Often known as the Great Commission the final orders that Jesus gives to His disciples in Matthew 28:19-20 say, “ 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” These final instructions are not just for those original 12 disciples but contain instructions to all those that follow Christ and a promise that is made to those who follow Christ.
What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ? In Luke 9:23-34, Jesus says, “23 …., “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” Literally to come after Christ is to become His disciple and follow His instructions and examples. Paul writes in Romans 10, “14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?[c] And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” To be a disciple we must deny our selfish desires and we must proclaim the good news of Christ to all we are able.
We are not alone. This is Jesus’ promise in the “Great Commission,” that He is always with us even until the end. We go forth to share the love of Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us. We don’t just stop with being a disciple and sharing the love of Jesus, we also make disciples of others. This doesn’t mean a quick prayer somewhere and then we send the person off to let God do His work. We are the hands and feet of God and He uses us to accomplish His will in all things. As disciples, we create disciples of others by building relationships and continuing to share what we have learned and what God has revealed to us. I love the outlook of Kings Castle ministries in El Salvador. They send teams out every week to ministers to 10’s of thousands of kids every year in partnership with the local churches. Then the following year they resend teams right back to that same area again. The local church keeps contact and works to grow the harvest during the year and every year teams are sent back again to help plant more seeds.
Jesus said in Matthew 9, “37 … “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” He has called you and saved you, now what will you do for Him? This is our purpose while we are here on earth, “to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” (Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 1) This is something we should want to shout from the rooftops to all that will hear!
