The Great Commission
"He is Building a Resurrection Temple"
(Matthew 28:16-20, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, December 14, 2008)
Matthew 28:16-20 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given 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."
Introduction – The story of the temple revisited
A strong case can be made that Matthew is the gospel of the King. It begins with a genealogy that features all the kings of Judah. It ends with this passage where Jesus Christ speaks as the divine King on the mountaintop giving His Great Commission as a decree to the people of His kingdom. It could also be said that it is a gospel of the temple. We have particularly seen that in the final ministry of Christ in the vicinity of Jerusalem. The Lord has revealed the coming destruction of the Old Testament temple building, and He has spoken about the gathering of a living temple throughout this age, the gospel age, a temple of people filled with the Holy Spirit.
These two alternative ways of viewing Matthew's gospel are not mutually exclusive. The concepts of the King over God's people and the temple where God dwells are very closely connected in the Old Testament Scriptures. It was King David Himself who had a desire to build a temple for God in the first place. He gathered many of the materials for this work, and his son, King Solomon, supervised the building of the temple and was the central figure at its dedication. Later kings were involved in the maintenance of this wonderful place of God's presence. In the heavenly temple, the Lord God reigns as King. Even now He is building His resurrection temple, and He will be King over that kingdom forever. The resurrected Jesus in the conclusion of Matthew's gospel is not only our King. He is the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
Worship and Doubt
What a moment it must have been, when the eleven remaining disciples went to meet their King in order to hear His Word to them, His direction of their affairs at this new beginning! It is interesting that the Lord chose Galilee for this resurrection appearance. It was not necessary that they all go to the Old Testament holy city of Jerusalem. The temple building on Mount Zion would not be the place for the King's decree. They all went to the region they had called home, Galilee. This was a place from which the contemporary religious thinkers expected no prophetic Word. Yet this home region for these men needed the Word of the good news of Jesus just as thousands of hometown spots all over the globe would one day be on the receiving end of the commission that Jesus gave that day. All over the world, cities, towns, and villages need to hear the Word of Jesus and His Kingdom. This will not just be about Jerusalem, or even Rome. This will be about the entire earth.
When they came to the place that Christ had appointed for this meeting, we are told that the disciples worshipped Jesus. This is very instructive for us. Here was the Son of God, the One who is very God Himself. The disciples knew this. They were not like the superstitious dwellers in pagan lands who would throw themselves at the feet of any miracle worker, ascribing deity to someone other than the Lord God Almighty. They were Jews who had come to see that Jesus, the Son of God, was truly the great "I Am." The Lord did not correct them in this, which is what the Apostles later did when anyone tried to worship them. It is appropriate to worship Jesus. His Father is not offended by this. Jesus is God, just as surely as the Father is God, and the Spirit is God. Though the disciples knew Him to be God at this point, we are told that some doubted. It is a fact of our current existence in this world of sin and death that worship coexists alongside of doubt. This is not the case in the present heaven, and it will not be the case when the Lord establishes His perfect resurrection temple in the renewed earth at the return of Christ.
All authority in heaven and on earth
It is into this world of both worship and doubt that God speaks an authoritative Word from the place where there is no doubt at all, the place where Christ has gone ahead of us to reign. That place is the real home of Jesus, a better place than anywhere in Galilee. Though we speak into a world where there is much doubt, the Word that we speak into that world has the fullness of the divine authority of the resurrected King. He announces that as a matter of first importance. We need to know that the Lord is not merely offering one among many religious opinions available in the marketplace of ideas. As a result of His resurrection and as a result of the fact that the Father has set the Son to reign over all, Jesus is completely certain that He has received all authority in heaven and on earth. We need to understand His Word this way. It is from a mouth that pours forth certainty, not mere probability. He is not a Man of doubt. He rules over the earth, but He also has all authority in heaven, a place where the faith is now sight. We must listen to Him and follow Him as the Man of Resurrection certainty.
