Evangelical Christian Churches have for the most part jumped on the bandwagon to modernize their marketing strategy by including web content. Yes, they’ve gotten with the times and delved into utilizing this promotional approach. While these websites do a pretty good job at laying out the history of the church, giving you directions to their building with a Google map and informing you when not to call the pastor, some have included their statement of faith. If a statement of faith is not included, well, it often means that they don’t want to bore their readers with their beliefs or to them, it really doesn’t matter what anyone believes. With that said, some have even gone as far as to openly declare the church’s mission statement and these ecclesiastical pursuits are often summarized in a pretty hip way, well, at least they think so.
But mission statements are important, and I do appreciate those who add them. We shouldn’t minimize them or refrain from having one in our churches, especially one drawn directly from the scriptures. Yes, there are mission statements in scripture and the New Testament has its own authentic and pointed mission statement. This mission statement is the greatest of them all since it lays out the great ecclesiastical purpose directly from the commissioner Himself, Jesus Christ. The risen Lord expressly laid out the objectives and this means that churches are to be rooted in this missiology. The Great Commission is where we find our orders. Within the term commission is the expression mission which really lays out the mindset in which the words of Christ were communicated. The texts of Matthew 28:18-20 are a mandate instructing the task and we should know these duties well.
THE TEXT
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
The King Revealed
Prior to Jesus giving His apostles their mission statement, we mustn’t miss the foundational declaration in v.18, one that will be the essence behind their mission. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the reality of what is missing in our churches in Moncton and beyond in the 21st century so pay special attention. Throughout the gospel of Matthew, the reader is presented with the declaration of His kingship. We are confronted with this reality in the narrative on His genealogy (Matthew 1:1-17), His birth (Matthew 2:1-3,9-13), in His confrontation with the religious leaders (Matthew 26:64) and on several occasions to His disciples (Matthew 10:23; 16:27-28; 24:30). This declaration of Sovereign kingship shouldn’t be overlooked or minimized. You see, without it, there was no true mission at all and even today, if we “go” without understanding the statement in v.18, we are not “going” in the proper way. Jesus states: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”. This is unquestionably a fulfillment of the vision of the Son of Man in Daniel 7:14. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom… His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed”. The realization of this kingship and kingdom was a theme that the Lord expressed repeatedly (Matthew 16:28; 19:28; 24:30-31; 25:31-34; 26:64) and its inauguration happened within the lifetime of the apostles. The scope of his rule as David’s successor stems not only in the heavens as some will have us believe, but it is also over the earth as well. The glory, dominion and kingdom don’t stay in heaven, they populate the earth! We are not waiting for Christ to come and rule over the earth, He is reigning in a real sense over these lands today and that reign has impact around the globe! The term “all” denotes the idea that every ounce of heaven and earth are under His authority. To have authority means that you have the right to govern and power to influence. Every government, institution, ruler or religion is under the authority of Christ. Christ now has boundless rule and, in all spheres, including Israel, the nations and the heavens themselves. Truly God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name that is above every name (Philippians 2:9), Christ is seated at the right hand of power far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come (Ephesians 1:20-21). We are not waiting for Him to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords; this is His current status (Revelation 17:14; 19:16). He has all authority and in return men and all institutions in the earth are expected to obey Him. Part of making disciples is teaching obedience to His commands and this only works if He has authority over them. We see in v.18 the true nature of His Kingship which was not merely sitting on the physical throne of David in Jerusalem, but a universal dominion over both heaven and earth. While every empire in history will fall, the final Messianic Kingdom will never fade away! This establishes the truth of His ownership of all things and this needs to be acknowledged prior to going forth with the gospel of the kingdom to the nations. The heralds of the kingdom must plan to spread not only His salvation but His Lordship throughout the earth and press forward with authority to which not even the gates of hell can stop this from happening (Matthew 16:18).
