Core Commission

As I look out this morning, I realize that most of the people here likely have a relationship with Jesus.

If you don’t, I am so glad you are here and I hope that God uses everything we are doing today to draw you to himself.

However, for those of us who do, I want to ask you a question: What was it that God wanted you to do with the rest of your life after he saved you?

There are a few different ways to answer that, depending on your perspective. You could say that God saved us so we would glorify and enjoy him forever.

Maybe you would say that God saved us and wants us to do the right things and not do the wrong ones, and that is certainly part of what we are called to do.

However, this morning, I want to challenge you to look at this passage with us this morning and see the core commission that Jesus has given to all his followers.

To see it, I want you to open up to Matthew 28:18-20.

Last week, we started this brief series entitled, “At the Core”.

We saw that we have two primary commands at the core of everything we do as believers and as a church: love God with everything we are, and love others like we love ourselves.

Today, we are looking at this core commission that Jesus gave us before he ascended back to heaven.

As I looked back over my past messages, I don’t think we have talked about this passage enough.

In fact, I realized that I have never actually preached a full message on it in my 10+ years of preaching here. We have referenced it, and we have looked at similar passages, but we haven’t taken a full message to really sit down and look at one of the most important texts in all the New Testament.

As I mentioned, these were a part of Jesus’ final message before he went back to heaven after his work on earth was complete for now.

Listen to them again with fresh ears...

As we make three different observations about our core commission, I want to boil it down to this idea: Jesus is calling you to make disciples in the world around you.

Before we even look at what Jesus is telling us to do, let’s look at verse 18 again and realize...

1) The commission is not a suggestion.

Have you ever had someone tell you to do something, but you felt like they had no right to do so?

Perhaps a co-worker tried to boss you around even though they had no right to, or a friend treated you like they were in charge and you weren’t.

You may have thought (or even said), “Who do you think you are? What right do you have to tell me what to do?”

As we think about our core commission, the calling to make disciples, let’s remember who it is that is calling us to do this: Jesus himself.

This isn’t something your pastor is just making up that you need to do. It isn’t a suggestion from your Sunday School teacher or your best friend.

This is a direct command from the Son of God, and you need to listen.

We will see some next week as we dive into our study of John just who Jesus is and why we need to listen to him, but we get a picture of it here in this text.

Look again at verse 19 - Jesus has all the authority that there is to have over heaven and earth.

He’s a pretty big deal, in case you haven’t noticed.

In fact, just a few pages before this, Matthew tells us about how Jesus responded when he was arrested.

Peter tried to take matters in his own hands and took a swing at one of High Priest’s servants.

Here was how Jesus responded:

Matthew 26:52–53 CSB

Then Jesus told him, “Put your sword back in its place because all who take up the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and he will provide me here and now with more than twelve legions of angels?

As the NET Bible translators noted, “A legion was a Roman army unit of about 6,000 soldiers, so twelve legions would be 72,000.” [1]

Jesus had the authority to speak a word and at least 72,000 angels would immediately be at his disposal.

I don’t want to go too deep into what we will cover next week, but I would encourage you to go ahead and read John 1:1-18 this week if you struggle to see what makes Jesus’ commands so important.

If it doesn’t make sense, know that we are going to try to explain it clearly next week.

For today, thought, this isn’t someone just giving you their opinion on what they think you ought to do; this is the Son of God, who has all authority in heaven and earth, telling you what to do.

Maybe this is where you need to park your heart for a minute: how are you responding to the things Jesus commands you to do?

Are you simply coming to him, hoping that he has some good advice to follow like the latest lifestyle blog you read on Facebook that you don’t really remember but know that it was really good stuff?

Listen: Jesus is the one with all the authority in heaven and on earth.

He’s the one that Paul talks about in Philippians 2:9-10

Philippians 2:9–10 CSB

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— in heaven and on earth and under the earth—

We bow before someone who has authority, and he has all the authority that there is to have.

The commission that is at the core of what Jesus is calling us to do as a church is not a suggestion—it is a command from the King over all creation.

The commission that Jesus gives us is also...

2) The commission is clear.

There are some interesting things that are happening in the Greek here, so let’s talk about it without making it too confusing.

The crystal clear, indisputable fact is that Jesus is calling all of his followers to make disciples.

Now, that’s an unusual word that we don’t use often outside of church, so let’s talk about the word “disciple’ for a minute.

