Make Disciples Of All Nations Series

To fulfill our supreme mission, there must be: 1) AVAILABILITY: Matthew 28:16, 2) WORSHIP: Matthew 28:17-18 and third:

3) SUBMISSION: The mandate: MATTHEW 28:18B

Matthew [18]b (And Jesus came and said to them), "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (ESV)

We saw the events on:

A. The mountain (28:16): B. The mixed reaction (28:17): Some worship him, while others still doubt. And in this final section, C. The mandate (28:18–20)

The third element for effective fulfillment of the church’s mission is another attitude, the implied attitude of submission. The focus of Jesus’ declaration here is on His sovereign lordship, but in context it also clearly relates to the believers response to His rule.

Before the Lord states the Great Commission, He establishes His divine authority to command it. It is because of His sovereign power that His followers are to have the attitude of complete, humble submission to His will.

Exousia (authority) refers to the freedom and right to speak and act as one pleases. In relation to God, that freedom and right are absolute and are only limited based on His character. The all is both reinforced and delineated by the phrase in heaven and on earth. Sovereign authority given to Jesus by His heavenly Father (see Matt. 11:27; John 3:35).

During His earthly ministry, Jesus demonstrated His authority over disease and sickness (Matt. 4:23; 9:35), over demons (4:24; 8:32; 12:22), over sin (9:6), and over death (Mark 5:41–42; John 11:43–44). Jesus has authority to bring all men before the tribunal of God and to condemn them to eternal death or bring them to eternal life (John 5:27–29; 17:2). He had the authority to lay down His own life and to take it up again (John 10:18). He has the sovereign authority to rule both heaven and earth and to subjugate Satan and his demons to eternal torment in the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20; 20:10). Jesus’ sovereign authority was given to Him by His Father, who “has given all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22), “made Him both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36), and “bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10]so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11]and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11).

Then, finally, in an act of adoring love and submission,

1 Corinthians 15:28 [28]When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. (ESV)

Before giving the commission, Jesus first established His absolute, pervasive authority, because otherwise the command would have seemed hopelessly impossible for the disciples to fulfill, and they might have ignored it. Were it not for knowing they had the Lord’s sovereign demand as well as His resources to guide and empower them, those five hundred nondescript, powerless disciples would have been totally overwhelmed by the inconceivable task of making disciples for their Lord from among every nation on earth.