The Great Commission

The great commission has been a hot topic recently and I am writing this post to give some insight as to the purpose of the commission and each person’s assignment to reach the goal.

I am using the New International Version (NIV) for each scripture reference. Mark 16:15-18 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my Name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues, they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people , and they will get well.”

Verse 19 states that these were the last words of Jesus, our Lord, before He was taken up into Heaven. We all long to hear the final words of our loved ones, or even our mentors. We contemplate those words for years to come. We repeat them to ourselves and at times share them with others, as we treasure all that we can glean from those particular words.

The men and women that followed Jesus throughout His ministry took some time to consider the meaning of those words and then followed them to the best of their ability. Most of them went out to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles, explaining the now understood purpose for the Messiah to come to Earth, live, die and rise again. 

It had been misunderstood among them for generations that the Messiah would come only one time and conquer as a mighty warrior, all their enemies allowing them to live in perfect peace. There are many prophecies in the Bible that reveal Him as that, but there are more that reveal him as ‘ a man of sorrows’. The Jewish men learned and quoted those prophecies as well yet were blinded by the desire for freedom from the tyranny of Rome. 

Isaiah, a great prophet known to the Israelites penned this in his 53rd chapter. 

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Verse 7 reveals that He, The Messiah they expected and prayed for, would be brought as a  lamb to the slaughter. This is truly the triumph of the Messiah. The one and only necessary for all eternity tp be the final sacrificial lamb. The one that would finally pay the debt of sin for all people. Because of His willingness to go to the cross humankind would be able to enter the Holy of Holies and know the personal relationship with God that Adam and Eve had forfeited. 

This was the good news! This was to be the legacy of Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah. He willingly left the glory of Heaven and paid in full the debt of sin for all mankind. He paved the way for Jews and Gentiles alike to enter the presence of God. 

However, the disciples were merely human as are you and I. And His death shocked them and rocked their entire world. All they had been taught was now even more of a mystery. Those who followed Him as He walked the land were devastated and broken hearted. They were terrified that they also would be killed. So they hid themselves for 3 days as they mourned the death.

Matthew 28:5-7 explains to the women at the tomb: 

 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

Prophets foretelling of the ‘Suffering Servant’, and Jesus’ words about his body being laid down and rising up in three days. Suddenly so much of His teaching became clearly understood.

So, when Jesus gave them the final great commission to go into ALL the world and tell everyone about the good news that every human could now get to know the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and be forgiven of every sin just by following after Jesus and His Father, they went out with zeal. They understood the weightiness of this mission and recalled that they would also suffer as he told them. The tremendous beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ was so amazing that they went out and began an entirely new way of living with faith in an unseen God, without fear of the present or eternal life to follow this one. The eternity that would be full of glory and joy and celebration. 

We as believers in Jesus are still expected to go into all the world and “preach the gospel”. This can be as simple as our school, our neighborhood or office, or our family. We are chosen by God to participate in the greatest event to happen since the beginning of time; The return of Jesus to reign as the Lion of Judah, the King of all Kings and to serve the Great I AM. Each of us has the responsibility of reading the Bible and talking to God and even more importantly, listening to His voice. This time spent in HIs presence is most sacred and most fulfilling. Learn more about Him through other posts here and pray about a good church and get your own Bible and cherish it. The Old Testament as well as the new. Then go into your portion of the world and tell everyone about the good news of Jesus!

P.S. (Plain and Simple) This is the gospel of the prodigal son, and the sower and the seeds. In fact, Jesus intertwined this into all of HIs teaching. Heaven is a place of wholeness, beauty, joy without sadness, and life without death. This is what it means to be a Christian. To follow after that lifestyle full of faith that can not be shaken, and knowing a relationship with the Eternal One that created each of us for a purpose and for His pleasure.

References: Biblegateway.com both KJV and NIV were used