The Great Commission
Something I had not before noticed
struck me in the Great
Commission.
Recently, my pastor was preaching on the Great Commission. This is the passage where
Jesus institutes the ministry of the church by sending out the apostles and
commanding them to baptize and teach. It is a well known passage and many
churches structure, appropriately, their whole purpose statement around this
passage.
But something else jumped out at me in this passage that I thought was worth noting. First the apostles worship Jesus, and then it says that some doubted. They could see Jesus standing right there before them, and yet the glorious truth of the resurrection must have still seemed too good to be true.
The interesting thing is what Jesus does with this doubt. He first answers it head on - "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me." The resurrection is the exclamation point of the sentence of Christ's deity. During His earthly ministry, God the Father attested to His deity - most notably in Christ's baptism and transfiguration. After Christ's death, the centurion proclaims Christ's deity. But in the resurrection is the most tangible proof that Christ is truly God and that what He claimed was true. This is why Paul sets all of the truth and hope of Christianity on Christ's physical resurrection from the dead. So Christ can definitely accurately proclaim, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me." And He does so in direct response to the doubts of His apostles.
But that is not all He does, and thats what struck me in this passage. Now, perhaps I am just a Lutheran dying to see the doctrine of vocation wherever I look, but it struck me that He first affirms His authority and proclaims that He is worthy of their confidence, but then immediately afterwards sends them out. He calms their doubting hearts first with His words, but then sends them out to actually do the work of spreading the Gospel. I know in my life I have never had more confidence in Christ, and never grown deeper in my faith, than when I taught a class at my church. The process of actually sharing the truths of God with other people strengthens our knowledge and trust in those truths.
To relate this back to our ongoing discussion of Sanctification (and here), it seems to me that the best advice for the life of a Christian is do not be idle. This is why Paul admonishes us (Hebrews 10:23-25) not to neglect the gathering of believers. It is why Word and Sacrament is an important part of our life. It is why Christ admonished us to keep watch for the bridegroom. And once again we see God is not being overzealous or prideful, but rather is merely interested in what's best for His children. We are to be active in our faith not because God demands obedience, but because we will find the most joy, comfort and strength when we are being used of God.
Praise God, and may He keep us all active in our faith and service to Him.
But something else jumped out at me in this passage that I thought was worth noting. First the apostles worship Jesus, and then it says that some doubted. They could see Jesus standing right there before them, and yet the glorious truth of the resurrection must have still seemed too good to be true.
The interesting thing is what Jesus does with this doubt. He first answers it head on - "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me." The resurrection is the exclamation point of the sentence of Christ's deity. During His earthly ministry, God the Father attested to His deity - most notably in Christ's baptism and transfiguration. After Christ's death, the centurion proclaims Christ's deity. But in the resurrection is the most tangible proof that Christ is truly God and that what He claimed was true. This is why Paul sets all of the truth and hope of Christianity on Christ's physical resurrection from the dead. So Christ can definitely accurately proclaim, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me." And He does so in direct response to the doubts of His apostles.
But that is not all He does, and thats what struck me in this passage. Now, perhaps I am just a Lutheran dying to see the doctrine of vocation wherever I look, but it struck me that He first affirms His authority and proclaims that He is worthy of their confidence, but then immediately afterwards sends them out. He calms their doubting hearts first with His words, but then sends them out to actually do the work of spreading the Gospel. I know in my life I have never had more confidence in Christ, and never grown deeper in my faith, than when I taught a class at my church. The process of actually sharing the truths of God with other people strengthens our knowledge and trust in those truths.
To relate this back to our ongoing discussion of Sanctification (and here), it seems to me that the best advice for the life of a Christian is do not be idle. This is why Paul admonishes us (Hebrews 10:23-25) not to neglect the gathering of believers. It is why Word and Sacrament is an important part of our life. It is why Christ admonished us to keep watch for the bridegroom. And once again we see God is not being overzealous or prideful, but rather is merely interested in what's best for His children. We are to be active in our faith not because God demands obedience, but because we will find the most joy, comfort and strength when we are being used of God.
Praise God, and may He keep us all active in our faith and service to Him.
Posted: Tue - June 1, 2004 at 03:21 PM | | | | | | |
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