Go Tell

Go Tell

Matthew 28:16-20

The single most significant event in all history is the resurrection of Jesus. Without that, we would never have even heard of Jesus. He would have died as an obscure Jewish peasant, thousands of whose names and existence are lost to the dust of history. We would have never heard the Golden Rule, the Beatitudes, or the Lord’s Prayer. We would have never known the raising of Lazarus, the feeding of the thousands, or of the walking on water. We would have never known of the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, or the Sower. Without the resurrection, we would have no St. Peter, St. Paul, or St. Francis of Asissi. Without the resurrection, we would have no gospels, no epistles, and no Revelation. In fact, I would suggest that without the resurrection, we would have no Bach, no Handel, no Rembrandt, no Michaelangelo, no Galileo, and no Newton. The music we love, the art we admire, the science that we study would likely have never happened. We would likely have no western civilization, no Renaissance, and no Enlightenment. It’s hard for us to even imagine what life would be without the resurrection of Jesus.   

For Christians, Paul wrote that we would have no salvation, no forgiveness, and no hope. We would have no Christmas, no Good Friday, no Easter, and no Pentecost. We would have never heard of Jesus’ birth, his miracles, his teaching. Whenever anyone makes mention of Jesus as a “great moral teacher,” understand they would know nothing of his teaching at all if he had not risen from the dead. And even though every religion in the world knows of Jesus and uses him in some way, the only way that could possibly happen is if Jesus rose bodily from the dead.  

Now, let me note this: Matthew has only two resurrection appearances: the one to the women as they were leaving the tomb, and the one we consider this morning. The gospel of Mark has three; Luke has two; and John has four. Some of them overlap. If we only had Matthew, we would not know about the others. And that will have some bearing on a detail Matthew includes in his report. But let’s get there the right way. 

Jesus meets the women on their way from the empty tomb, and tells them that he will meet the others in Galilee. Our text opens, Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. The women delivered the message and the disciples followed directions. Without the testimony of the other gospels, we may speculate on what they were thinking as they traveled and as they gathered. Matthew’s next comment has baffled commentators: 

When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Two words there that we need to consider: worship and doubt. Worship does not mean that they sang hymns of praise. It does not mean what we do when we gather on Sunday morning. Worship here means that they honored him and greeting him with love and awe. They had been his disciples, his closest companions, and they greeting him joyfully. The word, derived from the Greek word meaning “to kiss,” means that they bowed to him, greeted him with a kiss, and treated him with honor and respect.  

That some doubted is troubling, but I think there’s an explanation. The word can also mean they hesitated, which makes a bit more sense. Remember that Peter had denied knowing him. Do you suppose that Peter might have hung back a bit in shame? Remember also that they all ran away when Jesus was arrested. Do you suppose that some of them might have hesitated in embarrassment? If so, they would soon get over it. We should not condemn them or criticize them for their hesitation. We are often no better. But they may have been surprised, shaken by seeing Jesus alive after they had seen him die. They may have not been quite sure how to respond. So, we’ll give them some grace. 

Then Jesus came to them and said , “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” We need to pause here a moment. We have urged people to memorize the following verses, which we call the Great Commission. In fact, we even print it in the Harbormaster. But it really begins here, and without this, the rest of it is more difficult than it has to be. This is the power behind the Great Commission. Jesus did not just command us to go; he gave us the reason to go. He tells us why we are to go. It begins here with authority.   

By the way, this word has several meanings. In John 1:12, we are told that those who receive Jesus Christ are given the power, in some translations, the authority, in others, or the right, in others, to become children of God. That is, we not only have the right to be children of God, but we have the power to become children of God. In John 10:18, where Jesus says that no one can take his life, he then asserts that he has the authority, again, or the power, or the right to lay down his life and take it up again. That is, Jesus has not only permission from the Father, but he has the right, and he has the power to do it. It means that he not only has the authority or the right, but also the ability. Which lead us to this: Jesus has the authority to command, but he also has the right to command, and the power to command. Which means this to us: when Jesus commands us, that command is backed up by divine power. We don’t obey in our strength, but in his. We don’t obey by our own right, buy by his. We don’t obey because we have the power, but because he does. We go in his power and by his authority.  

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations ...” The scope is broad – all nations. While Acts 1:8 begins at home, Jesus’ words here essentially mean “wherever you are.” And I know this word causes problems, because for some it implies force. I don’t think force is what Jesus had in mind. We are to call people to follow Jesus wherever we go, wherever we are, and whenever we have the opportunity. But there is one place where some level of force may apply, and that is in our own home. Here’s what I mean:   

Paul commands fathers to bring up their children in the training and instruction of the Lord (NIV) or nurture and admonition (KJV) (Eph 6:4). We are to teach our children from the earliest ages to follow Christ. When they can understand, we can help them make a commitment to Christ. We are to set the example for them to follow. Our family went to church. That was our habit. When we were on vacation, we found a church to attend. One year, a foster daughter complained when we instructed the kids to get up and get ready for church, “But we’re on vacation!” No, in our home, vacation or not, we go to church. We want our children to see us at worship, to sing the songs with us, to hear the preaching with us, to see us give our offerings. We were trying to make disciples of our children. But “make” here does not mean force or imposition; it means the active, purposeful   calling other to Christ. We are discipling, teaching, as we go.  

“... baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ...” Baptism is not the act of salvation; we are not saved by being baptized. Baptism is the act of identification, and in Paul’s letter to Rome, symbolizes identification with Jesus’ death and resurrection. He says (Rom 6:4), We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Baptism re-enacts the burial and resurrection of Jesus as we are plunged into the water and lifted out of it. Baptism identifies you with the Body of Christ, the Church. It is also a testimony to the world around you, family, friends, etc., that you have left the old life, the BC life, behind and now live a new life in Christ. ¹

“... and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” The disciples had an advantage on us – they had walked and talked with Jesus and listened as he taught directly into their ears. They knew what Jesus commanded because he had told them. We, on the other hand, have to read it in the New Testament. And the problem for us is that we cannot teach what we do not know. For us to teach, we need to study and learn. If we are going to teach the commands of Jesus, two things are required of us: study and obedience - we have to learn it and then, to have any credibility at all, we have to live it.

Now, there’s an interesting linguistic twist to this sentence. The three words are participles. That means, for you grammarians, they have the -ing ending. It also mean that they are present actions, things you are doing. The words are active, “Be going, baptizing, and teaching.” Baptizing as you are going. Teaching as you are going. Discipling whoever will listen. The point is that we are to be telling people about Jesus and inviting them into a growing relationship with him. Let me say it this way, As you are going about your business, be discipling, baptizing, and teaching. Make it your business to be doing, to be following the directions Jesus has given.

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” As you are going, discipling, baptizing, and teaching, you are not alone. You are not only living under the authority of Jesus, but you are also living in the presence of Jesus. He has not left you to do it all alone, in your own strength. Nor is Jesus’ presence temporary. That interesting phrase, “to the very end of the age,” says something profound. In the Greek, “to the very end” is a form of the word teleos, meaning complete or perfect. And, by the way, the translation “finished” means complete as in the finishing of a piece of furniture. When construction is complete and the surface has been sanded and polished and the furniture is ready for use, it is complete, finished. But here, the word is combined with the word we translate as eternal. This word literally means “without beginning or end,” timeless. It is not a measure of time as in “forever” or “ages”, but as in “without end.” The combination carries the meaning something like “until eternity is complete,” which means never. Jesus says, “I will be with you until eternity is complete. Digest that a moment, if you can. Jesus does not leave us, ever! We never do his work without his presence. You never witness without Jesus there with you. And you can carry that into every other area of your life. As a follower of Jesus, you are never without his presence. He is always with you.

Now, let me do one thing more, and that’s talk a bit about what this means practically. And I have said this before.   

For the last fifty or sixty years, we have focused a lot of energy on training people to do evangelism. I don’t care what denomination you are from, your denomination probably has some form of training for you: The Roman Road, the Four Spiritual Laws, Evangelism Explosion, or some such. We have focused on teaching you principles and making you memorize dozens of Bible verses. And we have given the impression that evangelism requires training. We’ve been so successful at that, that we’ve taught people that unless you are trained you are not equipped to do evangelism. We’ve made it difficult. Additionally, we’ve developed evangelism “teams” and programs and even hired specialists - ministers of evangelism.   

And we’ve been wrong. 

Here’s why: Jesus did not make the disciples memorize anything. In fact, he told them that the Holy Spirit would remind them (Jn 14:26) of what Jesus had done and said. The Roman Road hadn’t been written. The Four Spiritual Laws hadn’t been invented. Evangelism Explosion hadn’t been devised. But they had was something many believers are missing - experience. They had been with Jesus. They had seen the miracles. They had seen him alive after he’d been crucified. They didn’t have programs and formulas. They were simply told to go tell what they knew. They knew Jesus. You see, we often believe in Jesus, but we haven’t experienced Jesus. We know a lot about Jesus, but we don’t know Jesus. It’s all in our head, but not yet in our heart. That is, it’s knowledge, but not experience. We know, but we haven’t surrendered. We believe, but we haven’t felt. We haven’t been transformed by the touch of the Master. 

But when our lives are transformed, we can’t help telling it. My dad found a sale on apples, a really good price, so he bought a bunch, not just to eat, but to give away. Then he gave apples to his friends and began telling people where they could get apples for a great price. His experience became his message. That’s all evangelism is – when our experience becomes our message, when Jesus has so changed our life that we can’t help talking about it. Jesus didn’t tell the disciples to go take a class in evangelism; he told them to go and tell what they already knew. That’s what we are to do. Just tell what you know.   

Go, share the good news. Just be living the life and talking about what you know. What has Jesus done for you? Tell somebody. Go. Tell.  

¹ Some have questioned the formula – in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – as perhaps being a later addition. But by the time Matthew wrote, probably sometime around AD 60-65, the evidence is that the formula was already in use, as evidence by it’s occurrence in Paul’s letters (1 Cor 12:4-6; 2 Co 13:14; Eph 4:4-6; 2 These 2:13-14;), all likely written before Matthew’s gospel.