Misunderstandings About the Great Commission
During
one of my Bible study sessions I was drawn to the subject of “The Great
Commission”. (Thanks again to Les
Feldick Ministries.) That term of “Great Commission” does not appear in the
Bible, but was later used to describe the instructions given by our Lord Jesus
to His Disciples just prior to His completion of His Earthly Ministry. The
precise language varies between the accounts of the four Gospels, but perhaps the most clear is found in Matthew
28: 19-20, which says: “9 Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
Amen. (Bold highlight added)
(See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Commission ; and https://www.gotquestions.org/great-commission.html
Although the Lord’s
language seems relatively clear, I believe many Christians and others have
mistakenly interpreted what it actually says. I also believe that the errors
are based in their failure to follow two of the basic principles of Bible
study. The first principle is one we learned from Myles Coverdale, who produced the first
complete English translation of the Bible in 1535. He said, “It shall greatly help ye understand the
Scriptures if thou mark not only what is spoken or written, but of whom and
to whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what extent, with what
circumstances, considering what goeth before and what followeth after.” (Bold
Highlight added)
As
with the other instructions given by the Lord Jesus to His Disciples during His
Earthly Ministry, He was speaking only to members of the Nation of Israel, not
Gentiles. (Remember Matthew 10: 1-8)
That
leads to another principle of Bible study which many people violate. Remember
to pay close attention to the words of the Apostle Paul to his young protégé`
Timothy: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2
Timothy 2: 15) (Underline added) A primary way to “rightly
divide” the scripture is to follow Miles Coverdale’s advice in separating those
things written to Israel (under the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants related to
the Gospel of the Kingdom and the Law of Moses), from those things written
to all believers (especially Gentiles related to the Gospel of Grace.) We
are to separate what our Lord Jesus did and said during His Earthly Ministry as
captured in the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and Acts Chapter
One, from what He did and said following His death, burial, resurrection and
Ascension…but remember, we learn from all we can about Him. (Romans 15:
4).
Having
given that background, I offer the following additional perspective related to
my use of the term “Misunderstandings” in my title to this post.
The
origin of the Lord’s use of the members of the Nation of Israel to support Him dated
back thousands of years when He as the LORD Jehovah initiated the Mosaic
Covenant. He would be Israel’s King in His coming Kingdom, and the people of
Israel would be His “kingdom of priests” to reach out to the rest of the world
(Gentiles). (Exodus 19: 1-8)
Then,
many years later during the Lord’s Earthly Ministry, another factor arose. The Twelve
Disciples who had been so loyal to Jesus showed their “humanity” through their
leader Peter. Note the issue he raised with the Lord: “ 27 Then
answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed
thee; what shall we have therefore?
28 And Jesus said unto them,
Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration
when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit
upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Bold highlight
added) 29 And every
one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother,
or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an
hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. (Matthew 19: 27-29)
As my teacher pointed out, this prospect of serving on the Lord’s
“leadership team” when His Kingdom would be established had to have influenced
the Disciples’ behavior from that time on. For example, note that following
the Ascension of the Lord Jesus, there was urgency in selecting a
replacement for Judas, to fill the complement of “12 Disciples” to sit on Israel’s
thrones in the coming Kingdom. (Acts 1: 11-26) Note that they had just heard the
final words from the Lord before His Ascension back to Heaven. The Scripture says: “6 When
they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt
thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 And
he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which
the Father hath put in his own power 8 But ye
shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall
be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and
unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1: 6-8)
(Underline added)
The Disciples likely assumed that His return would be relatively
soon. That assumption was probably only strengthened when ten days afterwards
they and other followers of Jesus received the Holy Spirit during Pentecost. (Acts
Chapter Two) [However today we
know differently. That timeline was delayed until after the Lord’s Second
Coming. (Zechariah 8: 20-23)]]
As we continue reading in the Book of Acts, the
Scripture provides further evidence of the Disciples’ line of thinking. Several years later, the Bible records
the following: “And Saul was consenting unto his (Stephen’s) death.
And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was
at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions
of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. (Acts 8: 1).
(Highlight added) Note that
virtually all of the Lord’s followers had been “scattered” from Jerusalem. But not the Disciples who were awaiting
the Lord’s return to establish His Kingdom there.
The Twelve Disciples were unaware that the Lord
Jesus would not return to establish His Kingdom on the Earth for the next 2,000+
years. Because of His rejection by the
Nation of Israel, He moved into this “Church
Age” to bring salvation to the Gentiles without Israel playing a priestly role,
through the Gospel of Grace and the Apostle Paul. (Acts 9: 1-16); 1 Corinthians 15: 1-4;
Romans 10: 9-13)
Remember that despite the Disciples’ being
unaware of the Lord’s Plan, because He is both Eternal and Omniscient, He was
well aware of their future. They would be with Him after their lives in their
current physical bodies were over. He also knew that they would be comforted after
having seen His newly resurrected body, knowing that the same was in their
future.
Another factor for consideration is the answer to the question: How
many members of the Nation of Israel were to comprise the “Great Commission”?
Remember the initial charge to Israel
under the Mosaic Covenant. (See the Exodus 19 reference above) It was to be the entire “Nation” of priests,
not some lesser group, who would be led by the LORD as their King. (Zechariah 8: 20-23) That is a
primary reason why Peter and the other Disciples made their pleas to others in
Israel to repent of having been complicit in the Lord’s death. They wanted the
entire Nation to repent. (Acts Chapters Two through Five).
Some might argue that the Lord’s followers who had been “scattered”
from Jerusalem were “the Great Commission”. However, the Scripture shows that many years
after leaving Jerusalem, the message they delivered was specific to the Gospel
of the Kingdom (not the Gospel of Grace), and only to other Jews. (Acts
8: 4, 11: 19) .
As Christians and Gentiles being outside of the Nation of Israel,
we were not to assume the role of “The Great Commission”. Rather, our responsibility to God and our
Savior Jesus is to continue serving as “Ambassadors for Christ”. (2
Corinthians 5: 14-21) We are to continue
living lives that bring credit to our faith in Him. We are to continue sharing with
others who Jesus is, and how He has affected our lives. The rest is to be accomplished
by the Holy Spirit. (https://www.gotquestions.org/conviction-of-sin.html
)
Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson
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