Matthew 28-18-20
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.”

Many of us that have been around church and evangelists have heard some form of this passage. We know this as the Great Commission. It is the commission Jesus leaves His disciples that is something we can also adopt as our own commission. I want to just highlight something really cool. Jesus, while he walked the earth, did not come to assert His own authority. Over and over through the gospels, we see Jesus refer to doing the will of the Father that sent him…

John 6:38
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

Even in the garden, before Jesus’s crucifixion He prays:

Matthew 26:39
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

However, in Matthew 28, there is a changing of the guard. Understand that up to this point Jesus has told his disciples over and over… “I’m here to do the will of my Father”. Now He says “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me… so go”. He establishes His will and His commission.

This is why we are Jesus followers. This was the will of the Father… that Jesus would satisfy the justice demanded for sin AND then Jesus would be given the “mantle” of authority. Let’s explore why this is important… we identify with Christ, just like the disciples did. Remember, Paul says:

Romans 8:11
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

So the same power that raised Christ from the dead and gave Christ all authority and whose Spirit dwells in us has commissioned us to carry His commission. Just like a king empowers his emissaries who carry out his words and decrees and those that hear them are like one hearing the words of the king direct, we are Christ’s emissaries. Our “kingly” stamp is the Holy Spirit.

It is important because we must not only know our charge, but we should know the one who has given us the charge and walk in the confident POWER when heralding the message of our King!

Soli Deo Gloria

Jesse Horne