The Great Commission is a topic often preached upon, but seldom followed. At least, not followed accurately. It seems many Christians feel that “evangelism” is an old-fashioned notion and modern believers don’t need to share their faith as long as they attend church regularly. Many others try to buy their way out of the commandment by financially supporting mission efforts. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it does not relieve us of the responsibility of speaking of Jesus to others ourselves.
Matthew 28 is where the most popular version of The Great Commission is found, but there are others. Each one has a different focus designed for the intended audience.
The book of Matthew was written for Jewish/Christians and so the whole book embraces Jewish heritage and their relationship with God beginning with Jesus’ lineage. Matthew ends with:
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (NKJV)
Note the specific mention of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The book of Mark was written to Roman Christians. Romans respected power and authority, so Mark focused on the miracles of Jesus. In chapter 16 Mark relates:
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (NKJV)
Note the list of powerful signs that will follow true believers as they seek the lost, these speak of the power and authority of the Gospel.
The book of Luke was written to Greek Christians and it focuses on logic and reason, to appeal to that audience. Luke presents Jesus’ command this way:
45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Note that Luke alone describes the opening of the disciples minds to the scriptures so that they might understand the way all the old testament prophesies concerning the Christ were fulfilled in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
John writes to the Christian church in general. In this account, John skips the scene of the commission altogether and instead relates the restoration of Peter by Jesus. Briefly: Peter had denied even knowing Jesus three times while Jesus was being tried by Pilot. After His resurrection, Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Peter responds each time with “Of course I love you.” and Jesus responds each time with “If you love me, feed my lambs.”, “If you love me, tend my sheep.”, “If you love me, feed my sheep.” (read it here)
I feel this is significant and we’ll discuss why in just a bit.
John does cover the commission in other statements by Jesus (emphasis added):
JOHN 20:21 NKJ
21 Then Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
JOHN 14:12 NKJ
12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
The Book of Acts, also written by Luke, is a follow-up to the Book of Luke and describes the travels and travails of the disciples after Jesus ascended into heaven. This book starts with the scene of the commission and ascension of Jesus, including:
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (NKJV)
Many passages in the letters written by disciples to the churches or other disciples remind the churches of the instruction to share the gospel, for it is the only thing that can save humanity from a treacherous end.
What is the Great Commission?
Each accounting offers a different version: each of the gospels includes a different element, each leaves out some of what the others include. What do we see as key elements?
GO
All make it clear that the gospel of Jesus is to be taken out into the world at large, not kept locally. Early on, that meant mission trips. After it got started, amoebic expansion worked too.
Make DISCIPLES
By witnessing to others about Jesus, these disciples were to offer the salvation of Jesus to non-believers.
BAPTISE
Two of these five accounts mention baptism. Whether this is the baptism of the Holy Spirit or of water, and if water, how it should be done is a source of great contention and cannot adequately be covered in this article. Whatever your beliefs are on baptism, go with that.
TEACH
Matthew 28:20 is quite often snipped off and discarded when a sermon on The Great Commission is taught, especially when taught by a traveling evangelist. In their zeal for mass production of converts, the command, “20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;” creates a major obstacle to their highly mobile lifestyle. But it is as much a part of this commission as any other element. When an evangelist partners with an established church that will take on the task of instructing new Christians, the evangelist can move on to harvest in new fields. But if he (or she) is speaking where no church yet exists, that evangelist is obligated to stay and instruct the novitiates. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus explained what happens to new believers who are not properly taught and encouraged after their acceptance of Christ.
Must everyone become a missionary and travel off into far away places? Certainly not. The lost exist in your own city, even in your own neighborhood. Talk to them. If you feel a calling from God to do foreign mission work then pursue it, but don’t think this is the only way to follow Jesus’ commission.
Is it always about preaching? In the restoration of Peter Jesus assigns him the task of caring for the followers. Many, many times the churches are instructed to care for widows, orphans and the poor. Ephesians 4 tells us:
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
These positions too are commanded. In fulfilling them we have the opportunity to share our faith with others.
Is it necessary to be “in your face” about preaching Jesus to strangers? Absolutely not. Taking this approach is rarely going to make someone receptive to your message. I think this message gets twisted around: preaching the gospel is not always about revival meeting style preaching. It is often more effective when you or I simply share our lives with friends and family, those around us and those who are brought to us by God and are willing to listen to our own personal witness.
To be effective, of course, we must be living the life of a Jesus follower not the life of a hypocrite. If we embody the peace and joy of knowing Jesus it will show, others will want to know how we do that, and we must be prepared to account for our faith.
Earlier I mentioned amoebic expansion. If every believer discipled ONE other person in their lifetime, 1 would become 2, 2 would become 4, 4 would become 8, 8 would become 16, 16 – 32, 32 — 64, 64 — 128, 128 — 256 … in 23 iterations, the disciples from that one original would number over eight million![1] That’s if each one found and discipled just ONE other.
Conclusion
Jesus commissioned us to carry on the work of spreading the gospel. We do not need to be pushy and should never try to force our beliefs on others. Arguing with someone who has closed their mind wastes everyone’s time and effort. But when a door opens and someone is interested we must be ready to share our faith and be able to tell about the gift Jesus offers.
Remember that we model ourselves after Jesus not after some preacher, evangelist, or fellow Christian. To know Jesus well enough to do this accurately we must read our Bible, learn about him, and follow His examples. As we grow in knowledge and faith, we gain the confidence to share these with others.
