The Great Commission

Matthew 28:16-20

Sometimes we become too familiar with this passage. The term ‘Great Commission’ was coined because of an indifference in the church to those outside of the church. To many the Commission begins with a command, but it actually begins with a statement. Jesus declares, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth”. Jesus speaks with authority. We neglect this at our peril. This statement is the most important part of the Great Commission.

God placed Adam and Eve in Eden and commissioned them to be fruitful and have dominion over everything. God made a covenant with Adam to work and be obedient and He would give them dominion. Satan caused Adam and Eve to sin and lose their dominion. Sin led to paralysis and they lost everything God had given them. With their authority surrender they began to rebel against God and sin increased.

God gave the same commission to Noah, but the people rebelled at Babel. God called Abraham and gave the Commission again to Israel – “through you all nations will be blessed”.

Without Jesus we are sinners and only worthy of separation from God. We have no authority in ourselves. We need Jesus to be our high priest, our saviour and to have authority over our lives. In Daniel 7:13 Daniel prophecies about Jesus.

We cannot obey the full law of God. Only Jesus has done this. We are saved by His life, death and resurrection. Jesus took our place and death could not hold Him. He redeemed us by His blood.

‘Therefore’ means ‘for that reason’. Jesus said “because of the authority I have, go”. This means we are to take the authority Jesus has and walk in it everywhere we go. We are commissioned to present Jesus to the ends of the earth. Jesus’ authority stands behind the church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.

The Great Commission is a Trinitarian statement. It proclaimed to the Jewish listeners that the Name they couldn’t even speak is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The Great Commission was meant to start at home, with the disciples in Jerusalem. To make disciples we need to be a disciple. We have to start with ourselves. It is not something we can opt out of.