The Great Commission | A SOAP Devotional by Pastor Jamie

Read Matthew 28 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2028&version=NLT   Matthew 28:16-20- Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted! Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

In these closing words from Jesus in Matthew's gospel we have what is called "The Great Commission," which serves as our marching orders as Jesus' church. First of all, I'm struck by the seemingly unimportant and simple obedience of the disciples in verse 16; that is, they showed up where Jesus told them to go. In other words, they listened carefully to what Jesus had to say and they followed through well, which is the essence of discipleship. But I'm then blown away by the fact that all of the disciples, who had been obedient, were literally in the presence of the bodily resurrected Lord of all human history and creation and it tells us they all worshiped Him...but some of them doubted. So they were all in the right place at the right time for the right reasons, but as they saw Jesus in this final moment some of them doubted. This also means their doubts weren't getting in the way of their worship. I love how Jesus responds to some doubting Him. He ignores it and presses into commissioning all of them- obedience mixed with doubt- to make disciples of Mine as you are going through life. They were called to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and given an incredible promise: "I am with you once in a while." No! "I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

A lot times people think doubt is the enemy of faith, but I don't believe that. Perhaps apathy or hate are the real enemies of faith, but the disciples had already exercised a degree of faith in the midst of their doubt by choosing to show up on the mountain just as Jesus had instructed them to do. They were obedient, and Jesus trusted they would continue to work through any remaining doubts they had about Him as the resurrected Lord to trust Him as the One who had "been given all authority in heaven and on earth," which is precisely what happened in the first century church. It seems to me that as Jesus calls us to be obedient He doesn't get all that stressed out about our moments of doubt. Perhaps it would serve us to ignore some of our own doubts like Jesus did for the disciples just before He commissioned them. Jesus didn't say, "Well, you can't be on my team while you still have some doubt;" instead He plowed right ahead. Since Jesus was graceful towards His doubting disciples long ago maybe we can be graceful toward ourselves when doubts crop up for us from time to time. We are called more to move forward with the faith we do have to stay in the ongoing process of making more and better disciples of Jesus in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord, thank You for the fact that Jesus, in an abundance of grace, ignores me sometimes. Oh, I'm grateful He's promised to be with me always, even to the end of time as well. Thanks for the faith we do have in You. Help our unbelief! I'm glad my doubts haven't gotten in the way of You calling me to love and serve You. Help us be as graceful to ourselves in our struggles to live out our faith. Keep pouring Your love and grace into us to do battle with any doubts we have. Confront us in our apathy or hatred, so that we can better fulfill the Great Commission you gave to us so long ago. It's a new call in each generation. Amen.

"Christians move out into a violent world as agents of peace, into a broken world as agents of reconciliation, into a needy world as servants of the poor. We do so knowing that it is God’s will to eventually end all war and division, all poverty and injustice. The resurrection of Christ assures us that God will redeem not just souls but bodies, and will bring about a new heavens and new earth. As the risen Christ, he stands not just with us in our present time, but he waits at the end of history to heal and renew everything. That is his promise. Therefore, we will not fear." (Tim Keller),   Pastor Jamie