Matthew 28:19-20: The Great Commission: Baptizing and Teaching

“teaching them to observe all I have commanded you…” Jesus in Matthew 28:20

“If God calls you to be a missionary, don’t stoop to be a king,” (Jordan Grooms, 1912-2006)

“I have seen, at different times, the smoke of a thousand villages…whose people are without Christ, without God, and without hope in the world.”  (Robert Moffat, 1795-1883 Missionary to Africa.)

As we further contemplate Jesus’ final words that Matthew recorded, we will focus on two key words of this passage: baptizing  (v. 19) and teaching (v. 20). Both of these words give more detail to the phrase in the previous verse, “make disciples,” (v. 19).   Making disciples involves both baptizing and teaching.

At first glance it would appear that Jesus is prioritizing the act of baptism above almost all else in the Christian life.   While the sacrament of outward baptism is vital to the obedient Christian life, the call here by Jesus is more than merely to be about the physical act of baptizing.   The call to be baptized, as it is used contextually in the New Testament, is the call to undergo a change of spiritual identity. 

For example, 2 Corinthians 10:2 says “all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.”   Jesus said in Mark 10:38, “Are you…to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”  These verses make sense, along with the other New Testament references to baptism, only when interpreted with the idea that baptism implies a change of spiritual identity.  Hence, baptizing, as taught here in v. 29, is the transfer of our spiritual identity “from the domain of darkness” to the “kingdom his beloved Son, in whom we are redemption, the forgiveness of sins,” (Colossians 1:13-14). 

Several young men born into a Muslim country who are awaiting to be baptized as Christians.  I had the awesome privilege of leading two of these guys to Christ.  

The new spiritual identity into which we are to baptize the nations is in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (v. 19).    Notice that this does NOT say we are to baptize into the names of (plural), but the name of (singular).   This implies one identity, one godhead, one God.   And the three persons of the Trinity are found right here together at this climatic and final moment in Matthew’s gospel.   This verse is a prime reason why Christians believe in the Trinity.  

The second action verb in this passage is teaching.     We are to teach all nations to observe all that Christ has commanded us (v. 20).  It is not enough to just create converts to the faith; we must have disciples and churches in place that will be teaching them.   There is a place for sharing your faith with strangers who come across your path, whether at a gas station, grocery store or on an airplane.    I believe God is able to bring others into that person’s life who can pick up the teaching process where you left off.

But ideally our evangelism should be done in the context of a ministry or church where the new convert can be taught, discipled and sent out to baptize and teach others as well (see 2 Timothy 2:2).    The need for teaching in today’s world is especially vital where the Christian faith is growing rapidly, places like China, Africa and South America.    Too often the church in those places is “a mile wide and an inch deep.”  “Fierce wolves” can easily “come in…not sparing the flock,” (Acts 20:29, see also Matthew 7:15).  

Even where the teaching is rich, in places like America, false teachers emerge and thrive in the shadow of the church.  Therefore, “all nations” (v. 19) must be taught to observe all that Christ has commanded us.   

To sum up, our part in the Great Commission is about 1) going 2) evangelizing and 3) discipling.     The conveyor belt of history moves continually onward, without interruption, to the time where, “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, all that is in them, [will be] saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”  (Revelation 5:13).  I want the fruit of my life to build and point to that day.  How about you?  

Matthew 28:19: The Great Commandment: The Call, Part I

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” Jesus, in Matthew 28:19

This photo is from 2012 during a visit to a Muslim African country. 

“Missions exists because worship does not,” (The first line in John Piper’s book, Let the Nations Be Glad) 

 “How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize?  How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? (Celebrity atheist Penn Jillette in a YouTube video, “Penn Jillette gets a Bible.”) 

Jesus’ final charge to his disciples, one that will carry his church until his return, is sandwiched by two glorious promises (vv. 18, 20).   Between these promises are two charges: “Go” and “make disciples.” 

In light of “all authority in heaven and on earth” (v. 18) being given to Christ, therefore (I recall one teacher saying humorously yet truthfully, “always ask, what is the ‘therefore’ there for?”) we should go all the way to the “remotest part of the earth,” (Acts 1:8, NASB).   We are his ambassadors (see 2 Corinthians 5:20).  Ambassadors do not reside in their homeland; they go to where they are appointed.  

I remember Josh McDowell telling the story of how he was counseling a college student who said, “God has not called me to go to the mission field.” Josh flipped the pages of his Bible and read, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”   The call is there!  We need to have a specific call to stay!

