MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS

Matthew 28:16-20
Key Verse: 28:19
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

In this passage, Jesus gives his disciples their last command, to make disciples of all nations. Jesus’ last command is what he most wants us to do. I pray that through this passage, God would renew our hearts to accept Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations.

Look at verses 16 and 17. ‘Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.’’ We begin this passage in Galilee with the disciples seeing the risen Jesus again. They worshipped Jesus, accepting him as God, the true object of their worship. But even though they could see the risen Jesus some doubted. This reminds us that the disciples were ordinary, weak men like us and reassures us that in spite of this Jesus still has great hope for us as he did for his disciples.

In verse 18 Jesus declared; “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” By dying on the cross and rising again Jesus defeated the power of death crushing the head of the devil, and taking the highest position in the universe. Jesus has forgiven our sins, given us eternal life and made us children of God so like the disciples we need to recognise Jesus as God and live our lives to serve, love, and obey him.

What was Jesus’ last command? Look at verses 19, 20a. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising 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.” Jesus commands us “make disciples of all nations”. In order to make disciples of all nations, the disciples had to go, baptise people, and teach them Jesus’ words. Let us think about the meaning of this command.

First, “therefore go”. The disciples were weak but Jesus commanded them, “go!” Jesus would guide them, help them and work through them. All they had to do was obey Jesus, and simply go. They were ordinary young men but they would become Jesus’ ambassadors. We are Jesus’ ambassadors called to university ministry so Jesus commands us to go to the campuses and preach the word of God to students. UCL in London is one of the world’s top 10 universities. With intelligent, successful students like these we can fear rejection or feel inadequate. Though we may be rejected, we need to go, in obedience to Jesus’ command until we find the one man or woman who God is sending us to. Sometimes when I go to UCL there is no one to talk to, other times I have great conversations with students and one day when I spoke to a student he told me he was looking for a Bible teacher. God heard my prayer for UCL students and we have been studying the Bible for two years.

Second, Jesus commanded them to go and “make disciples of all nations”. A disciple is a learner, to be a disciple of Jesus means to obey him and become like him, growing in humility, love, and patience. Jesus spent three years with the disciples teaching them the word of God and, more importantly, teaching them his life, then he sent them to preach. In order to make disciples we must first become good disciples of Jesus. This means that we need to keep on growing in the word of God. We need to spend time ourselves; reading and studying the Bible, praying and learning from Jesus how to be more like him. As disciples we must humbly return to Jesus each day so that we never forget the grace we have received from him. When we live as disciples ourselves then Jesus can use us to make disciples.

We should be very clear about what Jesus is commanding us to do. Jesus says make disciples. We know that nothing is made without effort. For example in my work it takes 7 years to teach a student until they are ready to leave school and go to university. Making disciples requires work and it requires time because it is the most valuable thing we can do with our lives. This is God’s strategy to save the whole world. We need to ask ourselves if we really believe this and if we really accept this in our hearts. Jesus is not calling us to make converts, he is not calling us just to live as good people, instead Jesus is calling us to work hard to make disciples.

Jesus took twelve very ordinary men and made them into disciples by teaching them the Bible and living with them. As Bible teachers we need to serve our Bible students in the same way as Jesus. Living with our Bible students means, spending time with them, eating with them, cooking for them, watching films or playing football together, even if we don’t like football. Like Jesus we need to get to know our disciples and through us our disciples need to get to know Jesus.

For the past year we have lived with one of my Bible students, Simon. I know how I want to serve Simon, but I have to deny myself to do the things he wants to do. I have to deny my introverted character and talk to him to get to know him. Humanly I am weak but when I root myself in him Jesus gives me the heart and the power to serve Simon and make him into a disciple.

God wants to save all people on earth by making disciples. This seems very slow and unproductive but it is God’s wisdom. Even though we may not see the fruit of our disciple making immediately, we must not despair. We must believe in the principle of disciple making. Our disciple making ministry carries enormous power and if we obey Jesus’ command to make disciples we will be used to change the history of Europe and the world.

Third, “baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” We must teach the gospel until Bible students accept Jesus as their personal Saviour. We must also help our Bible students to obey God’s word. To do this we must first obey God’s word ourselves; a good Bible teacher must first become a good student. We must teach students everything Jesus commanded, not just the good news of the forgiveness of sin and eternal life but also the cross, self denial, and God’s punishment.

Look at verse 20b. “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus was sending his disciples out to make disciples but promised he would be with them. The disciples obeyed Jesus’ last command until they died and Jesus protected them and worked mightily through them. We may feel that making disciples in this generation is too tough but like the disciples we have Jesus’ great assurance; ‘I am with you always.’ When we obey Jesus’ world mission command we are under God’s care. When we obey Jesus’ command we are very precious because God can use us to save the world from sin therefore he will protect us.

When I was growing up I tried to change the world through politics, charity work and environmentalism but nothing seemed to change. Then I met Jesus and I realised that the world’s problem is sin and the only solution is Jesus. Being a Bible teacher is the greatest thing I can do with my life. It is hard work and at times I am discouraged by rejection and how slowly people change. But through this passage Jesus reminds me what an enormous privilege it is to be called and used to make disciples. Therefore I pray that God would forgive my half-heartedness and spiritual complacency and give me his heart to make disciples of Jesus among the students of Europe.

Jesus died and rose again to save us from our most fundamental problem, sin and death. Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords calls us to make disciples in all European nations and save our continent from the power of sin and death. Making disciples is difficult but it is the most valuable thing we can do with our lives. Jesus who has all authority in heaven and on earth commands us, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”