Great Commission

The Great Commission, stained glass window, Cathedral Parish of Saint Patrick in El Paso, Texas.

In Christianity, the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples that they spread his teachings to all the nations of the world. The most famous version of the Great Commission is in Matthew 28:18–20, where on a mountain in Galilee Jesus calls on his followers to baptize all nations in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Only the Gospel of Matthew records an earlier lesser commission, only for the Twelve Apostles, in Matthew 10:5–15, and directed only to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel", undertaken during Jesus' mortal life, which is similar but different from the episodes of the commissioning of the Twelve Apostles found in the other Synoptic Gospels. Luke also has Jesus dispatching disciples during his ministry, sending them to all the nations and giving them power over demons, including the Seventy disciples. The dispersion of the Apostles in the traditional ending of Mark is thought to be a second-century summary based on Matthew and Luke.

It has become a tenet in Christian theology emphasizing ministry, missionary work, evangelism, and baptism. The Apostles are said to have dispersed from Jerusalem and founded the Apostolic Sees. Preterists believe that the Great Commission and other Bible prophecy were fulfilled in the first century while Futurists believe Bible prophecy will be fulfilled at the Second Coming of Christ.

Some students of the historical Jesus generally discount the Great Commission as reflecting not Jesus' words but rather the Christian community in which each gospel was written. (See Sayings of Jesus.) Some scholars, such as John Dominic Crossan, assert that Jesus did commission apostles during his lifetime, as reported in the Gospels. Others, however, see even these lesser commissions as representing Christian invention rather than history.

History

It is unknown who coined the term "The Great Commission". It was likely first used as a summary for the passage by Dutch missionary Justinian von Welz. However it was popularized by Hudson Taylor.^[1]

Scholars such as Eduard Riggenbach (in Der Trinitarische Taufbefehl) and J. H. Oldham et al. (in The Missionary Motive) assert that even the very concept did not exist until after the year 1650, and that Matthew 28:18–20 was traditionally interpreted as having been addressed only to Jesus's disciples then living (believed to be up to 500), and as having been carried out by them and fulfilled, not as a continuing obligation upon subsequent generations.

New Testament accounts

The most familiar version of the Great Commission is depicted in Matthew 28:16–20,

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Other versions of the Great Commission are found in Mark 16:14–18, Luke 24:44–49, Acts 1:4–8, and John 20:19–23. In Luke, Jesus tells the disciples to preach repentance and forgiveness, and promises that they will have divine power. In John, Jesus says the disciples will have the Holy Spirit and the authority to forgive sins and to withhold forgiveness.^[2] In Acts, Jesus promises the disciples that the Holy Spirit will inspire them. All these passages are composed as words of Christ spoken after his resurrection.

According to some critics, in Mark Jesus never speaks with his disciples after his resurrection. They argue that the original Gospel of Mark ends at verse Mark 16:8 with the women leaving the tomb (see Mark 16).^[3]

The call to go into the world in Matthew 28 is prefaced a mere four chapters earlier when Jesus states that the Gospel message will be heard by representatives of all nations, at which time the end will come.

Interpretations

The commission from Jesus has been interpreted by evangelical Christians as meaning that his followers have the duty to go, teach, and baptize. Although the command was initially given directly only to Christ's eleven remaining Apostles, evangelical Christian theology has typically interpreted the commission as a directive to all Christians of every time and place, particularly because it seems to be a restatement or moving forward of the last part of God's covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:3.

Commentators often contrast the Great Commission with the earlier Limited Commission of Matthew 10:5-42, in which they were to restrict their mission to their fellow Jews, who Jesus referred to as "the lost sheep of the house of Israel". (Matthew 15:24)

Preterists believe that the Great Commission was already fulfilled based on the New Testament passages "And they went out and preached everywhere" (Mark 16:20), "the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven" (Colossians 1:23), and "Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations" (Romans 16:25-26).

Textual critics note that the portion of Mark 16 which records the commission is not found in two of the oldest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, the Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209 and the Codex Sinaiticus.

The Jewish Encyclopedia: Gentiles: Gentiles May Not Be Taught the Torah states:

R. Emden (יעב"ץ), in a remarkable apology for Christianity contained in his appendix to "Seder 'Olam" (pp. 32b–34b, Hamburg, 1752), gives it as his opinion that the original intention of Jesus, and especially of Paul, was to convert only the Gentiles to the seven moral laws of Noah and to let the Jews follow the Mosaic law — which explains the apparent contradictions in the New Testament regarding the laws of Moses and the Sabbath.

See also

• Matthew 28

Notes

1. Castleman, Robbie F. "The Last Word: The Great Commission: Ecclesiology" (PDF). Themelios 32 (3): 68.
2. John 20:21–23
3. Ehrman, Bart D. (2004). The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. New York: Oxford. pp. 79–80. ISBN 0-19-515462-2.