Here is how one Bible commentator explains what a disciple is:

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Twenty-Six: The King’s Victory (Matthew 28)

A disciple, then, is one who has believed on Jesus Christ and expressed this faith by being baptized. He remains in the fellowship of the believers that he might be taught the truths of the faith (Acts 2:41–47). He is then able to go out and win others and teach them. This was the pattern of the New Testament church (2 Tim. 2:1–2).

[2]

Earlier, he used the term “apprentice” as a possible synonym.

A disciple, then, is someone who is an “apprentice” of Christ. He has been baptized, which we will talk about more in a minute, and he is following Jesus’ commands as he grows along with other believers in the church.

So, what is Jesus calling us to do? To make disciples.

He isn’t calling us just to share the gospel, although that is an essential part of it.

He isn’t calling us simply to baptize, although that is also part of making disciples.

No; Jesus’ command is that every single believer in the church be growing in such a way that he is not only a disciple himself but is also helping make other disciples as well.

She is not just taking care of her own spiritual growth, but she is also helping another person to come to know and grow in Christ as well.

Let’s look at what Jesus said we are to do as we make disciples: baptize and teach.

The Bible is clear that baptism is the first step someone needs to take after they commit to following Jesus.

Why is that such an important thing? There is nothing magical in this water or this tub; it is just town water.

However, baptism is the symbol Jesus’ gave us by which we declare that we have turned from our old way of living and are committing to follow Jesus as the authority over our lives.

Our society doesn’t think it does many rituals like this anymore, but there was one that happened Friday night in Blacksburg, wasn’t there?

My wife didn’t grow up in a college town. Sure, University of Memphis has a football team, but it wasn’t a big deal.

When we moved back to Christiansburg, she didn’t understand what all the hype about VT football was all about.

Then, a few years back, some friends took us to a game. We sat in the end zone bleachers and looked around at a sea of orange and maroon around us.

Then, the chants started, “Let’s Go!” “Hokies”

All of a sudden, “Enter Sandman” began, and the crowd began jumping up and down in a frenzy as the team took the field.

In that moment, my wife began to understand what all the hype was about.

There was a camaraderie, an identity, that suddenly those thousands of people in the stands shared.

It’s as though they had been immersed into the Hokie nation.

Listen: it’s fun to get hype about college football, but that doesn’t hold a candle to what takes place when a person gets baptized.

No, we don’t usually all jump up and down while the band plays, but I would encourage you to go back and read Romans 6 this week to see what all baptism depicts.

When a person follows Christ and is baptized, they are immersed into the water and raised out of it, picturing the fact that Jesus died for his or her sins and was raised. In the same way, they died to their old way of life and were raised to a new life in Christ! They are not the same person they were before they came to Christ.

Now, by publicly showing that through baptism by immersion after they have been saved, they are identifying with his death and publicly declaring that Jesus is in charge of their life.

What a huge deal!

Jesus said that is a key part of our call to make disciples: helping them take that step of obedience and identifying with him.

We baptize in the fullness of God’s nature, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, showing that we aren’t just committing to some random God, but instead to the God of the Bible.

It doesn’t stop with baptism, though, which is a mistake we have made all too often.

Someone comes, and they get convicted of their need for Jesus, so we baptize them, and then we leave them on their own to figure life out with Jesus.

That’s not what Jesus told us to do, is it?

If you and I are going to make disciples of Christ, as pastor Robby Gallaty says, “Baptism is not the finish line, it is only the starting line.”

He also says,

“Discipleship is not complete until the player becomes the coach.” (Robby Gallaty)

Here’s my concern: As we have promoted our statement of, “Our Goal Is Love”, I think we have missed a part of it.

We have said that our goal is that we would lead people to love God and others in their church, community, and world.

We have said that that fulfills the core commandments we were given last week.

However, I believe we are missing a key component, because we are not helping others to do the same.

“Yeah, Sean, but that’s what we pay you for. You’re the pastor, so you are supposed to be discipling people so we can all grow up and love Jesus and others.”

You are partly right—I am called to do that in a unique way as a pastor, which Ephesians 4:12 talks about.

However, notice something Jesus just said here: the disciples were supposed to teach others to observe how many things that Jesus taught them? Look back at verse 20 if you need help.

Everything, right? So Jesus told the disciples to make disciples who would obey every command Jesus gave, right?

What did we say that phrase “make disciples” is? A command.

So, then, isn’t it fair to say, then, that the command to make disciples falls under the “everything” that everyone is supposed to observe?

Yes, we as a church are supposed to make disciples, but don’t let the universal nature of this command cause you to miss the fact that he means you!

