ENCOUNTERS WITH THE RISEN SAVIOR: THE GREAT COMMISSION

This is part of our Thursday series on the encounters with the Risen Savior that are shared in the four gospels. Today’s encounter is shared with us by Matthew.

In Matthew 28:16-20 it says:

But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Jesus had asked the disciples to meet Him on a mountain in Galilee. Church tradition and most scholars believe that the mountain they met on was Mount Arbel which is on the west side of the Sea of Galilee. Not only was this mountain right in the middle of where Jesus spent so much of his ministry, but they could also see many of the surrounding nations which would be important to what Jesus was about to ask of them. Jesus chose this spot, and the disciples listened and obeyed.

I love that verse 17 tells us that “When they saw Him, they worshiped Him.” Worship is the natural response to seeing the Risen Savior. When we truly see Him and grasp who He is and what He has done, it’s hard to do anything other than worship. So the question becomes, are we truly seeing Him? Are we too distracted by life’s demands, pressures, pleasures, or difficulties that we’ve stopped really looking at Him? Has our thinking about Him become skewed so that we’re seeing a distorted image of who He is? If worship seems challenging, it’s probably because we aren’t truly seeing Him. So how do we fix that? We go back to really looking for Him to truly see Him. He doesn’t make it difficult for us. We can start off in the gospel books reading them not for what we can get out of it, but reading them asking Him to show us who He is so we can see Him clearly. We don’t have to stop with just the four books of the gospel either, we can see Him clearly all throughout Scripture.

The disciples had seen Jesus. They worshipped Jesus. Then they listened to Him. The challenge that Jesus gave them in verses 19-20 is frequently referred to as the Great Commission because He was authorizing them to fulfill a specific task. We see that authorization in verse 18 when Jesus explains that He has all authority. Because the authority belongs to Him, He can authorize His disciples to carry out what He is about to ask.

Jesus asked the disciples to go and make disciples of all the nations. Standing on that mountain seeing land and nations as far as the eye could see probably just drove this point home. They were to go into all of these areas, and beyond, and make disciples. They had spent the last three years learning to be His disciples, and now they were to go and help others do the same. Jesus even gave them some specifics in how to accomplish this. They were to baptize them and teach them not just to know but to follow all that Jesus had taught them.

And then Jesus ended with this very important statement: “and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” This Great Commission that He had just given them probably seemed daunting in the moment. It would seem even more so in many ways in the days to come as they faced persecution and the daily pressures of leading this new movement that would come to be known as the Church. Knowing that Jesus was with them and would be with them always  would be so necessary for them to be able to stay focused on the mission He gave.

The same is true for us. This Great Commission wasn’t given just for the disciples on that mountain that day. It is something that all of us as disciples of Jesus have been called to do. If it was just for those disciples, then there would have been no more disciples within a generation or two of their deaths, but we know that was not the case because we are here today. We are followers of Christ, His disciples, because someone was faithful to listen and obey His command to go and make disciples and they taught us. If we say that we are following Him, then that means we are listening to Him and doing what He asks. He has asked us to make disciples. We have a purpose and calling. We each do this in different ways and reach different people, but it is a mission that we have all been given.

Just like the disciples on the mountain though, Jesus promises that He will always be with us. When we are struggling, when the challenge seems too daunting, remember to take time to truly see Him as you go and make disciples.​