After His resurrection, Jesus\u2019 guidance of His disciples changed from \u201cCome and see\u201d (John 1:39) to \u201cGo and show\u201d (Matthew 28:19, 20) \u2014 from training His followers to sending them out to fulfill His commission. That Great Commission was to be the chief goal of the church until the end of the age.<\/p>\n
Yet today many churchgoers do not even know what the Great Commission is. A Barna Group research study, conducted in 2018, found that 51 percent of churchgoers were unfamiliar with the term and were unsure what it meant. Only 17 percent of respondents said they knew the term and the Bible verses associated with it. Even within that small 17 percent, few realize the true scope of the commission itself.<\/p>\n
This is because the Great Commission is usually associated with Jesus\u2019 words recorded in Matthew 28, which gives its longest form. But Jesus\u2019 commissioning of His disciples was actually recorded in all four Gospels. We can learn much by putting their accounts together.<\/p>\n
Matthew.<\/strong> \u201cTherefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them . . . and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you\u201d (28:19, 20). Jesus had earlier instructed His disciples to baptize and teach (John 4:2; Luke 9:1, 2), but not specifically to make disciples. The importance of this new command is heightened by the fact that in the Greek text, \u201cmake disciples\u201d is the only direct command. The primary thrust of the Great Commission in Matthew is the making of disciples by baptizing and teaching them.<\/p>\n Mark.<\/strong> \u201cGo into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation\u201d (16:15). Mark\u2019s version of Jesus\u2019 commission is followed by a list of signs that would accompany believers: casting out demons, speaking in languages they did not know, not being hurt by deadly creatures or poisons, and healing the sick (vv. 16-18). But His abbreviated summary of the commission clearly stresses the preaching of the gospel to those who have not heard it.<\/p>\n Luke. <\/strong>\u201cThe Messiah will suffer\u00a0and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name\u00a0to all nations . . . You are witnesses\u00a0of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised;\u00a0but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high\u201d (24:46-49).<\/p>\n While Matthew stressed that the disciples were to go, Luke stresses that they must stay until they were spiritually equipped to perform the commission they were given. It centered on being witnesses (cf. Acts 1:8) and preaching repentance and forgiveness to the world.<\/p>\n John. <\/strong>\u201c\u2018As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.\u2019 And with that he breathed on them and said,\u00a0\u2018Receive the Holy Spirit\u2019\u201d (20:21, 22). The words indicate that the missionary work of the disciples was to be a direct continuation of the mission of Jesus himself. John\u2019s Gospel clarifies Luke\u2019s statement regarding the power with which the disciples would be clothed. This was the Holy Spirit, fully poured out later on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).<\/p>\n Each Gospel records Jesus commissioning the disciples after His resurrection, but each evangelist stresses a different aspect:<\/p>\n With all Gospel accounts combined, we can see the breadth and richness of the Great Commission often overlooked by believers if they focus only on Matthew\u2019s account. But this best-known statement is incomplete by itself. As is so often true with the four Gospels, we must put them together to get the full picture God has made available to us.<\/p>\n Having done this, we return to Matthew 28 and Jesus\u2019 unique, double encouragement for His commissioned disciples. This Gospel writer alone records that Jesus told His disciples He had been given all authority in heaven and on earth (v. 18). This claim helps us understand the nature of Jesus, but it is also important to our understanding of the Great Commission. Jesus emphasized that all authority was His in the context of the commission itself. He tells us, in effect, that He can fulfill the work. No hurdle is too great, and nothing can stop His work being done \u2014 if we will let Him work through us.<\/p>\n Jesus also made it clear in Matthew\u2019s Gospel that the Great Commission was not to be just for that generation but for future ones as well: \u201cI am with you always, to the very end of the age\u201d (v. 20). It is not only a richly multifaceted call to do the work of God but also a twofold promise that the Son of God will always be with us \u2014 and with all the power necessary \u2014 to accomplish the commission He has given us to \u201cGo and show!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After His resurrection, Jesus\u2019 guidance of His disciples changed from \u201cCome and see\u201d (John 1:39) to \u201cGo and show\u201d (Matthew 28:19, 20) \u2014 from training His followers to sending them out to fulfill His commission. That Great Commission was to be the chief goal of the church until the end of the age. Yet today […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":308,"featured_media":30180,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,2494],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFourfold commission<\/h2>\n
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Double promise<\/h2>\n