The Great Commission

Matthew 28:16-20

It may seem rather odd to have a reading about the resurrection when Easter is still 3 weeks away, and we're in the middle of Lent.
But Lent is very much about following in the footsteps – being his disciples – and that's what the very last paragraph of Matthew is about – discipleship.

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?
Well, as we saw last week, Jesus sums up all that God requires of us in the two great commandments:

First and foremost, love God with all you have and all you are – with every ounce of energy – with your whole being. Love God 100%, 24/7.
And second, love others as you love yourself – give others the same care and attention you lavish on yourself.

So as someone has said, Xn disciples are lovers – lovers of God and lovers of others.

At the end of Matthew's gospel, Jesus gives his disciples a task – a commission – The Great Commission as it's often called.
And this commission is to make disciples of all nations – to make people from all over the world lovers of God and lovers of others.
Of course, that's a massive task. Humanly speaking, it's Mission Impossible – not Tom Cruise could pull this one off.

You see, not many people had believed in Jesus even while he was alive.
And then, as Jesus is tried, beaten & crucified, most of the believers prove to be fickle, and run off.
And even when the women find the empty tomb, Jesus' closest friends thought they were talking nonsense.
But over the next 40 days, Jesus began to appear to many people – as many as 500 at one time – and gradually people began to believe that he had indeed been raised from the dead.
Now, at some point during this 40-day period, Jesus calls together the 11 disciples – the 11 men who had been especially close to him for the last 3 years.
It's as if this is the first Church Council meeting, and Jesus is chairman.

We might think we've had some important items on our church council agenda – replacing the floor & pews... the annual budget... employing a youth worker...
But Jesus has just one item on the agenda – the small matter of making disciples of all nations!

At least that first church council meeting didn't have to worry about a long agenda:
no minutes of last meeting – there hadn't been one!
no fire regulations to meet, no budget to prepare, no alcohol policy to write – they just had the whole world to evangelise!

So what stopped those 11 men from just falling about laughing at the sheer scale of the task?
Our mission is to make disciples in Tunbridge Wells – and Pembury – and we're daunted by that. So what will help us to have confidence in the face of this not-quite-so-great commission?
And what exactly does Jesus mean when he tells us to 'make disciples'?

Let's get some answers – turn with me to Matthew 28:17-20

1.We can have confidence in the great commission because Jesus is God : v17

“When they saw Jesus, they worshipped him, but some doubted.”

If Jesus was just a good teacher, he would have rebuked the disciples who worshipped him.
If Jesus wasn't God, worshipping him was blasphemy and idolatry.
But Jesus accepts their worship.
And the fact that some doubted just shows that they were real people – some accepted the resurrection quicker than others. Some were naturally more sceptical.
That doesn't alter the fact that Jesus behaved as if he were God – accepting their worship.

So the great commission is given by God the Son. This is no human idea, no crackpot human scheme of world domination. This is God sharing his plan with his workers.

And we know that what God plans, happens.
So Psalm 33 tells us, The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm for ever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

The truth of this becomes clear in the death of Jesus himself. As Peter says,
This man [Jesus] was handed over to you [Jews] by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

You see, the Jewish leaders & Roman rulers thought they'd put a stop to Jesus. But in killing Jesus, they just fulfilled God's plan. Even men's free actions – no matter how evil – somehow fulfil God's good plans.
Nothing can prevent God from doing what he sets out to do.

And if we're involved in making disciples, then we're involved in God's plan – a plan that cannot fail cannot fail. God will make disciples of all nations – indeed he is making disciples of all nations.

If you come and hear N & L on Saturday week, you'll hear about the church growing in countries & regions which violently oppose Christianity – countries where all the efforts of the evil rulers simply end up serving the purposes of God in spreading the gospel.

So when Jesus shares with the disciples his great plan – that these 11 men will lead the evangelisation of the world – they can have confidence in it because they know that Jesus is God the Son.


The second thing that gives us confidence is closely related:
2.We can have confidence in the great commission because of the authority of Jesus : vv18-19

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.

God the Father has delegated all his authority to God the Son. Jesus is the Father's official spokesman. When Jesus speaks, he speaks only what the Father has told him to say, and his words carry the authority of God. So if Jesus tells disciples to do something, they do it. They are, after all, his disciples - he is their teacher and Lord.
But it's not blind, stupid obedience. It's not a leap in the dark. It's sensible, logical obedience, based on sound evidence.

Here is Jesus, whom they have seen heal the sick, walk on water, raise the dead and teach like no-one ever taught before. Here, standing before them and very much alive, is the man they saw crucified and buried for 3 days. This man, who was dead is now so obviously alive that they know he is no ordinary man.
This Jesus, God the Son. He has all authority in heaven and on earth, so it's logical and sensible to obey him – even when the task, humanly speaking, seems monumental.

Now we might think that this command of Jesus was only given to these 11 men. 'It doesn't apply to us', we might say. But look at the logic of the passage: Jesus gives the great commission to these disciples. And the command is – go and make more disciples. Disciples who, v20, obey all that Jesus has commanded them.

We can't limit this commission to the first disciples, and say, 'We're different kinds of disciples, who don't have to take part in this great commission.' All Christians are disciples. All Christians are necessarily involved in making more disciples.

But how? How do we make disciples?

Well, the word disciple means, 'pupil', 'student' or 'learner' – so Jesus says to the 11, 'go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the HS, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.'
Evangelism is not just about making converts. It's about making disciples – people who will learn from and about Jesus. It's about making people disciples who will learn to obey everything Jesus has commanded.

And what has Jesus commanded? That we be lovers of God and lovers of others.

And, as we saw last week, when we love God and love others, we will be seen to be different – people will notice how we love each other, and will see that we are disciples of Jesus; "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

So Jesus is not calling us all to be preachers. He's not saying that we will all have the gift of evangelism. But he is saying that if we're a true disciple, we will help to make new disciples by loving as he loved us. That will mean answering questions about why you're so committed to the church – why do you give so much time and energy to the people at St Peter's?

If we're not loving each other in this radically committed and sacrificial way, we're disobeying Jesus, and we've demonstrated that actually, we're not really his disciples.

So Jesus sets the bar very, very high – in fact, it's out of our reach humanly speaking. It is, in our own strength, mission impossible, both in terms of the great commandments and the great commission.

But, v20, should fill us with expectant hope:

3.Jesus is with us to fulfil the great commission v20:

Surely I am with you always to the very end of the age

Some Christians are selfish. They like the idea of Jesus being with them, but don't want to share him with others. They think that v20, 'I am with you' is spoken to them, but v19, 'go and make disciples' is spoken to someone else.
And so they reveal that they're not really disciples, but hangers-on. They're not obedient to Jesus, but persistently and deliberately disobedient.

The true disciple has learnt and accepts that Jesus commands them to be involved in loving others and making disciples.
The true disciple is apprehensive about this – he or she knows that it will involve sacrifice, courage, learning new skills, receiving and exercising new gifts.

But, says Jesus, literally, 'Listen! I am with you every day until the completion of the age.'
“In every situation. At all times and in all places. I am with you. And I shall be with you until this period of history is completed – until there are lovers of God and lovers of others in every nation and people group of the world."

God the Son is with us – in all his power and authority.
We're working to his plan, and nothing can thwart it.
And we'll keep on working until that day when the work is done, and his plan is complete.