Make disciples
With this said, we are eager for His directive to the church. His instruction to us is extremely clear. The sentence contained in verse 19 and the first part of verse 20 has only one main verb. A main verb can be qualified or explained by words that tell us more about the action of the main verb. Here the main verb is a command, "Make disciples!" The way the church is to make disciples is through going, baptizing, and teaching people to observe the commandments of Christ.
It is interesting that the Lord does not tell the apostles to merely make converts. The making of disciples is not simply for the beginning of the Christian life, but for the whole of our days until we die. The church is to go everywhere, to mark people with the waters of baptism, and to teach these disciples over the course of many years, as long as the Lord is pleased to grant to His servants life and breath. This is the way that the Resurrection King will build His temple. He will use the church, according to the various gifts and callings of her leaders and members, to make disciples, not only of Jews, but of all nations.
In the beginning of this gospel, wise men travelled from Gentile lands to worship the great king whose star they observed in the skies. Jesus is telling the apostles that the church is not permitted to wait for Gentiles to travel to them. Part of making disciples is "going." It is also part of making disciples to mark them with the sacrament of Trinitarian baptism. The Lord cares about the clarity of knowing who is in His church. Baptism is the mark that He has instituted for this distinction. It is to be administered in the three-in-one Name of the Almighty. But it is not enough to simply declare someone to be a part of the Christian family with baptism. The church must teach people the fullness of what it means to be followers of Christ, and we are to see that they not only know the Law in this New Covenant setting, but that they actually observe the Law of Christ. This is the Lord's charge to the disciples.
I am with you always, to the end of the age.
This is a very weighty mission given to us by a very impressive King. Yet we immediately feel our own limitations in this enterprise. There are two things that we cannot do which absolutely must be done for God's temple to be built. First, we cannot change hearts. Only God the Holy Spirit can do the work of taking a spirit that is dead in sin and giving it new life in Jesus Christ. This is simply beyond our abilities. If God will not do this, there will be no one to baptize, no one to teach, and no particular point in going anywhere. The second thing that we cannot do is to make anyone rise from the grave. The kingdom that is being built is a resurrection kingdom. If faith in Christ were only for this mortal life, it would not be the good life that we really need. We need something more than health, pleasures, and possessions. But even if we have personal fulfillment and joy, and then we die, that is far short of the good life that Christ has won for us through His death on the cross. The King who is talking to them on the mountain that day is a Resurrection Man. We need life from the dead, and that is something that only God can do.
The Promised Land is not the old Jerusalem. It is not Galilee, or any other spot, however beautiful, on a world that is perishing. The Promised Land is a Resurrection Land, a Land that is born in the renewal of this earth when heaven and heaven's host come here to live. That is why it is such good news that Jesus will be with us to the end of this gospel age. He will be in us as the hope of resurrection glory, and He will lead us through the wilderness of this world into the shining glory of the land that will be ours in the age to come. The meek shall inherit the earth. Our risen King is preparing the people of His resurrection temple from His place of authority in heaven, where those who have gone before us are even now reigning with Christ. The end of the age is coming. At just the right time Jesus will return with the fruit of His perfect labor in the glorious body of Christ, and He will make all things new.
If you have heard this good news of the coming kingdom, it should be very apparent to you whether or not you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. The church has gone to your town this morning to bring you this message of hope. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the King of the coming Resurrection Age died on a cross to satisfy the debt that You owed God because of your sins. What is your response to the forgiveness and glory that is yours in Christ? Have you been baptized? If you have not been baptized, you are not a disciple of Jesus according to His own definition. Are you willing to be taught to observe the Lord's commandments, to understand the faith and to live it out? If you are unwilling to be taught by the Lord's church day by day, you are not a disciple of Jesus according to His own definition. The time for clear thinking and decisive action may be very short. Only God can give you life in your soul, and only God can raise your body from the dead. Be baptized, and yield yourself to the teaching of God's Word. The King of the kingdom is the Lord of the Temple. He calls you to be alive in Him.
Questions for meditation and discussion:
1. What are the surprising facts of this final episode in Matthew's gospel?
2. What is the main idea in this "Great Commission?"
3. What is Jesus' definition of making disciples?
4. What encouragement does Christ give to us regarding this commission?
(Matthew 28:16-20, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, December 14, 2008)
Matthew 28:16-20 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given 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."
