Matthew 28:16-20 Mark 16:15-18
|
16 But
the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had
designated. 17 When they saw Him, they
worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 18 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.”
|
15 And
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all
creation. 16 “He who has believed and has
been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be
condemned. 17 “These signs will accompany
those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will
speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and
if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they
will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
|
It is interesting that the Scripture notes that when Jesus
meets with His followers, there are two different reactions: some worship and
some doubt. It seems difficult to imagine
that after all this time and the many different appearances, that there were
still some who doubted but it is hard for men to believe the miraculous. It is also difficult for us to understand
things that are not according to our expectations. The disciples expected Jesus to establish the
kingdom, not be crucified. We are called
to worship God for who He is no matter if what He does or allows is in line
with our desires or agendas. The Trinity
gives us our marching orders in this passage and assures us that He is with us
along each step of the way.
THE FATHER HAS GIVEN ALL AUTHORITY TO JESUS: God the Father
grants all authority to Jesus both in heaven and on earth. This is an important opening to the great
commission passage. Jesus wants His followers
to know that the instructions that follow are not suggestions, but they are coming
from the highest possible source of authority.
Jesus is over all creation. There
is no heavenly being higher than Jesus.
Satan and all angels, both holy and fallen are under the authority of
Jesus. He is able to prevent demonic
attack and is able to send angelic help because He is over all heavenly
beings. There is no power on earth that
is greater than Jesus. The most powerful
dictator on earth is under the authority of Jesus. The most difficult of circumstances and the
most powerful storm that rages over the earth is all under the authority of
Jesus. There are no diseases or disasters
that are not under His sovereign authority.
All that happens in heaven and on earth is being used by Jesus to
further His ultimate wisdom. All the
universe is at the disposal of Jesus to empower and equip His disciples for the
mission to which we are called. Since He
is the one who is in charge and has all the authority, He is responsible to
provide and protect the participants of this mission. This is not a suggestion coming from an equal;
it is a mandate coming from the Sovereign of the universe.
THE SON HAS GIVEN ALL PRIORITY: Jesus tells His followers that
making disciples in all nations must be their priority. This priority can only be realized if the
followers of Jesus go to all nations, baptize all believers and teach all disciples
to observe all the commands of Jesus.
Not everyone can go everywhere, but every believer must make it the priority
of their lives to mobilize missions in the nations. All must contribute to this effort as their
primary focus in life. This priority
should be evident in our usage of time, our prayer life, our education, our
jobs, our dreams, our budget and our conversations. Those who do not have the privilege of going should
consider it a privilege to help others to go.
No matter where we are, baptizing and teaching the commands of Christ
are to be priorities in our lives. When
Jesus tells us to baptize, He implies much more than the sacrament of
baptism. The entire process of
evangelism is implied in the command to baptize. We don’t baptize unbelievers until they have
identified themselves with Christ through faith. Believers are baptized into a body of other believers
called the church. Jesus calls His
children to live according to His teachings.
Unfortunately, the teachings of Jesus have been more and more ignored in
the majority of our society. As followers
of Christ, our job is to inform people of the teachings of Christ, model them
and help others to practice them. His
teachings are recorded in Scripture, so the study and practice of the Bible
must be a priority of every disciple of Jesus.
THE SPIRIT HAS GIVEN ALL ABILITY: The mission God has called
us to accomplish is impossible to do on our own. Jesus promised that He would be with His disciples
always until the end of the age. We do
not have to worry about the power to accomplish the mission because the Holy
Spirit is with us and provides all we need.
He gives us supernatural strength to be able to face hardships as we go. He opens the hearts and minds of people and
gives us the words to say that will help people identify with Jesus and His
death and resurrection. He enables us to
teach and strengthens us and our hearers to obey the commands of Christ. We are not able to save anyone or transform
anyone; but we do not go on mission alone.
When we make ourselves available to Him, He gives us the power through His
presence to accomplish the mission we do under His authority. The miraculous in heaven and on earth is at
our disposal because the Spirit dwells in us an enables us at all times in all ages.
APPLICATION: Since Jesus has all authority, we must obey His
command and can also trust in the fact that He will make all provision for the
mission. Live on mission to advance the
making of disciples where there are none.
Help people identify with Jesus through faith and baptism and then teach
them all you know and encourage them to follow all the teachings of Jesus. Trust in the Spirit’s ability to equip you
and the Lord’s ability to protect and provide for you as you step out in
obedience to Him.
Comments
Post a Comment