Matthew 28

So this gives us a better, fuller picture of the commission. I will look at the passage in Matthew from this point on, but just remember- all the imperatives attain- including preaching forgiveness for the repentance of sins.

Witness to the World - thoughts from Matthew 28:17-20

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The commissioning of our witness

And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 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."

What we call the "Great Commission" is the mandate to "make disciples of all nations" given by Christ to his disciples following his death and resurrection (Matt 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:46-49; John 20:21-23; Acts 1:8). Because Christ has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt 28:19), the Great Commission is to be taken with the utmost seriousness by all of his disciples, "to the very end of the age" (Matt 28:20). The Great Commission is linked to God's words to Abraham: that "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Gen 12:3).

The impetus for the Great Commission springs from the heart of God. He loved us and gave his Son or us (John 3:16). The disciples, and all who follow, are sent out to accomplish what God had started in the sending of his Son (John 20:21). The Great Commission is thus linked to God's words to Abraham: that "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Gen 12:3).

The Great Commission is accomplished through witnessing (Acts 1:8), preaching (Mark 16:15), baptizing, and teaching (Matt 28:20). I want to look in this study as to whether these are to be considered discrete activities or all aspects of the same mandate.

Jesus' disciples are to replicate themselves in the lives of those who respond to the Good News. The Holy Spirit is the empowering agent for those who witness (Acts 1:8), as well as the one who convicts sinners of their need for Jesus (John 16:8-11). The disciples will have success because Jesus, the Lord of heaven and earth, will be with them as they undertake their assignment (Matt 28:20).

The conviction of our witness

To overcome the fear a person experiences when approaching someone with the gospel, we need to have a conviction that God has given us something to say that our audience desperately needs to hear. Such conviction frees one from fear.

Consider a person walking down a street who notices a meeting of a large group of people inside a building. When he sees a fire in the upper part of the building, he would immediately run in and tell the people to get out. There would rarely be any though t of fear or hesitation. Why? Simply because he realized the urgent need for them to hear what he had to say. But how convinced are we that people need to hear a word from God? Keep that thought in mind as we begin to look at some reasons for having deep convictions about this.

Note that in the Great Commission, the idea of ALL appears four times- All authority over to go to all the world to teach all His commands as He is in all ways and at all times with us. Paul reiterates this in 2 Corinthians 9:8:

God is able to make all grace abound, that in all ways and at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every (all) good work(s).

In Acts 1:8 we see that Jesus tells us to be his witnesses both near and far- these two passages need to not be read in isolation one from the other. A critical aspect of our witness must be the witness to the commands of Christ as well as to the works of Christ. (Remember Christ's mandate to the disciples to "go and tell John what they see and hear?" they were to bear witness to both). This is a vital part of the Good News- the resurrection gives this witness authority.

Do we fathom the meaning of this authority?

All of heaven does the bidding of Jesus. In heaven His authority over ALL things is recognized- and I say to you that the fact that his authority is not recognized on earth in many ways, that in no way means that he does not HAVE that authority. He is Lord whether men recognize it or not. Jesus refused the authority Satan offered Him in the wilderness over the kingdoms of the world. Doing it God's way, all authority was conferred upon Him by the virtue of the finished work of the cross and the seal of the resurrection.

So not only should we have the conviction to be witnesses based on His great grace to us, we must recognize that this is the maker of Heaven and Earth, the resurrected Lord of Life who COMMANDS us to do so.Conviction comes from a deep understanding of the power that raised Christ from the dead and now empowers us to have God's heart for the lost.

The context of our witness

So we have the authority given us by Christ to go with the good news. Jesus came to seek and save the lost in a primary sense. As Christian disciples, this necessarily becomes one of the main issues we remain on earth to accomplish. There is a real sense in which as the Greek text of Matthew 28 puts it "as you are going, disciple all nations…teaching them to observe and keep all the things I have commanded you to do". This is not a simple call to go haphazardly NOR is it cause to wait reservedly until one is fully equipped.. It implies that the one who is going has the wherewithal to be involved in the discipling enterprise-and should be being equipped to teach the whole counsel of God. As with most things in the Christian life, witness is an aspect that is perfected in the knowing AND the doing. One informs the other.

So how do we go about making disciples as we are going? What does this mean? Mark said "go ye and preach the gospel to every creature." This is in contrast to Matthew 10:5-6 where Jesus said to go only to the lost sheep of Israel. And indeed they were the first to hear it from His own lips. Most (perhaps all) of the people Jesus appeared to after the resurrection were Israelites. The preaching of the gospel is certainly prerequisite to the hearing of it and therefore prior to discipleship. But the same end is in view- to change lives by the power of the Spirit. Whether the view be near or far, Christians need to get out of a backyard mentality and learn to understand that the Body of Christ is a universal entity- transcending comforts, cultures and continents… yet it is very near as well. We are missionaries to our places of vocation, commerce and social life as surely as someone on foreign soil is.

So we don't have to have a committee meeting to know what to do. We have the King's orders and the mission he wants to involve every one of us in. Notice in verse 19-20 a special promise. There is apparently a very special way that Jesus is WITH us as we are going that is not evidently the case when we are not going. I wonder if you can really have the "Lo" of verse 20 unless you are doing the "go" of verse 19? Active involvement in the will of God brings an understanding of His presence in a special way- it is akin to tasting and seeing that He is good- the tasting appropriates the blessing of the reality of what was an abstract concept. How can you describe the taste of banana cream pie in words? In the same way, we know that we know that we know that He is with us when we are in the midst of appropriating the power and presence He avails to us when we are actively engaged in his work in the world.

