Engaging
This week is on Matthew 28:16-20:
These verses are also known as the Great Commission. People talk about it as though it were a sales thing, but it's not. Jesus is leaving his disciples with some final in-person instructions. They're instructions to us too, if we consider ourselves to be his disciples.
God has all authority in heaven and on earth. And he gives us access to his authority to do his work. That's important for understanding the rest of the verses here. There's nothing he's going to ask us to do that he can't provide the means to do. It's like someone asking you to go and buy something on their behalf, knowing that they can print their own money if you need it. There's unlimited power there.
Jesus wants us to go and make disciples of all nations. That's a bit more in-depth than just preaching to them, or getting them to pray The Sinner's Prayer. He wants us to be as involved in their lives as he was in the lives of his first disciples. But these disciples aren't supposed to be our disciples. Otherwise we're just creating representatives of ourselves. These are supposed to be Jesus' disciples, which means we need his help. We're his flesh body on earth, but it still needs to be his Spirit that does the talking.
And he says all nations. That means all types of people: all races, all cultures, all language groups, all walks of life. That may mean that we're sent someplace that has nobody to work with people on God's behalf, or it may mean that we meet those sorts of people at our school, or the workplace, or the corner store. We live in a very connected world now. Any one of us today could potentially get to know someone from a culture group that would have been considered unreachable 150 years ago.
Jesus tells us to baptize these disciples in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We're not baptizing them in our name, into a denomination or a church. We're baptizing them in God's name. They're his. And the public declaration of faith and allegiance from baptism is therefore to God, not to any group of men. We just officiate the ceremony. The union is between them and God.
We're also supposed to teach these disciples to obey everything Jesus has told us to do. We're not teaching them our rules and our doctrines and our cultural traditions. That would make them our disciples, not God's disciples. We're teaching them to obey God, to value what God values, and to identify themselves with God's kingdom. We're teaching them everything, not just the easy stuff.
God is with us always, right up until the end of time. This bookends nicely with the bit about the unlimited authority. God is also present in an unlimited sense. His connection with mankind didn't end when Jesus ascended into the heavens. The station is still on the air. The phone number is still in service. He's still there. We can't explain this away. He's watching us. He's ready to help. He's able to help.
This isn't the sort of thing you can do by yourself while watching tv or laying in bed. Discipleship requires us to encounter mankind directly, like Jesus did when he lived among us in the flesh. It doesn't matter where we are, as long as we're with someone who God wants to know. Now that we've met Jesus and have a relationship with him, it's time to engage those who haven't.
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
These verses are also known as the Great Commission. People talk about it as though it were a sales thing, but it's not. Jesus is leaving his disciples with some final in-person instructions. They're instructions to us too, if we consider ourselves to be his disciples.
God has all authority in heaven and on earth. And he gives us access to his authority to do his work. That's important for understanding the rest of the verses here. There's nothing he's going to ask us to do that he can't provide the means to do. It's like someone asking you to go and buy something on their behalf, knowing that they can print their own money if you need it. There's unlimited power there.
Jesus wants us to go and make disciples of all nations. That's a bit more in-depth than just preaching to them, or getting them to pray The Sinner's Prayer. He wants us to be as involved in their lives as he was in the lives of his first disciples. But these disciples aren't supposed to be our disciples. Otherwise we're just creating representatives of ourselves. These are supposed to be Jesus' disciples, which means we need his help. We're his flesh body on earth, but it still needs to be his Spirit that does the talking.
And he says all nations. That means all types of people: all races, all cultures, all language groups, all walks of life. That may mean that we're sent someplace that has nobody to work with people on God's behalf, or it may mean that we meet those sorts of people at our school, or the workplace, or the corner store. We live in a very connected world now. Any one of us today could potentially get to know someone from a culture group that would have been considered unreachable 150 years ago.
Jesus tells us to baptize these disciples in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We're not baptizing them in our name, into a denomination or a church. We're baptizing them in God's name. They're his. And the public declaration of faith and allegiance from baptism is therefore to God, not to any group of men. We just officiate the ceremony. The union is between them and God.
We're also supposed to teach these disciples to obey everything Jesus has told us to do. We're not teaching them our rules and our doctrines and our cultural traditions. That would make them our disciples, not God's disciples. We're teaching them to obey God, to value what God values, and to identify themselves with God's kingdom. We're teaching them everything, not just the easy stuff.
God is with us always, right up until the end of time. This bookends nicely with the bit about the unlimited authority. God is also present in an unlimited sense. His connection with mankind didn't end when Jesus ascended into the heavens. The station is still on the air. The phone number is still in service. He's still there. We can't explain this away. He's watching us. He's ready to help. He's able to help.
This isn't the sort of thing you can do by yourself while watching tv or laying in bed. Discipleship requires us to encounter mankind directly, like Jesus did when he lived among us in the flesh. It doesn't matter where we are, as long as we're with someone who God wants to know. Now that we've met Jesus and have a relationship with him, it's time to engage those who haven't.
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