How many commands are in the Great Commission? What does it look like to be obedient to the Great Commission? If this is the guiding principle of our lives, how well should we know it?
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
How Many Commands Are in the Great Commission?
When teaching grammar, I taught a quick cheat for determining if a sentence is a command. We look at the sentence and ask “is there a stated subject?” and if there isn’t, it’s usually a command. When we look at the Great Commission, the subject is “you”, but we don’t see it there. In this passage there is one main command, with three supporting clauses.
Make Disciples: The Main Command of the Great Commission
The overarching commission is for you to make disciples. Are you actively teaching others how to follow the precepts of Jesus? Often we are looking for someone more qualified than we are. A more adultier adult to bring the gospel out. But when we go back to the text we can see this beautiful detail:
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Matthew 28:16-17
In obedience the disciples went up to Jesus. They saw him. They worshiped him. Yet we see that there’s not full confidence. I don’t know where their doubts lie, but I know where mine do. “You want to use me? Is there no one else?” God used eleven ordinary men. When we obediently come to him, we can be used. When we hold our doubts out as a disqualifier for obedience, what we really are saying is “I don’t trust you”. Doubt on its own isn’t bad, but it can hinder us from the commission.
Our doubts can become our idols when we use them to not obey. Jesus commissioned ordinary men, some with doubts, no different than you and me. How do we overcome this idol? By truly believing he is always with us. It is Jesus’ goal that there be disciples in all nations; he is promising to go with us as we go out.
3 Supporting Actions of the Great Commission
Our first clause is “Go”. The word “go” is grammatically tied to “make disciples”, in the same way as when I tell my kids “Go and clean your room”. The main action isn’t the “going” but it is tied to the task at hand. I want the room cleaned, that is the main task, but they must “go” to get it done. The main thing for us to do is “make disciples” but it cannot be accomplished without us going. Just as my kids cannot clean their room without going to their room, we cannot make disciples without going to where there are people. Are we willing to be sent out? Is my “go” limited to a “local only” status? Would I be willing to go to the nations?
The second of the supporting clauses is baptizing those new disciples. It hangs onto the main clause: there’s no one to baptize if you don’t go and “make”. Going back to the Greek here we find my favorite note in the Blue Letter Bible, I’ll link it here. There is a note in the usage that contains a reference to a pickle recipe. Yes, a pickle recipe. There are two Greek words that are very similar, and to explain the difference a pickle recipe was needed. The first word is used when the soon to be pickles are dipped into boiling water to clean them off. The second word is what is found in the command here, and it refers to when the soon to be pickles are left in the vinegar solution. Our identity needs to change when we are baptized. We go from being under the weight of the kingdom of the world, to being under the commission of he who has all authority.
The last clause we see here is very specific. It’s not just “teaching”, or just “teaching them to obey”, but to teach them to obey all of Jesus’ commands. We cannot obey what we don’t know, and we can’t teach others to obey what we refuse to do ourselves. We are teaching them not just blind obedience, but how to live under the Lordship of Christ. This is key to the life-change we see in baptizing.
How Can We Obey the Great Commission Today?
Jesus is offering us a chance to join him in changing the world. We obey the commands in the Great Commission by making disciples: going, baptizing, and teaching others to obey everything Jesus commanded. We are changed as we walk with him, and we get to bring the nations with us. As long as we are on this side of heaven, we are to make disciples who make disciples. That’s how the gospel goes to all nations; on the obedience of you and me. So are you ready to obey? Who can you impact today with discipleship? What doubts are holding you back?
This article was inspired by the conversation started here.