This is therefore a vital aspect of Christian discipleship. Christian discipleship is developing a personal, lifelong, obedient relationship with Jesus Christ in which He transforms your character into Christlikeness, changes your values into Kingdom values and involves you in His mission in the home, the Church and the world.

This is, in effect, becoming in our condition what we already are by position pertaining to godliness. It is another aspect of bearing fruit. As we are being brought into alignment with Christ's nature, we are to be about Kingdom prerogatives- involved in Christ's bringing of the world we are in into alignment by the power of the Spirit in us as His Kingdom comes one soul at a time.

Our witness to the world must , by scriptural mandate include the act of discipling people and nurturing them, not just telling them the news and abandoning them. The work of the church is to teach them to observe all His commands.

The context of teaching is a personal relationship between the one who is the learner and the one in the position of teaching. Wisdom can be imparted by lecture, discussion, storytelling or working together, as well as by testimony, witness, church ordinances and preaching. But primarily the task of the teacher is to model that which is worth learning. We are therefore to realize that the biblical purpose of teaching is to Change Lives! The student is encouraged to EMBODY Truth- as the WORD was made flesh, we are to be seeing the Word incarnated in our lives. This is empowered by our helper, the paraclete, the Holy Spirit. Teaching is God's way of multiplication.

The concern of our witness

Jesus assures the disciples of His power. This is the one who has conquered death giving them this mandate. Jesus gave them a commission: to teach all His commands to all the world. And he promised His presence: they were being sent forth to conquer the world by His power and authority. (Note that in doing this Jesus affirms the nature of the Trinity: The NAME (singular) of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit…just a side note). The act of Baptism is a part of this teaching as it teaches us about the union we have with Christ's death to sin and the resurrection life.

There is a difference between making converts and making disciples. First of all both are the work of the Holy Spirit. But the process to bearing witness does not end at the conversion of a new saint. The body of Christ is responsible to continually witness to the whole counsel of God. More about that below.

Note that in the Bible, discipleship is always twofold, and stands in superiority to the teaching methodologies the world has to offer. Modern educational systems focus on learning by doing, which in and of itself is not unbiblical. But it falls short by the fact that it stops there. This kind of teaching by itself teaches in the abstract . Only what is already done is actually learned and this is limited to the context it was learned in. It is taught as true only in a relative sense. So the world ends up saying absolute truth is unknowable. The Christian model adds another dimension, in fact it is the more real dimension of learning FOR doing. Truth is not truth just for truth's sake. It is always taught so that it might be used in life, applied in whatever situation as the standard and absolute rule of life.

Now I am not saying that teaching is a synonym for preaching or witnessing or baptizing. But in all aspects, the Kingdom prerogative is the conformation of the human to Christ Jesus. There is obviously a progression with their application to the redemptive process. But preaching, witness and baptism are themselves forms of teaching which God uses to awaken spiritual understanding. Certainly we will relate differently to these based on what our spiritual state is at the time we apprehend them.

The content of our witness

You have heard it said that the content of our witness is to be the simple Gospel. I agree that is where it begins. But in the context of the great commission, I think the demands go beyond that as discipleship occurs. The process of learning about Jesus is a continual process. Each occasion of insight builds on what the Spirit has done in the life of the believer on earlier occasions. As one increases in knowledge, a greater depth of understanding is to be achieved. This is another difference in the teaching we do. By the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, spiritual understanding and wisdom is achieved. The church is to be teaching all nations to "observe whatsoever things I have commanded you to do". What does that include? I believe that includes the unfolding of God's plan from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. The breadth and depth of the Christian life the Bible addresses the whole person and demands personal application. So the scope of our witness to the truth ranges from foundational truths and basic skills for spiritual growth and ministry to applying the whole of scripture to the whole of life. I believe this is the explanation of the "As you are going" imperative in Matthew 28:19. We learn and witness, learn and witness (by word and deed) as we are transformed in character to the likeness of Christ.

So we are to apply what Christ has done to the private, personal, cultural and social aspects of life. We are to do no less in the final analysis than to be about the business of witness to the world with a view toward discipling humans to think and act out the mind of Christ on earth!

The conclusion of our witness.

Matthew 28 tells us to teach them to keep or obey His commands. The Greek transliteration here would be terein. : To observe, keep, obey in practice, fulfill. So this is more than simple facts or head knowledge. There is to be a commitment to the TRUTH as a result of our witness. Then end of the commission is to see lives changed! The Holy Spirit is more interested in what is done with Truth than what Truth does. Let's repeat that : "The Holy Spirit is more interested in what is done with Truth than what Truth does". Godly living and obedient observance of Christ's commands are the Kingdom prerogatives of our witness to the world.

The word of the Lord will not return void. We can therefore witness with great expectation that the Holy Spirit will cause people to learn. We should be about teaching others to obey the scriptures. Our teaching should enable remembering and surface real need in the lives of those who are being taught. The net result is a Body that is equipped for service and is experiencing the Living, resurrection Life of Jesus in real terms!

The Holy Spirit is the paraclete that will lead us into ALL truth, Jesus told us. So all truth- even that which is true about the mundane things of life, be it animals, business, commerce, (or any other concept) ought to be related in such a way that one is more godly because he learned it. In fact, this view sees that every moment is a teachable moment, invested with the possibilities of grace. In other words, do all to God's glory! Every fact we deal with should be oriented properly into a Christian worldview- we should be helping believers form the spiritual grid work necessary to make sense of "whatsoever Christ has commanded" and how it relates in practical terms to our everyday lives. And to reiterate, this should be learning FOR doing- it should be turned into practical ministry. We are to take every thought captive in the final analysis to the cause of Christ.