The Great Commission

Introduction

The Great Commission is the parting command of the risen Lord Jesus to his disciples on a mountain in Galilee. It is the marching order of the whole household of the Faith from that day until his return. Every Christian family shares in it.

Matthew 28:18-20 KJV

Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV):

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

The four parts

• All power is given unto me — the commission rests on the authority of the risen Christ, not on our strength.
• Go ye therefore — the “therefore” matters: because he has all power, we go.
• Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost — the mission is Trinitarian; the sacrament is baptism; the audience is every nation.
• Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you — discipleship is teaching obedience, not just decision.
• Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world — the promise that carries the command. The Christian is never sent alone.

Parallel accounts

• Mark 16:15 (KJV) — “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
• Luke 24:47 (KJV) — “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
• John 20:21 (KJV) — “as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”
• Acts 1:8 (KJV) — “ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Household mission

The Great Commission is not only for missionaries in far places. Every Christian household is a mission station. The command begins with the children in the home, the neighbours across the fence, and the strangers the Lord sends across the household’s path.

To disciple is to teach obedience over time. It cannot be done in a day. The household is where discipleship begins — and where it has the most patient time in which to work.

Reflection

Two words in the KJV of Matthew 28 anchor everything: therefore and alway. Because Christ has all power, therefore we go. Because he is with us alway, we do not go alone. The commission is a command and a promise in one breath.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thou hast all power in heaven and in earth. Send our household as thy witnesses — to the child in this house, to the neighbour at this door, to whomever thou callest. Teach us to observe all things whatsoever thou hast commanded. And be with us alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Christian tradition

• The Great Commission is the foundation of every Christian missionary movement in history.
• Read at every ordination and commissioning in most Christian traditions.
• Anchor text of the modern missionary movement (William Carey, 1792).
• The Trinitarian baptismal formula (v. 19) is the words used at every Christian baptism.

Related Atlas links

• Christ Jesus
• Matthew — the gospel
• Acts 2 — Pentecost, the Spirit’s empowering
• Paul — the apostle to the Gentiles
• Jerusalem — where the witness began

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Family (Kitchen Table) — the first mission field is the family.
• Kids (Kids Kingdom) — discipling the children is part of the Commission.
• Read — Matthew — read Matthew 28 as the household’s Easter reading.
• Support (Mission Room) — the household’s posture to the mission.
• Learn (Workshop) — teach obedience over years, not weeks.

Further reading

Matthew 28:16-20 (KJV) — the full passage.

Acts 1:1-11 (KJV) — the ascension and the promise of the Spirit.

Romans 10:8-17 (KJV) — how shall they hear without a preacher?

William Carey, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens (1792).

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Christ Jesus
• Matthew
• Acts 2
• Paul
• Jerusalem
• Formation cluster peers:
  • The Lord’s Prayer
  • The Ten Commandments
  • The Beatitudes
  • The Whole Armour of God
  • The Fruit of the Spirit
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas’s main room.