March 26, 2012
Today’s Text: Matthew 28:18-20
Today’s Key Thought:  We are accountable to go!

 

It had been a grueling week.  The disciples had seen their Messiah die and felt the anguish as the thought that evil had triumphed.  It may have even entered their mind that they had been unwise to leave their lives to follow Jesus who eventually just died.  And yet, then they felt the joy of seeing the most incredible thing to happen in all of history.  This Jesus, who they had given their lives to follow, came back to life.  They had seen him raise others back to life, and now they saw that He had defeated even His own death.  Can you imagine being the disciples?  Talk about going from hopelessness to complete joy!  It must have been incredible.

 

Jesus then spends some time with them.  He gets to their last conversation.  All the teaching had come to this.  He said, “All power is given to me in heaven and in earth…”  That word “power” also has the idea of authority.  I’m sure the disciples believed Him when He made that statement.  Surely they though, “Yes you do have all authority!  You are God and have defeated sin and death!”  Based on this authority (“therefore”), He gives them a command.  He tells them to “teach” or make disciples of “all nations.”  We’ll look at the “teach” or make disciples part tomorrow.  Today, I want us to think about this idea of going to all nations.

 

Jesus commanded the disciples and us to make disciples in all nations or people group.  Now let me ask you a question:  How many nations, or with how many cultures can you go to in at once?  Of course the answer is that you can only be one nation at a time.  Jesus wasn’t asking these disciples to individually go to every nation, but he was asking them to collectively go to every nation.  That happens by each one “making disciples” wherever they go.  No people group is exempt, and no follower of Jesus is exempt from this command.  Anything Christ commanded us to do we will be held accountable for!

 

Application:

 

This may be the most important stewardship that we have because this is the mission for which Jesus came, and this is the mission that He sent us on.  Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost.  Let me ask you this question- Is there a time in your schedule, or behavior in your life where you can honestly say that you are part of the disciple making process?  When was the last time you shared the gospel with someone?