THE GREAT COMMISSION
Matthew 28
“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.”
Whenever we are told of the Great Commission, specifically Matthew 28:19-20, we seldom imagine that it was delivered to a group of poorly educated men some of whom even doubted at that point in time. However, it is important that we realise this, and Matthew made sure that we do not think that everyone was all fired up and ready to conquer the world with the Gospel.
When we realise this truth we will understand that the Great Commission is about what our Lord (“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”, something we tend to skip over as well) will accomplish through the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:8). That we are where we are today is a testament to our Lord and King, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father of us all.
The modern church is busy with strategies and training, trying to get Christians to go and preach the Gospel and usher people into the kingdom, often ignoring the work of making disciples and teaching them to obey our Lord.
Rather than using Matthew’s account to drive Christians to go and preach the Gospel, we should use these words of our Lord to fortify our faith in him, to trust him to use us as his channels. Rather than focusing on persuading believers to do the Lord’s work, we should be helping believers to be disciples and teaching them to obey everything that our Lord has commanded us all, because it is this that will allow us all to be channels of his blessing wherever we are, wherever the Church is, because our Lord promises that wherever we may be, he will be with us, for all time.
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”