GO WHERE? DO WHAT?

The Great Commission

Matthew 28:16-20

Appropriately, the quarterly concludes the study of Matthew with the last verses. Likewise, Matthew appropriately concluded his gospel with the command to spread the good news everywhere to everyone. And appropriately, I want to begin the study this week by looking at a literal translation.

All authority in heaven and upon earth has been given to me.

Going therefore disciple all the nations/peoples, immersing them in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit, teaching them to keep/observe all things I commanded you.

And behold I am with you all the days until the end/fulfillment of the age.

Comments:

Jesus first announces His authority. He reminds the Twelve (I know there were only eleven, but the Big 12 is still the Big 12 with only 10 members!) that God gave Him that Divine authority. The passive voice, “is given me” among the Hebrews was often used to avoid speaking the sacred name of God. God gave me this authority, said Jesus, and so you can take my orders as God's direct command to you. What follows is a command, NOT a suggestion!

It's probably ok to translate the next word as a command -Go as the KJV does, but in Greek it's a participle, going. A good way to express the idea would be “as you are going, disciple the people you meet.” Back in the 70's the idea of Lifestyle Evangelism became popular. Rather than limiting evangelism to preaching and soul-winning visits, build evangelism into your daily lifestyle. “Speak a good word for Jesus” whenever you can. Be able to summarize your salvation experience in a minute or two. Develop the ability to give “interim reports” consisting of recent experience with the Lord and what He has done for you.

Disciple the nations/peoples. As in English, the Greek noun disciple becomes the verb to disciple, or make followers of. We spend a lot of time separating salvation and discipleship. Jesus didn't. A call to become a Christian is a call to become a follower, a disciple. When you get caught in that mental trap, as many Christians do, asking am I a Christian, change the question. Instead, ask “Am I following Jesus? We Baptists have a bad habit of getting people to walk the aisle, baptize them, and forget them. As some have said, we dunk 'em and drop 'em. But the command of Jesus was and is to develop people into disciples. A disciple is a maturing Christian, not merely someone who just stepped in the door. I'm glad our church makes a continuing effort to disciple folk with such avenues as new member classes.

Note the call to disciple the nations or the peoples. The Greek word is the root of our word “ethnic.” It means all sorts of people. One major theme of the Book of Acts is the expansion of Christianity from a group of Jews to Hellenized (Greek) Jews to God-fearers like the centurion to Gentiles. Frank Stagg sees the story as the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome and all sorts of people in between.

Immersing them in the name of the Father... King James broke from the Catholic Church to begin the Anglican Church (Episcopal) which normally “baptizes” by sprinking, usually infants. When he convened the scholars to translate the King James Version he gave them some guidelines. One was always to translate as baptize rather than immerse, because he didn't believe in immersion. Another “guideline” was always to translate “ecclesia” as “church” and never as “congregation” or “gathering.”

Nevertheless, the Greek baptizo means to dip, plunge, or immerse. Scripture talks about John baptizing IN the Jordan, for example. An early handbook of the first century called “The Teaching of the 12 Apostles” suggested, “baptize in living water if you have it; if not, then in still. If you have neither, pour water three times over the head in the name of the Father...” Living water meant a river or stream, with lakes or ponds as a second choice. Note the churches did not adopt this book as part of the New Testament, though it was widely used and we have quite a few copies. (Reminds me of an old Texas story about a severe drought. “It was so dry, Baptists went to sprinkling and Methodists just wiped them off with a damp cloth.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit... Obviously one of the early references that led to the formulation of the doctring of the Trinity. The Council of Nicea in 325 dealt with the problem of whether the Son was of the same or similar substance with the Father (don't ask). The Council desided on the same, Making Christ fully God and fully man (don't ask). The best explanation I've heard was from a prof in seminary who said God had showed Himself to us in at least three ways.

Sometimes I'm asked why Holy Spirit instead of Holy Ghost. Quick answer: the meaning of the word changed. Still in German today, you find Heilige Geist, because geist means spirit. In 1611 when the King James was translated, ghost could mean either spirit or ghost. (Hamlet's apparition of his murdered father is called both ghost and spirit.) Now we use “ghost” to mean only the appearance of a dead person. The HS is not the ghost of Jesus, although He may be said to be the Spirit of Jesus. Incidentally, many scholars us “Jesus” mostly when talking about the man on earth, and “Christ” to talke about the living Word.

Teaching them to observe/keep everything I have commanded you...Discipling is not finished until the teaching is complete. In one sense it's a never completed project, as God continues working on us so long as we live. Again in our Baptist churches, we need to give more attention to this, which is what we are doing in our Bible classes and other classes offered throughout the year. Our pastor makes a conscious effort to appeal to a less committed group on Sunday mornings, but in our Wednesday night service, he aims to go deeper for more committed Christians.

And lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age (aeon)... Notice this promise is connected with the command to disciple. The Lord promises to be present with His disciples as they go into all the world to disciple the peoples of that world! I've very often seen mottoes hanging in homes on plaques and samplers saying “Lo, I am with you always.” Well, there is a sense in which that is true, but the real context is here in the Great Commission. I believe you will also find that most of the Bible promises are made to those carrying out His will and commands. I believe the Lord will be with you in some sense all the time – after all, God is everywhere – but if you want to claim His promise with the strongest assurance, go about His business!