Introduction – The story of the temple revisited
A strong case can be made that Matthew is the gospel of the King. It begins with a genealogy that features all the kings of Judah. It ends with this passage where Jesus Christ speaks as the divine King on the mountaintop giving His Great Commission as a decree to the people of His kingdom. It could also be said that it is a gospel of the temple. We have particularly seen that in the final ministry of Christ in the vicinity of Jerusalem. The Lord has revealed the coming destruction of the Old Testament temple building, and He has spoken about the gathering of a living temple throughout this age, the gospel age, a temple of people filled with the Holy Spirit.
These two alternative ways of viewing Matthew's gospel are not mutually exclusive. The concepts of the King over God's people and the temple where God dwells are very closely connected in the Old Testament Scriptures. It was King David Himself who had a desire to build a temple for God in the first place. He gathered many of the materials for this work, and his son, King Solomon, supervised the building of the temple and was the central figure at its dedication. Later kings were involved in the maintenance of this wonderful place of God's presence. In the heavenly temple, the Lord God reigns as King. Even now He is building His resurrection temple, and He will be King over that kingdom forever. The resurrected Jesus in the conclusion of Matthew's gospel is not only our King. He is the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
Worship and Doubt
What a moment it must have been, when the eleven remaining disciples went to meet their King in order to hear His Word to them, His direction of their affairs at this new beginning! It is interesting that the Lord chose Galilee for this resurrection appearance. It was not necessary that they all go to the Old Testament holy city of Jerusalem. The temple building on Mount Zion would not be the place for the King's decree. They all went to the region they had called home, Galilee. This was a place from which the contemporary religious thinkers expected no prophetic Word. Yet this home region for these men needed the Word of the good news of Jesus just as thousands of hometown spots all over the globe would one day be on the receiving end of the commission that Jesus gave that day. All over the world, cities, towns, and villages need to hear the Word of Jesus and His Kingdom. This will not just be about Jerusalem, or even Rome. This will be about the entire earth.
When they came to the place that Christ had appointed for this meeting, we are told that the disciples worshipped Jesus. This is very instructive for us. Here was the Son of God, the One who is very God Himself. The disciples knew this. They were not like the superstitious dwellers in pagan lands who would throw themselves at the feet of any miracle worker, ascribing deity to someone other than the Lord God Almighty. They were Jews who had come to see that Jesus, the Son of God, was truly the great "I Am." The Lord did not correct them in this, which is what the Apostles later did when anyone tried to worship them. It is appropriate to worship Jesus. His Father is not offended by this. Jesus is God, just as surely as the Father is God, and the Spirit is God. Though the disciples knew Him to be God at this point, we are told that some doubted. It is a fact of our current existence in this world of sin and death that worship coexists alongside of doubt. This is not the case in the present heaven, and it will not be the case when the Lord establishes His perfect resurrection temple in the renewed earth at the return of Christ.
All authority in heaven and on earth
It is into this world of both worship and doubt that God speaks an authoritative Word from the place where there is no doubt at all, the place where Christ has gone ahead of us to reign. That place is the real home of Jesus, a better place than anywhere in Galilee. Though we speak into a world where there is much doubt, the Word that we speak into that world has the fullness of the divine authority of the resurrected King. He announces that as a matter of first importance. We need to know that the Lord is not merely offering one among many religious opinions available in the marketplace of ideas. As a result of His resurrection and as a result of the fact that the Father has set the Son to reign over all, Jesus is completely certain that He has received all authority in heaven and on earth. We need to understand His Word this way. It is from a mouth that pours forth certainty, not mere probability. He is not a Man of doubt. He rules over the earth, but He also has all authority in heaven, a place where the faith is now sight. We must listen to Him and follow Him as the Man of Resurrection certainty.
Make disciples
With this said, we are eager for His directive to the church. His instruction to us is extremely clear. The sentence contained in verse 19 and the first part of verse 20 has only one main verb. A main verb can be qualified or explained by words that tell us more about the action of the main verb. Here the main verb is a command, "Make disciples!" The way the church is to make disciples is through going, baptizing, and teaching people to observe the commandments of Christ.
