Hold on tight…we’re about to swim deep into the ocean of complex splendor as we explore God’s Word; and the implications are most assuredly worth the pursuit!
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
The Great Commission – Please explain…
What comes to mind when you hear the phrase the “the Great Commission“? For some people who didn’t grow up in the church it may be, “huh, what’s that”? For others, there may be a vague recollection, and you might say, “it has something to do with Jesus and His disciples.” For those who grew up in the church, you might say, “it was Jesus’ last command to His disciples at the end of Matthew’s gospel; and it is also a command to Christians today.” But, there may be a pause and a few head scratches if I was to press a little more and ask, “what is the specific command or commands that is/are to be obeyed by Christians today?” Some might say, “this is a command specifically for the Christian to share the gospel to the nations, i.e. overseas missions.” Others might say, “this is a command to make disciples, baptize, and teach all that Jesus commanded.”
Are these mutually exclusive? Can the Christian really have a grasp on the meaning of this command? If so, where do we begin? Well, we must begin with grammar.
The Grammar within the Great Commission…
The Great Commission is one sentence that begins in verse 19 and continues all the way through verse 20. The main verb in the sentence is the Greek word, μαθητεύσατε (moth-aa-too-sah-tay), which means “to make a disciple of* or make disciples,” and also happens to be an imperative (command). In addition to this “make disciples” imperative verb, there also happens to be 3 participles in the Greek (verbal adjectives that are used as modifiers, but can at times carry the intent of the main verb in certain circumstances):
- πορευθέντες (pah-roo-thin-tehs), which means, “to go* or go”
- βαπτίζοντες (bap-tih-dz-on-tehs), which means, “a ceremonial cleansing of initiation after Jesus’ death* or baptizing”
- διδάσκοντες (dih-daas-kahn-tehs), which means, “to provide instruction* or teaching”
Check out the verse with the aforementioned details included:
“Go (participle 1) therefore and make disciples (main verb of command) of all the nations, baptizing (participle 2) them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching (participle 3) them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
The question is, does the Great Commission contain within its syntax (the arrangement of words and phrases that create sentences) the situation where one or all of the participles carry the same impact of the main verb? I guess a better question is, what does it matter? It matters for the following reason:
- If none of the three participles mentioned above carry the same meaning as the main command verb (make disciples), then the command would only be a suggestion. In other words, if all the participles just modified the verb then you would understand the word “Go” as simply “as you are going” follow the command to make disciples. The urgency and command given to the first participle “Go” would be removed if the Christian merely looked at that first participle as a modifier. Thus, turning the Great Commission into The Great Suggestion.**
The answer to the first question is, yes, the syntax of the Great Commission does contain a situation whereby a participle carries the same meaning as the main verb. So, what is this syntactical structure called?
Attendant Circumstance**
- Indicates an action that is coordinate with the action of the verb it is related to (in this case, Go is coordinate with make disciples)
- Thus the attendant circumstance participle “piggy-backs” on the mood of the finite verb (in this case, Go is to be understood the same way as the imperative or command of make disciples)
So, what is the basis that confirms that the first participle “Go” meets the criteria as an attendant circumstance?
There are five key structural features of attendant circumstance participles that confirms its usage:
- Tense of the participle is usually aorist
- Tense of the main verb is usually aorist
- Mood of the main verb is usually imperative or indicative
- The participle precedes the main verb in both word order and time of event
- Attendant circumstance participles are frequent in narrative literature, rare elsewhere
In the case of the Great Commission, the first participle, Go, matches all 5 of the attendant circumstance features, while the other two participles (baptizing and teaching) do not.
How does this apply to Christians today?