As a first-hand observer to the missions movement, I believe the Christian church has made great strides in this generation in raising awareness to missions as well as in proclaiming Christ to all nations (the Greek word is ethnos, or “people group”).  But, according to John Piper at the 2013 Gospel Coalition Conference, there are 3100 “unengaged” (no plan to reach them) people groups.  This should not overwhelm us; there are after all 98,000 evangelicals worldwide for each unengaged people group.  

That said, the world is getting smaller.   We can communicate Christ to those who come to us.   For example, international students from countries closed to the gospel can be found on most university campuses.  We can use modern technology (satellite TV, the internet) to get the gospel into remote parts of the earth.   Still, there is no substitute for having “boots on the ground” in order to teach young believers, train pastors, and make disciples.   God’s call to go is as valid today as it was 2000 years ago.

The second charge given by Jesus in this passage is to “make disciples.”   Most of the missionary surge today comes from short-term missionaries: those who go for a week or a summer, even a year. Field ministries are greatly resourced, accelerated and blessed by the work of short-term missionaries.  And it is true that most long-term missionaries began and caught the vision as short-termers.

But there is a downside here: the world will not be reached through short-term missions.    We must leave behind family, friends, and all that is familiar (19:29) in order to “make disciples of all nations.”

Also, each of us should make disciples right where we are, regardless of our stage of life or our occupation.  As we do this, we should press and seek in prayer God’s direction for us to go.  He is worthy of the worship of “every nation, from all tribes people and languages,” (Revelation 7:9).   Additionally, many believe that the return of Christ is pegged to the fulfillment of the Great Commission (24:14).

Do you want an obedient life?  Do you want to look back on your life 100 years from now and see fruit that survived the grave?   Do you want the Lord to return during our lifetime?   Is Christ worthy of the worship of all nations, of all people on planet earth?  If your answer is “yes”, then there is only one response: “go…and make disciples of all nations,” (v. 19).    

Matthew 28:18: The Great Commission: the Authority

“Jesus…said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”  Matthew 28:18

“Everything I have and everything I became is because of the strength of the Lord, and through him I have accomplished everything.  Not because of my strength. Only by his love, his mercy, and his strength.”  (Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera, in an interview with New York Magazine, June 9, 2013)

Matthew has laid out his case very clearly and convincingly.   The goal of his gospel is to show that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Hebrew Messiah.   From fulfilled prophecy, to his teaching, his miracles, his claims, his death, burial and resurrection, Matthew has put on display in royal colors, Jesus the Christ.

Matthew now passes along our application to his gospel, what is commonly known as “The Great Commission.”   Many missionaries have received their call because they cannot get these verses out of their heads.  Entire missions movements are launched and sustained based on the teaching of these three verses.   These verses can be broken down into three subparts: the authority, the call, and the promise.   Here in verse 18 we will look at the authority behind the Great Commission.

Jesus says, “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” (v. 18; emphasis mine).   He is Lord not just of planet earth but also of all creation.  “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities,” (Colossians 1:16).

Matthew chapters 8 and 9 testify how Christ exercised authority over both the physical and the spiritual worlds.  He did this by performing miracles from calming a storm to casting out demons.   Christ’s intent was to show that he “has authority on earth to forgive sin,” (9:6) a quality only God himself possesses.  Chapters 8 and 9 are bookended by the crowds noting that Christ “was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes,” (7:29), then Jesus’ missionary call to pray for laborers (see 9:38).    

Without directly alluding to it, Matthew is reminding us again here in 28:18 about Christ’s fulfillment as the promised Messiah of Daniel 7.   There the Ancient of Days gives to a son of man “dominion,” (Daniel 7:14).  Not only dominion but “glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”   In other words, to this “son of man” all authority has been given (v. 18).

Paul describes the spiritual authority of Jesus in Ephesians 1:21: “[He is] far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”     The words “rule,” “authority,” “power” and “dominion” refer to demonic hierarchies.   As a young Christian in the 1980s I became irrationally and constantly fearful that demons would overwhelm me.  But I chose to believe not my fears but the truth of Ephesians 1:21, as well as, “he who is in (me) is greater than he who is of the world,” (1 John 4:4).    My fears dissipated as I took God at his word.

In 2007 I was with my family in China.   I still remember the traffic police.  They stood on platforms in the middle of busy intersections.  Armed with only a whistle and hand motions, they directed the movement of the cars and trucks along those streets.   Even though the laws of physics would have greatly favored the vehicles, they obeyed the police because the authority of the state was behind each and every policeman.    Likewise, we cannot exercise authority in our strength but only in the authority of the Lord.  

