Make Disciples 1

Matthew 28:18-20

As I was helping to coach someone learning to preach, I challenged him to think about what he would say to the people in the church if he knew that he would never see them again. If you knew that you only had one opportunity to share some encouragement and guidance with someone you would likely choose your words very carefully. Whatever you said would be the most important thing you could think of.

The first Gospel ends with what has been called the Great Commission. It is the final instructions from Jesus, the commissioning – granting of authority – of the disciples. What are they to do? What assurance is given?

These words from Jesus are more than just a farewell to those people he knew who had been so loyal to him. It was one of the last opportunities Jesus had to give instruction to his followers, so we can assume these words carried some weight. We also see that what Jesus said granted the authority for the work to be done. God had given it to Jesus. Jesus was passing that authority on to the disciples.

What was it that the disciples were to do? They were to go out into the world and make disciples. They were to baptize them.

And it is important to know that a disciple is more than just a follower. A disciple is a learner, someone who gains knowledge from the one who makes the disciple. So it makes sense that Jesus would continue in his commissioning by saying that these disciples should be taught to obey everything Jesus had taught.

This commission goes beyond the disciples. We also are to do the work that Christ has commissioned. We should teach others to obey what Jesus has instructed. We should baptize new believers so that they will know they have been saved by Christ and brought into this journey of faith.

And like the disciples we can all take comfort in knowing that Jesus is with us in all that we do. As we grow in our faith and as we help others learn about faith, the Spirit of Christ is with us to continue that guidance and surround us with love.

DAILY CHALLENGE: Can you disciple someone in the teachings of Jesus?