The Disciple’s Marching Orders: The Great Commission Part 2 Series

Opening Illustration: The Missed Opportunity in Mongolian History:

A 13-year-old Mongolian inherited land from his father. Through great strategy and awesome fighting ability, he formed fighting bands that conquered village after village. Eventually he became known as Genghis Khan and ruled over 2 million people. His empire stretched from China to India and from Siberia to the edges of Western Europe. Meanwhile in Western Europe a great revival was occurring under the preaching of men like St. Francis of Assisi. At his death, the bulk of Khan’s empire went to his grandson, Kublai Khan in 1260.

He had 2 Italians in his court named Polo (the father and uncle of Marco) that told him of Christ. Kublai was very interested and he sent them back to Europe with a request to bring 100 missionaries saying, "When we learn about Christianity, there will be more Christians in my empire than in all Europe." The Polo’s returned to Europe to enlist men willing to share the gospel. They begged and pleaded but only 2 friars and Marco would follow them back to the Orient. So these 5 men began their long journey but the 2 friars turned back. When the 3 men arrived in Kublai’s realm, Kublai asked "Where are the missionaries?"

No one came. No one cared enough. Despite the great revival going on in Europe no one was willing to serve the Lord. Oh eventually, the church did send a small handful of missionaries but by then it was too late. Can you imagine what the largest communist nation today would be like if it were the largest Christian nation? [1]

This is but one example for what happens when the Great Commission goes unfulfilled. Today we will continue to explore the command of Jesus to every disciple.

Matthew 28:18–20

Prior to the death of Jesus, the disciple were limited to reach out to the Jews only

Matthew 10:5–6 These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; 6 but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

But Jesus did let them know that restriction was not to stay in place:

Matthew 24:14 This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Jesus has heart for the nations - He went to the foreigners that were in the land, to the Roman centurion and healed his servant (Matt 8:5ff), to the Samaritan woman by the well (John 4:7ff), and to the Canaanite woman and healed her daughter (Matt 15:22ff).

In the Old Testament it was foretold that the gospel would be for all the world.

Isaiah 49:6b I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

And so it is, with all power and authority, he commands the church:

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

We elaborated on this last week. Jesus possesses all power and all authority and with that he commissions the church to do what was intended for them to do from the very beginning.

Matthew 28:19–20a Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you …

The central command in this passage, the main verb in the Greek is “make disciples” and is supported by three participles; to go; to baptize; and to teach.

We often take the “Go” as the command. In verse 19, the “go” in the Greek is in passive aorist tense – meaning it assumes an action that has taken place (having gone)

and as a participle, it can function as an imperative meaning a command. So it would seem Jesus already assumed that the disciples have left or are in the process of leaving. This leads me to believe the notion “to go” is an assumed given fact. To the disciples, there was no question about going. Jesus had already sent them out at least once before (Matt 10), so in this commissioning, the going is expected. It could be almost translated like this: “as you are going” or “when you have gone.”

My question, therefore, ought to be, “Why have I not already gone?” This also begs the question, “To go where?

We are to go – because the lost will not come to us.

We are to go – with purpose, determination and power.

We are to go to our neighbor next door and across the street.

We are to go to our place of work.