And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18–20).

This is considered the central Great Commission passage of the New Testament (cf. Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46–49; John 20:21; Acts 1:8), whereby Christians are called to bring the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ to the world. This is an often preached passage, but I thought for the sake of completeness, it would be good to rehash the main teachings on this passage here on this site.

First, notice that the commission of Matthew 28:19 proceeds from Jesus' declaration of having "all authority" in verse 18. This is why the two verses are connected by the word "therefore". In other words, Jesus was commissioning the disciples to go and make disciples in view of His sovereign authority to save and draw out followers from among the nations.

Second, while not particularly clear in the English translations, the central imperatival verb is "make disciples," while the words translated "go","baptizing" and "teaching" are all circumstantial participles connected to the central verb. Consequently, the central command is "make disciples." Related to this central command are the subordinating actions of "going", "baptizing" and "teaching," which carry some of the force of the central command. Some have suggested that these subordinating actions define how disciples should be made.

What is clear is that the subordinating actions are tied to the central mission of making disciples, that is, making followers of Jesus Christ. The implication here is that Jesus is not commanding a ministry of charitable outreach, whereby we simply help as many people as we can. He is not simply commanding a ministry of baptism, whereby we make as many converts as possible. Nor is he commanding us to simply teach the commands of Christ to those that have no relationship with him. No. All of these actions must be tied to a real and ongoing relationship between the disciple and Christ.

It is when we fulfill Jesus' purpose in the Great Commission, namely, to make disciples, that Jesus promises to be with us "always, even to the end of the age." The sense of this last assurance is that Jesus will be approving and empowering our obedience to this commission.

As a final observation, notice that baptism carries some of the imperatival force of the command to make disciples. I believe the reason for this is that emphasis is being placed on water baptism rather than the Spirit baptism that every believer would receive when they trust in Jesus. While baptism does not save anyone, this should, nevertheless, keep us from minimizing this important ordinance. It is clear from the historical record of the early church in Acts that every new believer was always and immediately baptized in water.

This baptism was likely by immersion, as the very word implies (i.e baptizo in Greek suggests total identification, as immersion in dye completely changes the color of clothes). It represented an identification with the Name (singular - so one God) of the three Persons of the Trinity, that is, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Friends, let us take this Great Commission to heart, for it is a calling for all of us to obey and not just the first disciples; otherwise, Jesus would not have used the words "to the end of the age." Clearly, Jesus was looking beyond the ministries and lives of the original disciples.

Let us go near and far to make disciples. Let us not neglect the ministry of baptism, which does not need to be performed by a pastor or a priest or a minister. There is no such restriction given in Scripture. Any believer can baptize another believer. And let us actively and continually teach the full counsel of Scripture so that every believer can grow up in their faith to a full maturity in Christ.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Matthew’s final commission begins with Jesus’ authority and ends with his presence. Between those assurances stands a task beyond the capacity of the eleven disciples by themselves (Matthew 28:16–20). The narrative even mentions doubt among those worshiping him. The mission is therefore not founded on the disciples’ flawless confidence or institutional strength. It is authorized and sustained by the risen Lord.

The grammatical center is the imperative to make disciples. The accompanying participles describe going, baptizing, and teaching, but their participial form does not make them optional. In particular, the construction with “go” carries directive force: the command cannot be reduced to making disciples only if ordinary circumstances happen to bring outsiders nearby. At the same time, the destination includes all nations, which prevents the church from treating one ethnicity or cultural form as the natural boundary of belonging.

Baptism and teaching give discipleship a public and continuing shape. Baptism identifies people with the triune name; teaching concerns observing Jesus’ commands, not merely remembering information about them. The commission thus resists two reductions: counting a momentary response as though no formation follows, and treating education as complete when it never becomes a lived relationship with Christ. The church is called to nurture people into a shared way of life.

The original’s understanding of baptism is recognizably Baptist. Other traditions differ over its recipients, sacramental significance, mode, and proper administration. The Greek verb associated with baptism includes immersion in its range, but the illustration of cloth placed in dye does not by itself establish every theological meaning or settle every historical practice. Acts records prompt baptism in many conversion accounts; it does not document the timing for every believer without exception. Careful teaching can commend a position without presenting an inference as though all Christians agree it is the only grammatical possibility.

