The Great Commission in 5 parts - part 1
John 20:19-21
19 On
the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked
where the disciples were for fear of the Jews,[a]
Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When
he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples
were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again,
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
I know when
people say they are part of a “Great Commission” church our minds automatically
go to Matthew 28:19-20. We think about making disciples and baptizing people in
the name of “The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit”. However, there is more
to the Great Commission than this verse. There are several other passages that
give us Christ’s commissioning to take on His mission.
First, let us
take some time to work through the word commission.
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com·mis·sion n.
1.
a. The act of granting certain powers or the
authority to carry out a particular task or duty.
b. The authority so granted.
c. The matter or task so authorized: Investigation of fraud was their commission.
d. A document conferring such authorization.
2.
a. A group of people officially authorized to
perform certain duties or functions:
The Federal
Trade Commission investigates false advertising.
b. often Commission A ruling council
within the Mafia that adjudicates family disputes and
regulates
family activities.
3. The act of committing or perpetrating: the commission of a crime.
4. A fee or percentage allowed to a sales
representative or an agent for services rendered.
5.
a. An official document issued by a
government, conferring on the recipient the rank of a
commissioned
officer in the armed forces.
b. The rank and powers so conferred.
(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/commission)
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Now it is safe to say that Christ was not giving us #4, which means payment, but there is a
truth in seeing the Great Commission as numbers 1, 2 and 3. Christ by giving us these mission
orders granted us the power of His Holy Spirit to finish seeing people saved by
His cross, death, burial and resurrection. The church (Christ followers) has
been authorized to carry His message to the World and has called us to the act
of sharing the Gospel (not a crime). We as Christ followers have been
commissioned to carry the Gospel to the world. What we will look at in these 5
blogs is each aspect of carrying the Gospel to the world.
In John 20:19-21, we see that the
disciples were hiding in a locked room for fear of what had just transpired.
They had just found out that the body of Christ was missing and that they were
being blamed for it. Although Jesus appears to several women that morning, the
disciples still do not believe that Christ had risen. They had discounted the
testimony of Mary Magdalene with Peter and John still not understanding that
Christ had risen. They were in fear for their lives, the same fear that caused
many of them to scatter when Christ was willing taken captive three night
before. They ran then and now hide.
When Christ enters the room
(wouldn’t that be a scary thing to see someone enter through a locked door), He
tries to calm them by calling their attention to peace. He is the only one that
can calm our emotions when they are out of control and we see Him do this for
the disciples. What started the night as peace turns into rejoicing. They touch
look upon Him with amazement and awe as He reveals His scared hands and pulls
up His clock to reveal the piercing that once opened His side to blood and
water flowing out. They rejoice as they realize that Jesus is really alive and
is before them.
Jesus knowing their fear and also
seeing their disobedience (Matthew 26:32, 28:10 Jesus had commanded them to
meet Him in Galilee after His resurrection and they still were hiding in
Jerusalem) gives them the first aspect of the Great Commission:
“as the Father has sent me, so I am
sending you”
Sending them where and who to? What are they suppose to say
and how are they to speak to people they don’t know? I am astounded that all
Christ tells them is that He is sending them and then gives them no details at
this first remeeting. However, this is where we as the church and individuals
forget our commissioning starts. We are being sent. Christ is sending us
because He is our leader and Lord. He loves the world so much that He would be
sent to us and then sends us to it.
Think about this, we don’t need details;
we need to say yes to the journey and then allow Christ to fill in the details.
Too many times I want details of where, when, who, how, but Christ is asking us
to say YES to this journey. Before we get equipped for the journey, we need to
say yes. Any military personnel will tell you they had to sign the contract
first and then the military began to train them for the mission that the
military thought they would fit best into. This is the same for all of us, we
need to sign on the dotted line first and then the Lord will equip and guide us
to His mission on how we as individuals and churches will complete His mission.
It’s His mission, not ours. We are just the messengers to complete His mission.
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