Mark Sorensen Matthew 28:16-20:
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. 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.”
It was one of the earliest verses I had ever put to memory. I was ten years old and attending a small Baptist church’s Vacation Bible School. The Sunday School teacher put various scripture verses on tiny strips of paper and put them all over a table with the following instruction: “Class, find a Bible verse, memorize it and then you will recite this for our closing assembly in front of your parents and friends”. It seemed like no sooner than she had gotten those words out, my fellow VBS peers were grabbing for the shortest verses they could find. I started to scramble myself! John 3:16? Gone. “Jesus Wept”? Not available. Then, my eyes caught what appeared to be a paragraph-sized verse sitting on the table and it hit me: “If I took that one and was able to memorize it, I would be the KING of memorization and everyone would be impressed. So, I grabbed it and began to put the words of the Great Commission to memory, Matthew 28:19, 20.
The closing assembly came and I was ready. I had rehearsed that verse at least a hundred times in front of the mirror. As I approached the pulpit that night, I stepped on a small stool and stood looking at my parents, brothers, friends and all that had gathered. I cleared my throat, looked up and said the following: “My memory verse I will be reciting comes from Matthew’s gospel, chapter 28: verses 19 and 20 (Ok. The preacher had helped me put that part together). It says, ‘Go…’” Then it happened. I froze. Seriously. Everything that existed in my ten year old brain leaked out my ears and ran out the back exit doors of the church. I panicked. I scrambled trying to remember the rest of it. But, no matter how hard I tried, all I could remember was the word, “Go”. So, when it doubt, repeat what you know, but say it with a different inflection each time. “Go… Go... G-O…” That’s it. All I could say was “Go”. Then, with all the passion I could muster, I did the following: I said, “Amen” and then I sat down. Now. Before you start to feel sorry for me, all was well. I wasn’t too broken apart by my failed attempt to impress those with my Bible verse memorization. After all, I did nail that first word. But something did happen to me during that week that has stuck with me ever since. I committed to memory the Great Commission and it’s forever stuck in King James format in my mind. Those few verses that you find at the end of Matthew’s gospel will always be some of my favorites and the Great Commission will always be a passage that I claim as a life mission for me in ministry.
In its original Greek form, the word disciple means, “To be a disciple of one; to follow his precepts or instructions”. So, as Jesus was telling His disciples to Go, there was purpose in the action of going and that was found in the concept of making disciples. Now. When the disciples were out making other disciples, it’s important to note that they were not making disciples of themselves. Peter was not making disciples of Peter, James was not making disciples of James, John was not making disciples of John, etc. They were making disciples of Jesus.
The truth? The mission to make disciples of all nations holds just as urgent a calling today as it did to those disciples that Jesus had commanded two thousand years ago. It’s a pretty staggering thought, really. Two thousand years ago, a group of disciples so urgently obeyed the command of Christ, that it spread from generation to generation and literally all around the world reaching to where you are reading this today. And here’s the kicker. It doesn’t stop with our generation. It can’t stop with our generation. We must be bold in our witness, passionate in our calling and obedient to the Gospel message, which we each tell through the story of our lives.
So may you “Go” with purpose and intentionality to tell the good news of Jesus and, in doing so, be obedient to the calling of making true disciples of Jesus Christ.