This is fundamentally where the wheels come off in the mind of Christians today. If we don’t understand that the foundation behind the great commission, the authority of Christ over everything, and if we don’t believe that His reign extends to the earth, then we have little reason to go, to baptize and to teach the commandments. Christians who “go” to preach the gospel, baptize and disciple people without expecting these discipled individuals to showcase the Kingdom in their family life, their church affiliation, their employment and even in influencing the culture and the moral and ethical decisions of their governments are not going rightly. Christ is Lord over all these aspects, and we must disciple with a goal to proclaim these commandments that He left for us.
The Nations
It is the nations (ethnos) that are the target of the Messianic Mission. Some have argued that the Lord’s instructions to go to the nations is to be taken in contrast to Israel. The term “nations” can be rendered as “Gentiles” in distinction to the Jews, but Israel is not excluded from the mission, far be it! The apostles didn’t run off to Ephesus right away, but they went to Jerusalem, Judea and then to the remotest part of the earth (Acts 1:9). We are seeing here the extension to the gospel mission rather than a break from it. There is a switch in scope from a focus solely upon the lost sheep of Israel to the nations as a fulfillment of the covenant of Abraham (Genesis 12:3).
The promise in the OT about Nations coming to God is quite extensive. We aren’t left guessing on this one. Jesus was promised the nations as His inheritance and the ends of the earth as His possession (Psalm 2:8). These nations are ruled by the Lord and the families of these nations will worship before Him, remember Him, and turn to Him (Psalm 22:27-29; 86:9). This rule will be from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth (Psalm 72:7; Zechariah 9:9-10). All the kings of the earth will also bow down before Him and all the nations will serve Him (Psalm 72:11). In the last days, the Mountain of the Lord will be established as the chief of mountains, which will result in all the nations will stream to it, they will come to have God judge between the nations and there will no longer learn war nor lift up their swords against each other (Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:6-9; Micah 4:1-4). The kingdoms of the earth will be given to the saints of the Lord and all the dominions will serve and obey Him (Daniel 7:27). This, ladies and gentlemen, happens in history and we need to recognize that the reason we are going out to the nations, baptizing them and discipling them is because they belong to Him! How this international adherence and worship happens is laid out in the gradual growth of the Kingdom through the Great Commission. In Matthew 28, we have the beginning of the growth of the mustard seed into a mighty tree and the stone commencing its expansion into becoming a great mountain or the genesis of the waters from Ezekiel’s temple flowing into a mighty river. The discipling of the nations is how the kingdom is populated and its permeating affect in the world is not limited to the church. It really impacts the world and all aspects of culture. Baptism and teaching the nations obedience to Christ’s words is the result of this infiltration. The world is the Lord’s and much like the land of Canaan was given to the descendants of Abraham, in the form of a takeover (Numbers 13:30-14:1), we are to move into the world and take the world for Christ through the gospel. Not through politics, arts, the education system or by the sword, but through the gospel of Jesus Christ which will eventually and naturally affect all these aspects.
What we must be careful to recognize is that the commission in Matthew 28 is not inherently only to preach the gospel to the nations, although this is laid out in Mark 16:15. For many, this is merely a reciprocation of Mark’s words, but to others it becomes so much more. They were commanded to make disciples. The term “Methetes” (disciples) means more than simply making “believers” but someone who is in the process of being taught. This is much more than merely giving them a message as a flu shot to get to heaven, it is taking in of individuals to transform them into something different. It is focused upon their sanctification.
The launch of Jesus’ commission doesn’t begin here but at Pentecost. The Great Commission is the expansion of the Creation mandate. When God created man, He placed Him in the garden and commanded him to be fruitful and multiply. This command was given on several occasions in scripture to populate the earth (Genesis 1:26-28; 9:1-7). In a similar fashion, under the new creative mandate, God is calling His people to populate the earth (Acts 1:8, Romans 10:18; Colossians 1:23), but this time with those who are of the new birth.
Disciples
Now that the Lord established the power and authority behind the mission, it’s time to give them the expectations. There are three actions commanded by the Lord, Go, baptize and disciple. The great commission is an introduction to the pursuit of seeing people transformed within. Within the term “disciple” is the term “discipline”, a training to bring about a result, in this case, the obedience of the commands of Christ. In the spreading of the mission to the whole world, they were to bring nations under the authority of Jesus Christ.