You can’t sit back and assume someone else is going to call that person who has been out for a few weeks, or that person you know is struggling with an addiction. You can’t assume that someone else will teach that class or is going to take that person out to lunch to encourage them when they are down.

That is my job, yes, but it is also yours! You have the privilege of being commissioned by God to help bring other people to him in a real way, and to help them grow into the men and women that God has called them to be.

Jesus’ command is for you, not just all the rest of us.

So, whose life are you intentionally investing in so that they will grow in their walk with Christ?

If you would say, “Well, I’m not there yet. I don’t know enough or am still struggling with this sin or this doubt,” then what do you need to do to shore up that area so you can invest in the life of another?

Again, this isn’t me telling you to do it—this is Jesus!

If you’ll notice, we skipped a few things in the command, didn’t we?

We haven’t talked about “go” or “all nations” yet.

That’s because there is some debate about the word “Go” here.

Remember that the New Testament was originally written in Greek, and the word “go” here isn’t in the normal form you would expect a command to be.

In fact, the only grammatical command in the passage is “make disciples”—that is clearly and unequivocally a direct command.

So, what about “go”?

It is in a form that could be translated “as you go,” so Jesus is saying essentially, “as you go about your life, make disciples.”

That is certainly a valid way to look at it.

In fact, isn’t that what we saw in the first part of the book of Acts?

The apostles would go into the temple like normal, and while they were there, they would perform miracles and teach the people about Jesus.

They were going about their regular lives, and as they did, they shared the Gospel.

Some commentators point out something interesting, though. When Biblical authors use this kind of construction, that first word often is treated like a command. (see D.A. Carson’s Everyman’s Bible Commentary).

That is why the translators behind most translations have said that this should be translated “Go and make disciples”.

When you look at it from this angle, the command is not just about making disciples in our regular day-to-day life, it is also a command to go to other places to make disciples.

That should also remind you of what we saw in Acts:

Acts 1:8 CSB

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

We stopped before we really got to see it, but Acts 13 and following track the story of Paul and Barnabas going all over the Roman world with the gospel, making disciples and starting churches.

So, which is it? Both!

As Craig Blomberg says in the New American Commentary on Matthew:

Matthew 2. Resurrection! (28:1–20)

To “make disciples of all nations” does require many people to leave their homelands, but Jesus’ main focus remains on the task of all believers to duplicate themselves wherever they may be.

[3]

Jesus is telling us, then, that we need to do both. Every believer has a responsibility to make disciples in their own spheres of influence. That means in your home, in your dorm, in your workplace, at the gym, and everywhere you go.

Not only that, God calls us to make disciples of all the nations, so that means that God will call some people to go to “the ends of the earth,” like Jesus said in Acts 1:8.

That’s why we have taken teams to Zimbabwe and sent others to Thailand.

That’s why we take a portion of what you give every week and send it to the North American and International Mission Boards to support the thousands of missionaries throughout North America and to the ends of the earth.

That’s why we are praying for God to send out people from this church to take the gospel to underserved parts of the country and world.

So, who are you discipling? Who are you sharing the gospel with, and who are you helping grow in their walk with Christ?

What do you need to change so you can invest your life in someone else who needs to grow to look more like Jesus?

As God uses us individually to make disciples around us, would you pray for God to give us wisdom to know what adjustments we need to make as a church to ensure people are growing into disciple-making disciples?

When you look at all that Jesus is commanding us to do through this core commission, it likely feels incredibly overwhelming.

How on earth could I possibly do this? How could I help someone to grow to love Jesus to the point that they could help others do the same?

That gets to the last observation we want to make this morning about our commission:

3) You are not alone.

Jesus’ last words in verse 20 are so incredibly comforting, aren’t they?

Remember: he is with us always, all the way up until the very day he returns.

You aren’t called to carry out this commission alone, are you?

You have Jesus with you every step of the way.

We saw that as we looked through Acts and saw that the Holy Spirit came upon the church, didn’t we?

They shared the gospel, baptized thousands, and saw them grow into mature disciple-making disciples.

Now, we stand and look back over almost 2000 years of faithful men and women who shared, baptized, and taught in nations around the globe.

Jesus has been with his people for the last 2,000 years. He isn’t going to leave you alone now.

He has the authority to tell you what to do, doesn’t he?

He has made it clear—he is calling you to make disciples of all the nations, both as you go and where he calls you to go.

What do you need to do in response?

Endnotes:

[1] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Mt 26:53.

[2] Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996.

[3] Blomberg, Craig. Matthew. Vol. 22. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992.