Mission possible. Matthew 28.

One of my favorite TV shows as a kid was Mission Impossible (not to be compared to the movies of the same name). In the opening scene, the head of the Impossible Mission Force would find a tape recorder in some unusual location, and then listen to his mission while examining a packet of materials: "Good morning, Mr. Phelps. The man you are looking at is ... Your mission, should you choose to accept it... As always, should any of your IM Force be caught or killed... This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim."

"Here's your mission should you choose to accept it." Matthew 28 ends with Jesus' instructions to His disciples and to all disciples who follow. He gives them a mission, but one that's possible, although in some ways it must have seemed overwhelmingly impossible to them at the time -- make disciples of all the nations. Here's how Matthew related the event:

“So the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mountain Jesus had designated. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Then Jesus came up and said to them, '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 the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'” (Matthew 28:16-20 NET)

For the most part, in this blog I've tried to steer clear of the commonly expressed ideas in the passages we're reading -- the ones that you often hear preached on. Instead, I've tried to focus on small pieces, on application and devotion, or sometimes on explaining difficulties in the text of the day. Today, though, I think it's essential to concentrate on this mission given to the eleven, and to us, even if you've heard it before. And I don't have any profound thoughts to give you, just an encouragement to really pay attention to what Jesus said. (How's that for an encouragement to quit reading?)

Let's dispense with the language issues first. One classic way people have viewed this commission of Jesus is to focus on the verbs: go, make, baptize, and teach. That's not a bad way to look at what Jesus said, and certainly has devotional impact. It's just a little imprecise, and there's also impact in the precision of what Jesus said. First, the tense of "go" is better expressed in English as "having gone". That's not nearly as natural as the command we read in most translations, but look at the implication -- within Jesus' command to them and us, is an assumption that we will, that we have, that we are going. Paraphrasing, "once you've hit the road for Me, make disciples everywhere. And you will be hitting the road."

The second language issue is that the commission is about going out and making disciples. Baptizing and teaching are the ways in which we make disciples. Adding to my paraphrase above, the next sentence might read, "Here's how you make disciples. Call them to follow me, and have them express their commitment in baptism. Teach them what I taught you, not just for understanding, but for application to their lives in obedience." Implied in this, of course, is that the eleven disciples are also to obey. And we are to obey, too, because we're those disciples they were to "make".

Let's look at one more aspect of the language, and that is the idea contained in the word translated as "nations". The Greek word, ethnos, has already been defined as a word of the day (see the archive). It carries with it the idea of a distinct group of people, not necessarily a nation as we understand it today. The common description used today is "people group". This word also meant not-Israel, or put another way, all the Gentile nations. Thus contained in Jesus' commission of His disciples is the expressed understanding that His message of the kingdom of heaven, is for every people.

Remember a couple of chapters back, where we read that just before Jesus was crucified, He told a few parables describing what it meant to live in readiness for His return. One of those parables was about the servants who were given money to multiply for the master, as told in Matthew 25:14-30. The task given them, the amount of responsibility they received, was commensurate with their ability. The major point of this parable, like that of the faithful and wise slave told earlier, is that the way we wait in readiness for the Master's return is to apply our abilities fully to the responsibility He has given us. I'd like to suggest that the mission to make disciples is our primary responsibility while we wait in readiness. Each of us can and must apply our abilities, our gifts, our situation in life to this task.

There really is no greater calling for us. And we'll all contribute in different ways, and in varying degrees, just as Jesus taught in the parable. We are commanded to love God and love others, no doubt. But our assignment is to make disciples -- those who will likewise obey those commands to love God and love other, along with all the other commands Jesus gave us. And as we obey Him and His commands, we will also, no doubt, be more productive in the making of disciples. But our assignment remains -- make disciples through baptizing and teaching.

This commission is a topic rich beyond the scope of a blog entry to begin to cover. But here are a couple of thoughts. Before someone takes the step of baptism, they have to understand a number of items -- their need, the solution provided by Jesus, the commitment made in taking that step, and the invitation of God's Spirit. They may not understand this completely, but without some understanding the baptism is meaningless. So a part of making disciples, is to participate in that process, either directly or indirectly, of developing an understanding on the part of those who don't yet follow Jesus. Supporting missionaries, for example, allows the kingdom message to literally go out to all the people groups. More directly, we have an impact on those within our sphere of influence, by how we live, what we say, and in directly sharing our relationship with Jesus.

Once someone has decided to follow Jesus (though it probably begins before then), we can participate in the teaching them the commands of Jesus, and their need to obey them. Again, we may play various roles in this process of becoming mature followers of Jesus.

Regardless of our specific role, we each have a role to play, and it's incumbent on us to take that responsibility seriously. Likewise we are also in the role of the learner and obeyer, so that we also become mature disciples. And as we do, then we'll have the joy of taking on additional responsibilities for Him.

One final thought. We're not on our own. "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Thank God for that.


This is our mission possible, and we choose to accept it.