Matthew 28.18-20: The Great Commission

Last week, we began observing the words of our Savior as found in Matthew 28:18-20. As some of Jesus’ final words before leaving this earth, He told all followers to carry out His will by bringing others to Him.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Last week, we noticed Jesus’ authority over heaven and earth and our responsibility to give our lives to Him in full submission. This morning, we will turn our attention to the most familiar portion of Jesus’ statement: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”

Go with a purpose. Some have proposed in the past that the verb that is translated “Go” in this verse could just as easily mean “as you are going.” While that could be a possibility, it is unlikely that is what Jesus specifically meant to that audience. The verb used there is actually a type of participle that is predominantly used by Matthew that—for lack of an easier way to explain it—gets it’s “mood” from the following verb to which it is attached. “Make disciples” is in the imperative, therefore “go” is imperative as well. Jesus specifically commands us to go with the purpose of making disciples of His will. This idea also makes the most sense when you consider His original audience. If He told Jewish Christians to convert people “as they are going,” how long would it have taken before they branched out to reach Gentiles? He makes His mission clear from the beginning: the gospel of His resurrection is for all nations, therefore we should “go” into them to teach Jesus.

Today, we must be going—whether to places far away or down the road—with the purpose to leading souls to Christ.

Going and making disciples is a process. Although Jesus is firm regarding His mission of teaching the lost, He understands the hearts of men. He knows it is difficult to touch everyone with the good news of salvation. When He was in the beginning of His earthly ministry, He said, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven” (Matt. 5:16). This statement gives us a rallying cry for our everyday actions: no matter what you’re doing, let your light shine. Notice the desired response of those around us: “that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Jesus understands you might not baptize everyone you come in contact with, but He tells us everyone should see our good works enough to know to Whom we belong. Although evangelism can be discouraging, we need to remember that relationships, trust, patience, dedication, and prayer are all important to bringing souls to Christ. These things often are built up over time. Evangelism should be urgent to us, but not to a fault of being scared and unsuccessful.

Go in the present. As Jesus was leaving the earth, He gave these hallowed words to His followers. From that moment forward, this was their mission statement. There should have been no confusion over who needed to know about Jesus’ life: all nations. There should have been no question about what to do: create disciples through baptism and teaching. There should have been no fear: Jesus would be with them. When the imperative is used, it is used to show command and force. The time during which it is to be carried out refers back to verse 18 (because of the “therefore”). Because Jesus now has all authority in heaven and earth, we must go now! They were to go then; we are to go now. Although going for the purpose of teaching others can be difficult, we will be doing His will if we do something for Him.

May God bless us all as we “go” and bring others to Him—even this week.

Matt. 28.18-20: The Great Submission

One of the most familiar passages to Christians is located in Matthew 28:18-20. Most of the time we give those 3 verses the title of “The Great Commission.” As some of Jesus’ final words before leaving this earth, He commissioned all followers to carry out His will by bringing others to Him.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

There is much for us to learn from our Master’s mission. We’ll begin this week a 6-part series studying the greatness of our Lord’s mission. This week, we’ll notice Jesus’ words in verse 18, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Before telling the disciples present that day what to do, He tells them why to do it. Christ is given all authority in both heaven and earth. His disciples needed to be reminded that they weren’t following a young carpenter from Galilee any longer; they were following the Son of God and the Savior of the world. He was talking to them on the other side of His death, burial, and resurrection. If there ever was a time for them to obey His teachings, it was now.

The idea of “submission” is inseparable from “authority.” Most forms of authority in some way depend on those who submit to it (i.e. legal, parental). However, with Christ’s authority, it is absolute. It is our choice to submit to it or rebel against it. Let’s notice a couple of things about submission to Christ:

Submission isn’t a dirty word. It’s not a very popular thing to preach submission today. We have been trained to think that what we think and what we do is perfectly fine as long as it’s perfectly fine with us. For those of us who know Christ as our savior, submission is a beautiful thing. We submit to Christ’s authority because it’s absolute, complete, and universal. Come Judgment Day, there will not be those who are found faithful to the cause of Christ who weren’t also found fully submissive to Him. The New Testament is clear that we are to be in full service and submission to Him as our Lord and Redeemer (e.g. John 10:27; 14:15; Eph. 2:10).

Christ is the only one truly worthy of our submission. We also submit to Christ because He is committed to us. In Ephesians 5:22-33, we find an oft-controversial passage about the relationship between husbands and wives. True, Paul tells wives to submit to their husbands. However, he also tells husbands to be the man that is submit-able. Notice Paul’s words in verses 25-29, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…in the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies…For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.” Christ sets the example as being the ultimate master: he died for us and takes care of us.

