And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
If I may try to give a proper interpretation of this passage, I would start out with four key journalistic questions: Who is saying What to Whom and When. The answers and the implications to them are mind boggling and overwhelming to state the least. It is the resurrected Lord Jesus speaking to His eleven disciples on the Easter Sunday. And He says all authority in all corner of the universe is given to Him, therefore go make disciples of all nations and etc.. To state this another way: Jesus says that He has been made King of the universe therefore go make proclamation of this good news to all nations so that they become subjects of His kingdom. There are two important points for us to note here. Firstly, the proclamation of the kingship of Christ in the light of His resurrection and His finished work on the cross on the previous Friday is the good news of freedom from the slavery of sin and Satan, liberation from injustice and from the tyrannical rule of earthlings (Isaiah 61, Luke 4:21). The second point to note here is that Risen Christ has been enthroned as King but His kingdom has not been fully realized as the task of populating this kingdom with people from all nations has not been completed. This was the task that was originally given to the eleven disciples by their resurrected Lord. And it is the Great commission by the Lord Jesus Christ to His church today! So there is now an already but not yet aspect to this kingdom.
The nature of the proclamation of the gospel which is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes (Rom.1:16,17), is not borne out of duty or obligation. It is a dynamic borne out of the experience of the grace and mercy from the ultimate Good Samaritan which knocks off all of our preconceived notions of being good and civilized people. It is a holistic proclamation with word and deed as we see in the story of the Good Samaritan which utterly demands our all to serve out of compassion to those we would normally consider undeserving (Luke 10:25-37). The disciples of Jesus have been called to function as ambassadors of Christ to bring an authoritative pronouncement from the King. People of the nations live distorted lives believing the Satan’s lie that living under the rule of God is tyrannical (Gen.3). When we reject God’s rule and live under Human rule, our lives become distorted by oppression and corruption whether it be in the household, marketplace or nation. The goal of this mission is to make disciples of all nations that is to make them become subjects of the King of the universe. The call is to pay allegiance to Christ as Lord and King (Rom.10:9) as opposed to paying allegiance to Human rulers. We do this by gently imploring people to repent and turn to Christ (Psalm 2) as there will be judgment at the glorious return of God’s anointed King but the judgment has fallen on the King Himself at the cross in his humble first coming. To pay allegiance to Christ is to heed to His call to take up the cross and follow Him (Matt.16:24). This alone would bring the reality of freedom, life and peace to the people of the nations and it is the definition of becoming disciples of Christ.
How are we then qualified to take up this mission and let alone have the power to accomplish it. The answer is in the text it self – the resurrected Christ, the King and the Lord of heaven and earth says.. behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Tim Chester, an author and leader in the Crowded House, an international church planting movement, says in one of his articles, “the pattern of New Testament discipleship is the pattern of suffering followed by glory reflecting the pattern of the cross and resurrection.” The temptation to short circuit the order in this pattern is strongly prevalent in the church today just as much it was in the early lives of the original disciples of Christ - Peter, James and John (Matt.16:22, Mark 10:35-45). Chester further elaborates Martin Luther’s idea of the theology of the cross contrasts with the theologies of glory:
The theology of the cross is the opposite of theologies of glory.
Theologies of glory are those which seek to understand God primarily on
the basis of human reason, creation, spiritual experience or miracles. Any
notions about God we might come to in this way are destroyed by the
revelation of God in the cross. By choosing to be known indirectly through
the cross, God hides himself from the arrogant. To recognize God in the
absence of God; to recognize victory in defeat; to recognize glory in shame
requires faith. It creates an epistemology of sovereign grace so that no-one
may boast before him; in which the foolish and weak shame the wise and
strong (1 Corinthians 1:18-31).[1]
We experience the resurrection power of the risen Lord standing amidst us so that we might live the life of the cross. ‘It is the power to be weak’ (2 Cor.4:7-12, Phil.3:10-11). Second, resurrection gives us hope while enduring the life of the cross (1 Cor.15:30-32). Resurrection hope makes strong missions and strong discipleship. The outcome of this subversive movement of God are communities of light multiplying and expanding as disciples of our risen Lord Jesus Christ until God may be all in all (1Cor.15:28).
[1] Tim Chester, The Kingdom of God is at Hand: Eschatology and Missions. http://ntinstitute.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/ntipapers05.pdf
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