in him and show our witness of that to the world.

There is a shocking number of Christian’s in the world today who say they are Christian’s but have not been baptized.

If you are a follower of Christ and have not been baptized, you are living in direct disobedience to Christ. It's not that one has to be baptized in order to become a Christian, but once you are a Christian, your public declaration of faith in Christ involves baptism. To neglect this dishonors and quite frankly disobeys Christ.

However, once one has been baptised, part of their identification in the body of Christ involves sharing life together in community.

Baptism is only the beginning of discipleship.

Platt, David. Exalting Jesus in Matthew (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) . B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

We don’t receive our baptism and from there remain content to sit in a classroom for an hour or so a week as our only form of discipleship.

Disciple making is what happens when we walk through life together as a community of faith, modeling for one another how to follow Christ.

We show one another how to pray, how to study God's Word, how to grow in Christ, and how to lead others to Christ. This is what Christ's body is to be about.

Platt, David. Exalting Jesus in Matthew (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) . B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

We teach the word.

And this leads us to the third way in which we are obedient to Christ’s command ---

We teach the word.

(Read v. 20a)

As we make disciples, we teach the word.

We don’t just receive the word, we reproduce the word.

And although some in the church have been gifted to teach the word more clearly, every disciple of Jesus is given this command.

To this point in the Gosepl, Jesus alone has been the teacher. However, at this point the disciples take over his role of teaching.

It is important to note that they don’t take over this role to teach just abstract ideas. They are commanded to teach others to observe all that I have commanded you.

And another important distinction here is that teaching does not involve words alone. It involves action.

In our efforts to show Christ to the world, we must serve the world in Christ.

And that means wherever you are, you have the opportunity to live out the Great Commission in a way that demonstrates to others what it is to live for Christ.

The truth of the matter is, our community needs Christ, our country needs Christ, and the world needs him.

As of right now, there are still 6,000 people groups in the world who still haven’t been reached with the Gospel. In that number there are two billion people who have never even had a chance to hear the gospel. According to Scripture, they are all on a road that leads to an eternal hell.

As of right now, there are still 6,000 people groups in the world who still haven’t been reached with the Gospel.

It is commanded of us to reach them and then teach them what it is to follow Christ. The Spirit of God has opened our hearts to see and to believe. Very soon we will be in heaven with Jesus, rejoicing forever, but while we're here, God has given us His Spirit for one purpose: We have been given the task of reaching the world for Christ.

Having understood the implications of the authority of Christ, and hearing his command to make disciples, we are reassured in the fact that Christ is with us always, to the very end.

3. The Presence of Christ (v. 20b)

Jesus concludes his commission with the promise of his presence.

It’s very fiting that the final words of the Gospel of Matthew remind us of Matthew’s description of Jesus in the first chapter.

(which means God with us) -

This let’s us know that the mission to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth is not based on who we are or what we can do. The mission is accomplished and it is assured based on Christ’s presence and through His spirit.

Rather than being based on what we can do, the mission is based on who Jesus is, and what He is able to do in and through our lives.

We must depend on the presence of Jesus!

In Christ tells us “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” ().

So maybe it’s time for the church to put aside small dreams and worldly ambitions and instead give Christ a blank check with our lives and see where He leads.

He is able to do beyond all that we ask or think.

Together, let's experience the power of His presence with us. We want to be a part of something that is beyond us, something that requires supernatural strength. We don't want to be preoccupied with programs and practices that we can manage on our own. We should be desperate for the power of Jesus. We know that obedience to the Great Commission will not be easy, and we know it will be costly. But we also know that it will be worth it. Jesus will return and His reward will be infinitely greater than any cost we have paid. So together, let's hope in the promise of His return for us. The kingdom of our Lord Jesus will one day be fully and finally established, and we will see His face (Rev 22:4). We are living—and longing—for that day. Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

Platt, David. Exalting Jesus in Matthew (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) . B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.