The “Great Commission” won’t happen without the “Great Submission.” Where this hits us the hardest is when we try to carry out God’s will for our lives. Many of us struggle with God’s directives for evangelism, personal purity, clean speech, and so on. Have we stopped to ask ourselves if we’re fully submitted to Christ? He wants us fully committed. However, we can’t be committed until we’re submitted. To follow Paul’s illustration from Ephesians 5, the wife who’s not fully submitted to her husband won’t be fully committed to serving him. A child who’s not in full submission to his or her parents won’t be in full obedience to them. Citizens who aren’t fully submitted to the laws of the land are the ones who chronically disobey them.

When we think about our task to go and make disciples for Him, we must first remember that we must be in full submission to Him. It may lead us to places we didn’t expect; it may carry us through burdens we don’t feel like we can bear; it may alter our personal plans forever. Nevertheless, we will have peace, comfort, and success.

May God bless us as we submit fully to His will through Christ.

Bulletin Article 02.11.07 — Tackling Temptation (Matt. 4:1-11)

We all like to see ourselves in things, right? When you (or myself) see a group picture, you immediately look for yourself. It’s a natural impulse we have as human beings. It’s an important principle to “look for ourselves” in the Bible as well.

When we read of Jesus’ temptations found in Matthew 4 (also Mk. 1; Lk. 4), we see ourselves. We see our specific temptations in this life and we can relate to our Lord’s temptations. Hopefully, we should see ourselves in Jesus’ responses and resistance of those temptations. There is an abundance of fruit to be born from this account. We could have a series of articles that last for months if we discussed a majority of what can be discussed in this brilliant account. For this week, however, let’s spend our time learning some lessons about the story as a whole.

Temptation is unpredictable. I find it interesting to notice Jesus’ situation—it proves in part that temptations can be unpredictable. In an obvious way, Jesus was weak. He had been fasting for 40 days. He was in need of physical nourishment. That’s why Satan tempted him to make bread from the stones around Him. We are often tempted when we are weak. It is then that we must lean on Him who is strong.

On the other hand, notice that Jesus was strong at this point as well. It’s not as obvious as his weakness, but I think it’s there. He had been fasting for 40 days. Fasting is typically understood to be the removal of something important to emphasize something that’s even more important. I would guess that Jesus spent those 40 days away from food by focusing on His calling as the Son of God. He was getting prepared to do the work of His Father. He was about to depart the wilderness to “seek and save the lost.” That’s why I think Satan preceded his temptations twice with “If you are the Son of God…” He was calling out Jesus’ very Deity on the biggest stage: before all eternity.

We need to be aware of the temptations that lurk when we’re at our strongest. That was part of Paul’s admonition in 1 Corinthians 10 regarding the Israelites, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (10:12). Satan wants us at anytime, but he wants us when we’re strong to keep us from getting stronger.

There is always more at stake than it seems at the moment. There was certainly more on the line with Jesus’ temptations than some loaves of bread, than jumping from the pinnacle of the temple, or casually bowing before Satan. The eternal destiny of all of mankind hung on Jesus’ decisions that fateful day. More than a simple piece of fruit from an otherwise ordinary tree was on the line in the Garden of Eden. With us today, more is on the line than a few dollars when we report our taxes. More is at stake than cheating on a test that we failed to study for. More hangs in the balance than a seemingly simple insult of a brother or sister in Christ.

We could easily formulate a long and scary list of things we risk when we face temptation to sin. We could list our futures, families, finances, friendships, security, peace, and so on. However, the thing that hangs in the balance the most is our trust in God. Jesus’ temptation to turn stones into bread put His trust in God to provide food later on the line. Satan’s temptations for Jesus to prove He was the Son of God put His Father’s ability to prove that fact in a different way in limbo. In order to resist Satan’s temptations, Jesus had to possess an unfailing trust in God to provide. Do we trust God enough to resist Satan’s offers?

There is always a way out. Jesus’ reaction to each of Satan’s temptations is well-documented. He used the holy scriptures to refute and resist Satan’s attempts. The specific principle is obvious: the Bible holds the key to us standing firm. The more we know about sin (and by association, temptation), the more equipped we are for standing up against it. The response by Jesus showed He was fully submitted to the will of God. His purpose in living was to carry out the Father’s will. Therefore, He know to whom to submit when in the face of danger. If the author of the book of James is indeed the brother of Jesus—as many conclude—it is truly interesting to see many principles that were lived in the life of Jesus explained and encouraged in the epistle from James. Notice what James says in 4:7, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Jesus submitted to God and Satan fled. We should do the same.

Have a great week in service to Him!