Did you know that there are five texts in the New Testament that contain different facets of the “Great Commission” – and without each of them, there may be something lacking in our understanding of what Jesus wants to do through His church? I have personally come to see all five texts together as the composite “Great Commission.”
Here are those five texts, followed by a few observations and conclusions.
Matthew 28:18-20
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and earth has been handed over to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Mark 16:15-18
15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.
Luke 24:45-49
45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
John 20:21-23
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
Here are some of my own observations about each of these texts:
In Matthew the disciples were charged and commissioned to…
- disciple of all nations (e.g., every ethic group),
- administer water baptism as a sacrament of initiation to new followers of Jesus,
- teach the things that Jesus taught, and to call for obedience to Jesus in every area of life, and
- the promise of the abiding presence of Jesus would be available to all of them for the purpose of fulfilling the task until all the work was done (e.g., “the end of the age”).
In Mark the disciples were…
- to proclaim good news to all creation,
- to administer water baptism to new believers as an act of obedience, and
- promised that powerful signs would accompany the proclamation of the good news (i.e., casting out demons, spiritual language, supernatural protection, and the administration of healing through prayer and the laying-on of hands).
In Luke the disciples were called to…
- proclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins to all nations, and
- do these things in the power of the Holy Spirit.
It was imperative that absolutely no attempt to fulfill Jesus’ commands was to be made by the disciples until they were “clothed with power from on high.”
In John the disciples…
- were sent by Jesus Himself as His earthly representatives, in the same way that He was sent by the Father,
- were marked by the Holy Spirit as belonging to Jesus, and empowered by the Spirit for the tasks ahead, and
- were to be primarily occupied with helping people process the issues related to forgiveness of (i.e., release from or retaining of) sins.
Finally, in Acts the disciples were commanded by Jesus to…
- receive power from the Holy Spirit, and
- be his witnesses – ultimately to the far-reaches of the planet.
Theirs would be a global impact. The whole world would be touched.
This is very different from present habitual pursuit of really good attractional church services on Sunday mornings, and well-organized programs, classes, and seminars during the week in clean, modern, well-furnished facilities, which use the latest-greatest equipment and technology. Much of what is thought of as ministry today is better categorized as institutional advancement facilitated by both managing and suppressing the fickle appetites of come-and-go-consumers, in the power of human ingenuity. We are in danger of telling ourselves that we are indeed alive (or believing it because we’ve built such a reputation) simply because we are busy, complex, and “state-of-the-art” (see Rev. 3:1).
I share that last part because the first Christians did not have our “ministry delivery system” and they grew by millions and millions of people in a matter of decades. They had (and they lived) the (five) Great Commission(s) in organic, every-day, intentional ways.
These five texts tell us our focus, our activity, and our mission no matter who we are or where we live. The Great Commission is utterly non-dependent on so many of the things we have come to see as essential to the work of the Church of Jesus. In fact, I am in a place in my own life where I am convinced that doing without many of those things will allow me to finally do what these texts envision without all the clutter, baggage, and diversion of resources away from the mission of God and His people.
As an exit question, what would your “church life” look like if you decided to live out the imperatives and values of these five texts, and to do nothing else? How radical would that be? What would you do differently? What would change?
Kenny, Thanks for this brilliant post. I have linked here from a Facebook Forum for those pursuing multiplying church movements: https://www.facebook.com/groups/278251675548545/
Let me know if you’d like in and I’ll get you an invite.
Here is a sample from a recent discussion:
Jesus’ Strategy for Ministry
Field 1 – Entry Strategy: Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost (Lk 19.10). So He enters into a culture of lostness and primarily uses three models:
– As He is GOING He uses an Attractional Benevolence Model which is healing, feeding, casting out demons, teaching, and loving people (Act 10.38).
– Secondly, as He is GOING, He uses the Synagogue Model. He goes where religious people hang out and finds the spiritually hungry (Mat 9.35).
– And as He is GOING, He uses the Person of Peace (or House of Peace) Model. Basically entering into a village and finding a person that wants to hear about the King and His kingdom (Lk 10.5-9).
Assignment: Look at the Gospel of Luke and give examples of how Jesus used these three models to enter into a culture of lostness.
Robby – Please invite me to that group. Awesome!
Kenny, very thought provoking. I have copied it so that I can use it next semester when we discuss soteriology and eschatology/Kingdom of God. But first, I have to meditate more on it myself. Edifying and very cool.
I will like to read more from you
Grace And Peace, Kenny. Well done as far as God’s LAW, But “missing” God’s “GREATER” Commission for us TODAY, Under God’s Amazing GRACE! (Ephesians 2:15!). Be RICHLY Blessed!!:
“And all things are of God,Who Hath Reconciled us To Himself By JESUS CHRIST, and Hath Given To us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God Was In CHRIST, Reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and Hath Committed unto us The Word Of Reconciliation!
Now then we are ambassadors for CHRIST, as though God Did Beseech you by us: we pray you in CHRIST’s Stead, be ye reconciled to God!
For HE Hath Made HIM To Be sin For us, WHO Knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God In HIM!
We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not The GRACE Of God in vain!
(For HE Saith, I Have Heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, NOW
IS THE DAY OF SALVATION!!)
(2 Corinthians 5:18-6:2 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Ephesians 2:5-9!)
May God RICHLY Bless ALL!
Scripture seems to insist on loving others as ourselves & maybe that’s a given when church’s teach the great commission. It’s easy to love others who are not part of our lives, but so many Christian’s struggle with loving their own families while they busily have so called ministries. The finger points back at me for not loving the people who I am judging. I googled how many times scripture discusses Great Commission compared to love others like you love yourself. Just sayin’.
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This is awesome!! Thank you so much!! May God continue to bless you in Jesus Name 🙏
Thanks for the inspiring message and your thoughtfulness in regards to your explicit approach to the 5 passages of the Bible.
Praying for God’s grace and more anointing of God in our lives in Jesus’ name🙏🏾