The Lord is calling us to go and make disciples of all nations.   But we will not go at it alone in our own power.  His authority has been given to us “over all the power of the enemy,” (Luke 10:19).   Nevertheless, as we take the gospel all the way to the remotest ends of the earth (see Acts 1:8), may you not rejoice in his authority given to you, but “rejoice that your names are written in heaven,” (Luke 10:20). 

Matthew 28:16-18: Faith and Doubt in Galilee

This picture, taken April 2012, is of the Sea of Galilee and shows the mountains (or hills) near Galilee.  

And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.   Matthew 28:17

“I see doubt as a confirmation that someone is a true believer. If we believed completely, if we didn't have any doubts, we would be incapable of loving God volitionally... If we got to the point where we knew everything about Him and we had no doubts at all, love wouldn't be love. It would be like looking out your window at the tree outside; you'd just take it for granted.”   (Chuck Colson’s response to the question, “What do you see as the role of doubt within religious faith?” as posted at www.slate.com on October 20, 2010.) 

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them (v. 16).   Immediately before his arrest, Jesus told his disciples, “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee,” (26:32).   And after his resurrection Jesus directed the women, “tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me,” (v. 10).   

But why Galilee?  Why meet the disciples in a far away place?  Why not right there in Jerusalem?  If Jesus met his disciples in front of Pilate’s headquarters, or on the temple steps at the end of the first Easter Day parade through the streets of Jerusalem, then the world would have seen him resurrected and known he is Lord!  But we don’t know why Jesus chose Galilee; Scripture is silent on this question.  But from the pages of the Bible, we can make some assertions.

Jesus never was one to “perform for the masses.”   He refused to jump off the temple (see 4:5-7) and he refused to perform a sign on demand (16:1-4).   In Nazareth Jesus did not do any miracles “because of their unbelief,” (13:58).  

Maybe Jesus chose Galilee because it was his home (see Matthew 4:13, Mark 2:1; Capernaum is a city along the north shore of the Sea of Galilee.)  The choice of Galilee makes sense when one reads Isaiah as recorded in Matthew 4:15-16: “…Galilee of the Gentiles – the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light…” Also, Galilee is symbolic of the “new tenants” (see 21:43), and the New Covenant, which allows Gentiles equal access to God (see Romans 15:8-12).

And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted, (v. 17).  Who doubted Jesus?   Was it the eleven mentioned in verse 16?  Or had a broader crowd gathered with Jesus and the eleven in Galilee?   (Some commentators connect this gathering with the 500 witnesses of Christ’s resurrection mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:6)  And what was it that they doubted?   Did they not recognize Jesus?  (Others did not recognize the resurrected Jesus: for example, Mary in John 20:11-16; the two on the way to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35).  Or did they expect a Jesus in Transfigured glory?  

Regardless, doubt was there as Jesus gave his final instructions. (And Jesus received their worship, a sign of Christ’s deity.) But Jesus never rebuked their doubt.  In fact, Jesus came closer to them, (v. 18).  He moved toward them, not away. I also believe that this mention of doubt is a mark of authenticity of Matthew’s gospel.    The disciples are not presented as hyper-spiritual.  They are presented as they really were, as you and I are: worshipful but frequently plagued by our doubts and failures.   Still, Christ does not abandon us.  He comes to us; He moves toward us.   

Doubt is common for the spiritual sojourner.    Even Mother Theresa, in her book Come, Be My Light, spoke of how she wrestled with doubt.   There is a difference, however, between disbelief and doubt.    Disbelief is a refusal to believe in spite of the evidence at hand.  The elders and the guards at the tomb were guilty of disbelief (vv. 11-15).  Doubt, on the other hand, is what genuine believers encounter in their pursuit of God.    Jesus never rebuked the father who cried, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24); in fact, the next thing Jesus does is act on the father’s behalf and heal his son.   

The tri-themes of “Galilee,” “worship” and “doubt” in these two verses here all tie into a deeper theme that runs the breadth of Scripture: the value of faith.  “He [Abraham] believed the LORD and he counted it to him as righteousness,” (Genesis 15:6).   Paul tells us that we are “justified by faith” (Romans 3:28).    Peter says our faith is “more precious than gold,” (1 Peter 1:7).  The writer of Hebrews tells us “without faith it is impossible to please him,” (Hebrews 11:6).   

Our sufficiency is in Christ who was crucified, dead, buried and raised.     He beckons us; He comes to us.  Even when we doubt.  Therefore, draw near to him.  For Scripture says, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” (Psalm 118:22). Whoever believes in this cornerstone “will not be disappointed,” (Romans 10:11, NASB).