Go and make disciples
Jesus' final marching orders — and why they're addressed to ordinary followers, not professionals.
The episode in a glance.
- 01Spoken to a small group of doubting, ordinary disciples — not to clergy.
- 02The main verb is 'make disciples' — the 'go' is a participle: as you go.
- 03Baptizing and teaching are how disciples are formed, not separate ministries.
- 04The mission is global ('all nations') and is bracketed by Jesus' presence ('I am with you always').
Read along.
Matthew 28:19-20 is what we call the Great Commission. Jesus, just resurrected, gives his final instructions: '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.'
Look at who he's saying it to. Eleven men. Some of them, the text just told us, were still doubting. Not seasoned professionals. Just the people who had been with him.
In the Greek, 'go' is actually a participle. The main verb is 'make disciples.' A better feel: 'as you go, make disciples.' It's not just a one-time missionary trip. It's a way of life on the way to everywhere else.
And 'disciple' doesn't mean convert. A disciple is a learner who's becoming like the teacher. So the mission isn't to get people to agree to a statement. It's to walk with them as they're being shaped into Jesus' likeness.
Baptizing and teaching are the two arms of that. Baptism marks the start. Teaching keeps shaping. Both, in his name, under his authority.
And the whole thing ends with a promise: 'I am with you always, to the end of the age.' The mission is huge. The promise is bigger. The one who sent you is also the one who's never not with you.