When you became a Christian (by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ), you were given a MISSION and COMMAND. The mission is to be an ambassador for Christ, and the command is to GO and to MAKE DISCIPLES. The target (mission field) is the nations. Many people have translated that word, nations, with a modern understanding (meaning, people groups or nations such as those in Africa, South America, China, etc.). However, the word in the Greek does not need to be translated that way–the word is the plural noun, ἔθνη (eth-nay), which can mean people groups, gentiles, or specifically unbelievers (spiritually, those who are not circumcised of the heart). The best way to understand this mission field then is that anyone who does not know Christ as their Savior–an unbeliever–is who I’m commanded to Go to and Make Disciples of as a demonstration of obedience. So this means that my neighbor, my co-worker, my children, the person on the street, any one of my unbelieving friends, or people of a different culture and ethnicity are all my mission field. The means or results of the command to go and make disciples then is through or resulting in baptizing and teaching all that Jesus commanded. How amazing! How wonderful! How liberating!
The implications are astounding–to obey and fulfill the command of Jesus to go and to make disciples:
- You don’t have to be paid as a full-time minister – I talk with people who wonder if they should go into full-time ministry–and the question sometimes is motivated out of (1) a low-grade guilt for pursuing a paid secular vocation rather than receiving a check for “doing” paid full-time ministry, or (2) the “need” justifying the “call”–in other words, they heard of a need that they may or may not be qualified or gifted for, and they just want to meet those needs out of a desire to help. The issue with the first motivation is that the Great Commission applies to every Christian whether or not they are paid by a church, a para-church, any ministry related entity, or a secular job. And the issue with the second motivation is that a need should not be used to justify a call–rather a call is affirmed through prayer, community, counsel, God’s Word, and demonstrated faithfulness in that specific area. Therefore:
- No one is excluded from the command to GO and MAKE DISCIPLES–no matter if you are a pastor, para-church worker, an engineer, a student, a stay-at-home mom, a doctor, a lawyer, a plumber, etc., etc.
- If you are called to full-time paid ministry it should always be affirmed in Christian community, as well as experience and faithfulness demonstrated in a particular area of ministry.
- You don’t have to go overseas or to a foreign mission field – If you’re wondering or anxious about whether or not you should go into a foreign mission field to fulfill the Great Commission, you should stop worrying and wondering–GO and MAKE DISCIPLES today of the unbelievers in your sphere of influence. What is your sphere of influence? Do you have co-workers who don’t know Christ? There are the “nations”–unbelievers. Do you have children that don’t know Christ? There are the “nations”–unbelievers. Do you have friends that don’t know Christ? There are the “nations”–unbelievers. While God certainly uses many people to bring the gospel to foreign cultures, He doesn’t “need” us. His work is mysterious, He raises up ministers of His gospel in all kinds of ways, and the motivation to be an overseas missionary should be a burden wrought out of a prayerful desire of the individual or family through the affirmation of a Christian community, as well as demonstrated faithfulness in that particular area of ministry. In other words, the command in the Great Commission is not to be understood just as a command to Go and Make Disciples of foreign nations, but rather to GO and MAKE DISCIPLES right where you are.
- You do have to GO – No one gets a King’s X on this command. Everyday that you are given a breath is a day to be using that breath in the fulfillment of the Great Commission command by Jesus. There are multiple avenues through which this is fulfilled, but it begins in your sphere of influence through the means of praying for the salvation of unbelievers, building friendships with unbelievers, and sharing the Word of Truth with those in your sphere of influence.
- You do have to MAKE DISCIPLES – God has given you the means of going and making disciples through baptizing (in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and teaching (all that Jesus commanded). The methods for baptism and teaching are both provided in the Great Commission. We baptize and are baptized to represent and demonstrate our new identity in Christ (in other words, that we are Christ-ians), and we teach all that Jesus commanded–the Word of God.
Conclusion
God has not left us alone–He is with us–and He has also sent His Helper–the Holy Spirit–to guide, convict, comfort, and illumine the Word of God to us. Let us now, in the strength of the Holy Spirit, obey the command to GO and to MAKE DISCIPLES of all those in our sphere who do not know Jesus as their Savior. And when we fail to do this, let us confess our sins one to another–knowing full well that God restores us to fellowship–and let us also remember that God chastens those to whom He loves, so that we won’t continue in disobedience without His loving hand bringing us to repentance.
Yours for the gospel,
Drew
Resources
* William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000).
** Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996).
— October 1, 2015