The Great Commission

What has traditionally been labeled “the Great Commission” is by no means limited to the final chapters of the Synoptic Gospels. The entire biblical revelation portrays our Creator as an outgoing, missionary God relentlessly seeking, sending, and demonstrating the deepest love for fallen humanity. Ultimately “Christ Jesus,” having been sent,¹ “came into the world to save sinners …” (1 Timothy 1:15, NKJV). His work on earth is characterized by the diligent pursuit of lost souls, with the same passion inherited by His faithful followers (Mark 1:17, 38; 16:15). As Christ’s mission unfolds chronologically in the biblical record, a four-stage development of the great commission emerges.

STAGE ONE: SEE THE NEED

Having initiated His ministry in the predominantly Jewish territories of Galilee and Judea, the Lord journeyed through the otherwise shunned region of Samaria (John 1:43–4:5). After a religious conversation with a sinful woman near the city of Sychar, He stressed to the apostles the importance of doing the Father’s work without delay. With a crowd of Samaritans approaching, He then declared, “Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35b). Seeing people through the eyes of Jesus is to be ever mindful of their paramount spiritual needs and the evangelistic opportunities afforded.

STAGE TWO: PRAY

The following year, while Jesus was teaching and healing in Galilee, He was moved with compassion for the multitudes, “because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:35-36). This prompted Him to say to the twelve, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (vv. 37-38). Being aware of the destitute human condition ought to generate Christ-like compassion that drives us to our knees. A Christian’s prayers are not limited to petitions for self and immediate loved ones, but for “all men …. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

STAGE THREE: TAKE ACTION

Back in Judea the Lord gathered about thirty-five pairs of disciples and repeated what He had said the previous year to the twelve: “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Luke 10:2). While the directive is essentially the same, on this occasion the very next word from His lips was “Go” (v. 3). Prayer is surely effective, and God hears and answers the calls of the righteous (James 5:16; 1 Peter 3:12). Nevertheless, the Lord of the harvest often responds providentially through the agency of His righteous laborers (Matthew 25:34-40; 1 Corinthians 3:5-7). Our prayers for souls are most effective when put into action.

STAGE FOUR: UNDERSTAND WHAT WE ARE COMMISSIONED TO DO

Following His death, burial, and resurrection, on at least four occasions in the biblical narrative Jesus outlined what is expected of His disciples.

The Mandate

In Jerusalem, on the evening of the resurrection day, Jesus said to His soon-to-be emissaries, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). The Lord has never asked His people to do anything He was not first willing to do Himself. Followers of Christ are sent to do what Christ Himself was sent to do: proclaim God’s kingdom, call sinners to repentance, seek and save the lost (Luke 4:43; 5:32; 19:10).

The Method

Later, on a mountain in Galilee, “Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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, 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’” (Matthew 28:18-20). The word translated “Go” in the English text is an aorist participle in the Greek text, better rendered, “Having gone ...” Rather than giving a command to “go” (which is the implied imperative of John 20:21), here Jesus assumed His disciples would already be on their way. As they are going, therefore, they are to “make disciples” by the twofold process of “baptizing” and “teaching.” One cannot be a disciple of Jesus without baptism (Acts 2:37-38; 8:12, 36-39; 22:16; et al.), and one cannot be a disciple of Jesus without having been sufficiently taught (Luke 14:25-33; Acts 2:40; 8:12; et al.). This is not only the process but the inherent duty of discipleship.

The Means

Back in Jerusalem, as the eleven sat at a table, the Lord reminded them of what is to be announced to “all the world.” The universal message of the gospel (“good news”), founded on Christ’s death and resurrection, engenders faith, repentance, and baptism for the forgiveness of sins unto salvation (Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:45-48). The power is not in the natural abilities of the proclaimers but in the divine message itself that is proclaimed (Romans 1:15-17; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; 2 Corinthians 4:7).

The Model

On the Mount of Olives prior to Christ’s ascension, the apostles were instructed to remain in Jerusalem to receive the Father’s promise (Acts 1:4), “and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (v. 8b). As they devoted themselves “continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (6:4), the rest of the book of Acts records the next thirty-two years of the great commission being carried out in Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, and beyond. The testimony of Christ begins where His people already are, then branches outward: locally, surrounding environs, neighboring regions, and across the globe.

CONCLUSION

By the time the historical record of Acts closes, Christ’s testimony had been diffused “in all the world” (Colossians 1:5-6, 23). Whether this is to be taken literally or hyperbolically, the extent of the gospel’s proclamation appears to have been much greater than what is specifically documented in the New Testament. The incredibly widespread dispersion of the Christian movement in just a few decades cannot be denied. Almighty God, through our first-century brethren, accomplished this extraordinary feat without the modern conveniences of air travel, motorized vehicles, advanced health care, or mass media.

We serve the same Lord, preach the same message, and have the necessary resources to get the job done. All we need is a brotherhood viewing the world through the compassionate eyes of Jesus, praying fervently, and taking action according to the mandate, the method, the means, and the model He has provided.² Instead of complaining about all that is wrong with the church, why not present ourselves as willing instruments in God’s capable hands and experience first-hand all that is right with the church?

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ Matthew 10:40; 15:24; 21:37; Mark 9:37; 12:6; Luke 4:18, 43; 9:48; 10:16; John 3:16, 33-34; 5:23, 24, 30, 36-38; 6:29, 38-40, 44, 57; 7:16, 18, 28, 29, 33; 8:16, 18, 26, 29, 42; 9:4; 10:36; 11:42; 12:44, 49; 13:20; 14:24; 15:21; 16:5; 17:3, 8, 18, 21, 23, 25; 20:21; Romans 8:3; Galatians 4:4; 1 John 4:10, 14.

     ² After delivering a series of lectures in Nashville, Tennessee in September 1910, urging churches to seek out, send, and support missionaries, J. M. McCaleb wrote, “The chief end of the church on earth is to impart the knowledge of life to a perishing world…. The conquest of the world for Christ is a cause of sufficient magnitude and grandeur to engage the activities of the greatest minds” (Christ the Light of the World [Nashville, TN: McQuiddy, 1911] v).

*This article was originally written for the Gospel Advocate not long before the magazine ceased publication.

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