Go, Make Disciples of All Nations

Look closely at the structure and you see the command held in the middle with a declaration on either side — like a sandwich. The first slice: "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth" — this is a coronation announcement; the risen Lord has taken the throne. The second slice: "I am with you always, even to the end of the age" — this is the promise of presence, with no expiry date. The word "go" walks between those two sentences. So the Great Commission issues from a throne, not from anxiety. The church does not go out to win a war for a Lord who is short of hands; it follows behind a king who has already won. Notice the word "therefore": because all authority is his, all nations can be reached; because he is with us to the end, no road is walked alone however far it runs. You may bring your fear with you, but fear cannot be the reason not to go — the two slices hold the road in the middle quite steady.

In the original there is only one main verb in this passage — "make disciples." Going, baptizing and teaching are all the ways it is done. The goal was never a tally of decisions. Baptism brings a person under the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and gives him a new identity; "teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you" is walking with him through years of learning to follow — which is exactly what this book in your hands has been doing for a hundred and ten lessons. And the words "all nations" are an echo of Genesis: "All the families of the earth will be blessed through you" (Gen 12:3) — the first gospel promise of the whole book turns into a marching order on this mountain. There is one more comfort here: in the original, "go" also carries the sense of "as you are going." The Great Commission does not wait for you to change your whole life before it takes effect. It takes effect tomorrow, in the place you are going tomorrow.

Look back at the road. In Volume One you were known and loved, and the gospel carried you in the door. In Volume Two grace took root, and you opened your mouth and told your own story. In Volume Three you learned to read this book, and began taking others through it. In Volume Four you lit a lamp in the inner room, and carried a lamp for someone walking a valley. In Volume Five the light reached two fields, home and work. In Volume Six you found your place in the body and tied on the towel. In Volume Seven the practiced hands reached out past the wall — kneeling for the nations, crossing cultures, holding up workers, sowing in tears. A hundred and ten lessons finished, and all this road has done is move from the page onto the ground. Those who go, those who stay, those who sow and those who reap are all on the same map, held up by the same sentence: "I am with you always."