Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:16-20 (ESV)

We are very familiar with the closing paragraph of the Gospel According to Matthew.  We refer to it as the Great Commission, the Commissioning of the Disciples, and other familiar titles.  It is packed with nuggets worthy of mining for much longer than this forum allows.  Let’s take a brief look at some of them before taking a slightly closer look at the final verse. 

Jesus begins His statement by affirming His divine nature.  Only God has unlimited authority everywhere.  Only the pure, holy, just, merciful One is capable of handling unlimited authority, authority without any restraint or oversight.  Lesser beings, certainly those dwelling here on earth in its fallen state, would likely stray from justice and veer toward hedonistic power lust.  But Jesus says He has all authority in heaven and on earth, making Him God.

He continues commanding His listeners to “Go….”  We are familiar with the command, but have you noticed that He says, “go therefore….”?  Immediately after stating that He has all authority everywhere, He says “go therefore,” connecting His instruction to go with His unfettered authority.  He has all authority everywhere.  He has the authority to do as He pleases everywhere.  And He is delegating a small sliver of His authority to His disciples, instructing them and us to “go … and make disciples of all nations….”

What does this entail?  How does one make a disciple?  The best example is provided in the gospels.  It is no coincidence that Matthew concludes his book with this directive, because he had just described how Jesus made disciples by pouring Himself into them for three years. 

But how might we make disciples of a nation, or all nations for that matter?  What does that look like?

He continues instructing His listeners to baptize “them,” meaning all nations that are being transformed into disciples, “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  He also connects baptism, and everything that must happen within a person before he or she is baptized, and the symbolism of death and rebirth and new life associated with baptism with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity.  By so doing, Jesus affirms the deity of each person of God.  He also uses the singular word “name” before referring to three persons – God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – affirming each is God and God is One.

All that is such fertile ground for exploration, we are at risk of missing what He says next.  He continues saying, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”  Jesus calls us to go to all nations making disciples and baptizing and teaching them – the people in all nations who are becoming disciples – to obey Jesus’ commandments, to do what He tells us to do, to act in accordance with His holy will.

Jesus then reminds His listeners that He is with us.  In the first chapter of Matthew, Joseph is visited by an angel in a dream who instructs Joseph to follow through with his plans to marry Mary, and the angel quotes Isaiah 7:14.  Matthew writes,

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).  Matthew 1:22-23 (ESV)

The Gospel According to Matthew begins and ends with a reminder that Jesus is God with us.  He is God.  And He is with us.  Always. 

Why would Jesus conclude the Great Commission with a call to obedience, and why would the Holy Spirit inspire Matthew to conclude his presentation of the Gospel with the same call?  Jesus tells His listeners to “observe all that I have commanded you.”  What is encompassed within His commands?  Is He only referring to the words He spoke during His earthly ministry, or does He also refer to the rest of God’s holy word, which as God, Christ Jesus authored?

Many today think Jesus exclusively preached a message of love and liberty, without reference to restrictions or rules or repentance or other guidance on the proper way humans should live in this fallen place.  However, this command to obedience reflects many of the things Jesus taught during His earthly ministry and said during the Last Supper. 

Shortly after washing the disciples’ feet as a demonstration of humble loving service, Jesus said,

For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.  Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.  John 13:15-17 (ESV)

His call to humble loving service extends far beyond washing feet.  The example Jesus gave His disciples extended to how He lived His life during their time together, including the way He interacted with others and the way He interacted with God the Father.  And He was about to demonstrate His humble surrender in accordance with the Father’s holy will.  He calls us to behave the way He behaved.

A little while later that evening Jesus taught about obedience, explaining that a byproduct of loving Him is keeping His commandments.  Jesus said,

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”  John 14:15-17 (ESV)

Just in case we missed it the first time, Jesus returned to the same thought saying,

“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”  John 14:21 (ESV)

Jesus then connects notions of loving Him and obeying His commands with receiving a unique aspect of God the Father’s love, and beyond that, experiencing the holy indwelling of God the Father and Christ Jesus.  Those who love Jesus and keep Jesus’ words receive a unique aspect of God the Father’s love and experience the holy indwelling of God the Father and Christ Jesus.  Wow.  Jesus said,

If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.  John 14:23-24 (ESV)

A short while later He explains that He does things God the Father commands Him to do.  Since this is part of His example for us, when tied to His command to follow His example, it becomes clear that we are called to obey the Father’s commands also.  Our love for Christ Jesus and God the Father is apparent to the world when we follow His commands.  Jesus said,

I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.  John 14:30-31 (ESV)

And shortly later, Jesus said,

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.  John 15:10-11 (ESV)

The concepts of love and obedience and His holy abiding presence are blended into a single beautiful demonstration of spiritual transformation in and through Christ Jesus, and He teaches all this so that His joy will be in us and our joy will be complete.  How awesome is that!

The world would have us believe that obedience to God’s rules restricts our freedom, but in reality, obedience to His guidance leads us to our best possible life here on earth.  By following His commands, we experience His joy and our joy is made complete.

Jesus taught over and over and over about obedience to His holy word, and after His resurrection, as He was about to ascend to heaven, His final statements recorded in Matthew urge His followers to go everywhere, baptizing and teaching everyone to obey Jesus’ commands.  The instruction for us to teach obedience to His holy word is a component of the Great Commission, so we should not be surprised that the Apostles see this as a fundamental component of their mission on earth.  As part of the opening statement in his letter to the church in Rome, Paul writes,

Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faithfor the sake of his name among all the nations…. Romans 1:5

Through Christ Jesus, Paul received grace and apostleship for a purpose, and that purpose was to cause everyone to demonstrate obedience of faith for Jesus’ holy name.  Paul was called into service to bring about obedience of faith to Christ Jesus among all nations.  This sounds a lot like the Great Commission, doesn’t it?

Similarly, Peter begins his first epistle writing,

To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.  1 Peter 1:1-2

Peter writes to the elect who are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of being obedient to Christs Jesus. Obedience to Christ Jesus’ holy commands is fundamental to our purpose as His followers.

Similarly, John explains in his first epistle that if we have intimate relationship with Jesus, it will naturally follow that we obey His commands.  John writes,

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. 1 John 2:3-6

While we are called to obedience, we are called to act the way Jesus behaved, and we are called to go everywhere teaching everyone to obey His holy word, we do not do this to somehow earn His holy mercy and grace.  We can never do anything to merit God’s holy favor.  We can never earn or deserve His grace.  Behaving like Jesus and loving like Jesus and teaching others to obey His holy commands are not the causes of salvation, they are the result of salvation and the continuing process of sanctification.  As He abides in us, we gradually take on more of His image, more of His love, light and life, and He begins to flow through us.  Paul writes, 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV); and

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.  2 Corinthians 3:18

We are called to obedience to Christ Jesus’ holy word and, as the collective Body of Christ, we are called to go everywhere making disciples and teaching everyone who is being transformed in and through Christ Jesus to observe His holy commands.  As individuals we are not each called to go everywhere, but we are called to serve where we are. I fail at this every day.  But these are our marching orders given by our Lord and Savior.  By His mercy and grace, may we each be faithful to His holy calling.  Amen.