So, what did Jesus do after rising from the dead and before ascending to Heaven? We have been looking at the biblical texts that describe the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus—on the road to Emmaus, in the upper room, with a forgiven Peter and a doubting Thomas and eating fish by Galilee. This week we look at one of the more familiar texts, the Great Commission: our being sent forth into the world with the Gospel (Matt 28:16-20).
This is such a meaningful text in part because it rings as an acute summary of the biblical picture of a global God, a God who is fully invested in His people, and yet equally committed to the spread of salvation throughout the entire world.
The Father in the Old Testament is a global God. Many have noted that the Old Testament does not begin with Abraham, the father of the Israelites, but with Adam, the father of all mankind. An oft-repeated phrase in the Old Testament is “so that the whole world may know that I am God.” Even God’s call of Abraham to be His special instrument was so that through him “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). The image of the nations flowing toward Jerusalem (see Isaiah 2, Micah 4, etc.) is a powerful one.
The Son in the New Testament is a global God. Some of Jesus’ most powerful miracles and teachings happened outside of the Jewish people—the healed demoniac (Mark 5), the Roman centurion’s servant (Matthew 8), even the Canaanite woman’s daughter (Matthew 15). As Jesus was sent into the world, so He sent His disciples (John 17). “For God so loved the world…” (John 3:16).
The Spirit in the Church Age is a global God. Central to the sending of the Spirit upon the disciples was Jesus’ command, to be “my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Two-thirds and more of the book of Acts follows Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, as he travels throughout the Roman world sharing the Gospel, eventually ending up at the “center” or “ends” of the world, in Rome itself. And to the Romans, Paul reminds them, “How can they believe unless someone preaches, and unless someone is sent” (Romans 10).
God’s Kingdom is a Global Kingdom. Of course, the global character of our God could not be fully described without Revelation’s picture of heavenly worship: “a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb… crying out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Revelation 7:9-10).
A quote from my favorite theologian: “We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God.” – J.R.W. Stott. So true.
As you prepare for worship this week, read Matthew 28:16-20.
- Verse 17 includes both worship and doubting. Is it possible for both to function at the same time? What would that look like? Are these two separate people groups, or something happening within the same person?
- How does Jesus’ words in verse 18 shape the rest of His command? What does His having authority have to do with the great commission?
- What are the key actions described/commanded by Jesus here? What does each entail? How can someone at Hebron actually fulfill each of these?
- “In the name of…” means what? What does it mean to do something in someone’s name? Whose name are we to act on here?
- How does the end of verse 20 shape the entire passage? Like question 2 above, how are we to understand our commissioning and Jesus’ presence?
By Henry Knapp