The Dualistic Task
The means by which they were to create disciples was twofold: Baptize them and teach them to obey the commandments. Note that baptism comes first prior to teaching, which, let’s face it, is quite the contrary to how most churches make disciples. Baptism is the beginning of the learning of obedience as an act of faith, then furthered by teaching the commandments. We don’t need to wait and teach them prior to being baptized until they have earned a degree as systematic theologians. I believe teaching these commandments is something to be accomplished when the recipients are of sufficient age to conscientiously learn obedience. It is the washing to prepare for the work of the priesthood! This baptism is under the Trinitarian formula (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) although we are left without a single reference in the New Testament to this formula being used again. The disciples baptized solely in the name of Jesus[4]. The singular “name” is striking in that we see the one name containing the essence of the three divine persons. Their baptism would be marked by an allegiance to Yahweh, as Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Discipleship is in the name of the three persons who were similarly involved in the beginning of the mission of Christ (Matthew 3:16-17).
The second act to form disciples was teaching them all His commandments. Christ the good teacher is now looking to pass on this Christ-like feature to His disciples. The expression “commandments” was found elsewhere in Matthew (5:19; 15:3; 19:17; 22:36-40) as expansions of God’s commandments through Moses. These commandments were given by Christ and by His authority are they to be obeyed. This is similar language to Israel’s commission to take possession of the promised land (Deuteronomy 4:1; 6:1). Christ has been given the nations, we need to take possession and conquer the nations within the earth with the sword of the word of God, the preaching of the gospel, baptism and with the commandments of Christ Jesus the Lord.
The disciples would not be left to their own since this crowned Christ would be seated on the throne of heaven and at the same time, He would be with them all the days until the end of the age. These are words of comfort that they will need as they venture out alone to complete the mission. God’s presence would be with them in Christ (See John 14:16-17; 16:7). His presence would be with them but also with those who would become disciples from their work. This would span until the end of the age when the Lord would return in glory to defeat the last enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26).
Not So Fast
The primary thing to notice in the commission is the order. They weren’t to go preach, see them saved and move on. The disciples were to take the time with the new converts and in return we as a church should train them in the things of the King. How many people have we brought into the church, and they’ve been left to the wayside? How many have exhibited growth, not simply from personal study, but from the discipling produced by those within the church? This is more than simply delivering a weekly message from a pulpit but was a command to create a training session for these new converts. They were to know the word and in return, were to use it to disciple others. We are to create a people who will stand for God’s justice and for the poor while abhorring openly sin. As Charles Spurgeon once put it:
“A Church that does not exist to reclaim heathenism, to fight evil, to destroy error, to put down falsehood, a church that does not exist to take the side of the poor, to denounce injustice, and to hold up righteousness, is a church that has no right to be.”
C.H. Spurgeon
Conclusion
The mission that we are currently involved in is a mission that will ultimately be fulfilled when Christ returns. Whatever interpretation one has regarding the Great Commission and its success, we all agree that the final victory is won by Christ. We are looking to the glorious hope of His appearing to consummate His Kingdom. But Christ doesn’t return to slay all enemies, He returns to deal with the ultimate enemy, death. When His Parousia occurs, His enemies will already be subjected under His feet and made a footstool (1 Corinthians 15:23-28). Until then, we as a people, as a church, must continue this kingly effort to see people saved from their sins, to see them go through with the command of the Lord in baptism and to train them in the commands of the Lord of heaven and earth.
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[1] This is not to say that all puritans or 17th-18th century missionaries agreed with my interpretation, but a majority held to this analysis.
[2] Matthew 20:17; 26:14,47; John 6:67,71; 20:24; Acts 6:2; 1 Corinthians 15:5
[3] Προσκυνέω referring to worship or reverence towards.
[4] See Acts 2:38; 8:16; 19:5; 22:16
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