It is interesting that the Lord does not tell the apostles to merely make converts. The making of disciples is not simply for the beginning of the Christian life, but for the whole of our days until we die. The church is to go everywhere, to mark people with the waters of baptism, and to teach these disciples over the course of many years, as long as the Lord is pleased to grant to His servants life and breath. This is the way that the Resurrection King will build His temple. He will use the church, according to the various gifts and callings of her leaders and members, to make disciples, not only of Jews, but of all nations.
In the beginning of this gospel, wise men travelled from Gentile lands to worship the great king whose star they observed in the skies. Jesus is telling the apostles that the church is not permitted to wait for Gentiles to travel to them. Part of making disciples is "going." It is also part of making disciples to mark them with the sacrament of Trinitarian baptism. The Lord cares about the clarity of knowing who is in His church. Baptism is the mark that He has instituted for this distinction. It is to be administered in the three-in-one Name of the Almighty. But it is not enough to simply declare someone to be a part of the Christian family with baptism. The church must teach people the fullness of what it means to be followers of Christ, and we are to see that they not only know the Law in this New Covenant setting, but that they actually observe the Law of Christ. This is the Lord's charge to the disciples.
I am with you always, to the end of the age.
This is a very weighty mission given to us by a very impressive King. Yet we immediately feel our own limitations in this enterprise. There are two things that we cannot do which absolutely must be done for God's temple to be built. First, we cannot change hearts. Only God the Holy Spirit can do the work of taking a spirit that is dead in sin and giving it new life in Jesus Christ. This is simply beyond our abilities. If God will not do this, there will be no one to baptize, no one to teach, and no particular point in going anywhere. The second thing that we cannot do is to make anyone rise from the grave. The kingdom that is being built is a resurrection kingdom. If faith in Christ were only for this mortal life, it would not be the good life that we really need. We need something more than health, pleasures, and possessions. But even if we have personal fulfillment and joy, and then we die, that is far short of the good life that Christ has won for us through His death on the cross. The King who is talking to them on the mountain that day is a Resurrection Man. We need life from the dead, and that is something that only God can do.
The Promised Land is not the old Jerusalem. It is not Galilee, or any other spot, however beautiful, on a world that is perishing. The Promised Land is a Resurrection Land, a Land that is born in the renewal of this earth when heaven and heaven's host come here to live. That is why it is such good news that Jesus will be with us to the end of this gospel age. He will be in us as the hope of resurrection glory, and He will lead us through the wilderness of this world into the shining glory of the land that will be ours in the age to come. The meek shall inherit the earth. Our risen King is preparing the people of His resurrection temple from His place of authority in heaven, where those who have gone before us are even now reigning with Christ. The end of the age is coming. At just the right time Jesus will return with the fruit of His perfect labor in the glorious body of Christ, and He will make all things new.
If you have heard this good news of the coming kingdom, it should be very apparent to you whether or not you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. The church has gone to your town this morning to bring you this message of hope. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the King of the coming Resurrection Age died on a cross to satisfy the debt that You owed God because of your sins. What is your response to the forgiveness and glory that is yours in Christ? Have you been baptized? If you have not been baptized, you are not a disciple of Jesus according to His own definition. Are you willing to be taught to observe the Lord's commandments, to understand the faith and to live it out? If you are unwilling to be taught by the Lord's church day by day, you are not a disciple of Jesus according to His own definition. The time for clear thinking and decisive action may be very short. Only God can give you life in your soul, and only God can raise your body from the dead. Be baptized, and yield yourself to the teaching of God's Word. The King of the kingdom is the Lord of the Temple. He calls you to be alive in Him.
Questions for meditation and discussion:
1. What are the surprising facts of this final episode in Matthew's gospel?
2. What is the main idea in this "Great Commission?"
3. What is Jesus' definition of making disciples?
4. What encouragement does Christ give to us regarding this commission?
posted by Pastor Magee at 10:00 AM
<< Home