The Great Commission is the command of Jesus to his followers to go into the world and make disciples of all nations. This is significant because the Jews believed that the Messiah was only for them (Matthew 15:24). So when Jesus told them to out into all the world, it meant the inclusion of the Gentiles as well. The Great Commission occurs at the end of the gospel of Matthew. There are allusions to it in Mark 16:15, where it says, “go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age,’” (Matthew 28:18–20).
Analysis of the Great Commission of Jesus
there is a lot of theology hidden in the great commission. Jesus, of course, has all authority, and because of that, he sent people out to baptize in the Trinitarian name. Furthermore, he affirmed his own deity when he said in verse 20 that he would be with the disciples always even to the end of the age. Let’s take a look.
- v. 18, “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
- The reason that Jesus, who is God in the flesh (John 1:1, 14; Colossians 2:9), said all authority has been given to him. If he was God, why was authority given to him? The reason is that he was also made under the law (Galatians 4:4) and made for a little while lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:9). The requirement of being under the law meant that he was operating not in his own divine power but in the power the Holy Spirit came upon him at his baptism. Furthermore, being under the law, he would be in subjection of the Father (John 5:19, 30). Therefore, it would be necessary for all authority to be given to him. Furthermore, the authority that he has is in his humanity as well as his divinity since Jesus is one person with two distinct natures (see the Hypostatic Union).
- Furthermore, if Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth, then he has the authority to forgive sins. Therefore, we can go to Jesus, pray to him, and ask him to forgive us of our sins.
- v. 19, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
- Because he has all authority in heaven and earth, he commands that the disciples go out into all nations and make disciples. Part of this disciple-making process is to have them be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the Trinitarian baptism formula. The commission means that when we seek to make disciples, we are accomplishing the will of God. He will bless us in that effort.
- v. 20, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”
- To be a disciple means to observe what Jesus said and did. He commands us to love one another (John 13:34; 15:17). To follow Christ means to obey his commands and to seek to live in a godly and humble way – just as Jesus did.
The Great Commission
So, we can see that Jesus wanted his Jewish disciples to also reach out to the Gentiles. This is a fulfillment of the prophecy found in Genesis 12:3, where God said to Abraham, “…in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Paul quotes this verse in Galatians 3:8 when he says, “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations will be blessed in you.’” (Galatians 3:8). This means that when we preach the gospel, try to make disciples, and reach out to the lost all of the world, as well as our local community, we are carrying out the will of Jesus. In this, he is glorified, and we can be blessed.