Jesus’ promise to remain with his disciples echoes Matthew’s opening identification of him as Emmanuel (Matthew 1:23). It accompanies the commission and strengthens obedience, but should not be turned into the threat that Christ abandons a weak believer whenever missionary performance falls short. His presence is the ground for learning and repentance as well as courageous action. The Lord who sends is also the Lord who restores failing disciples.

The practical question for a church is whether its activities actually help people follow Jesus. Charitable work is not a substitute for naming and teaching Christ, yet care for neighbors is itself among the commands disciples learn to obey. Baptism should be honored, teaching should be understandable, and ongoing relationships should make obedience possible. A mature mission joins proclamation, welcome, formation, and service. It trusts Christ’s authority enough to cross boundaries and trusts his presence enough to continue patiently when growth is slow, complicated, or less measurable than a simple count of decisions.

When the chief priests met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money and told them to say that the disciples came during the night and stole the body while they slept — promising that if the report reached the governor, they would satisfy him and keep the soldiers out of trouble. The soldiers took the money and did as instructed (a paraphrase of Matthew 28:12–15).

These men met to devise a plan to contain the fact of the resurrection. Aren't they like rats in a maze, turning this way and that, entirely oblivious to the omniscience and power of God?

These leaders, with their secular accomplices, were certainly responsible for the crucifixion — this man was handed over, and with the help of wicked men they put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross (a paraphrase of Acts 2:23); Herod and Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel to conspire against God's holy servant (a paraphrase of Acts 4:27). But while they were responsible, since this is what they conspired in their own hearts, they were not in control. That is why Acts adds that they did what God's power and will had decided beforehand should happen (a reference to Acts 4:28), and why Peter says the handing over was by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge, and that God raised Him because it was impossible for death to hold Him.

AI-Expanded Reflection

The two verses in Acts the comment pairs are the clearest statement in the New Testament of responsibility and sovereignty held together without explanation. Peter attributes the same act to a deliberate divine plan and to wicked men in a single sentence, and the prayer in chapter 4 does it again with a list of named conspirators. Neither text offers a mechanism, and Christians have differed for centuries on how to describe the relationship.

Worth noting who Acts 4:27 includes in the list: Herod, Pilate, Gentiles, and the peoples of Israel. The prayer distributes responsibility across every group present rather than assigning it to one, which is how the earliest church — itself entirely Jewish at that point — understood what had happened. That framing matters for how the passage is read, since Matthew's account of the guards has a long history of being quoted in ways its own context does not support.

The irony the comment identifies is real and Matthew seems to intend it. The plan requires soldiers to testify to what happened while they were asleep, which is not evidence anyone could give. A cover story that self-destructs on inspection is the last thing Matthew's Gospel records about the opposition.

Matthew closes with Christ's death and resurrection. What spoke to me this morning was the recognition of guilt among those who betrayed Christ.

First, Judas's realization of what he had done. Seeing that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying he had sinned in betraying innocent blood. They replied that it was his responsibility, not theirs. So Judas threw the money into the temple, went away, and hanged himself (a paraphrase of Matthew 27:3–5).

Then Pilate, seeing he was getting nowhere and that an uproar was beginning, washed his hands before the crowd and declared himself innocent of the man's blood (a reference to Matthew 27:24). He released Barabbas, had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over.

And a few verses after Christ gave up His spirit, the centurion and those guarding Jesus, seeing the earthquake and all that had happened, were terrified and declared that this man was surely the Son of God (a reference to Matthew 27:54).

It's remarkable to me how powerful sin is in our lives — our nature drives us to do things we most often regret. And it's fitting that we see the contrast between one of history's most infamous betrayals and the world's greatest act of love.

AI-Expanded Reflection

The sequence this comment traces is worth following closely, because Matthew arranges these responses deliberately and they do not resolve the way a reader might expect. Judas, an insider who spent three years with Jesus, recognizes his guilt and despairs. Pilate, the one man with legal authority to stop the execution, performs a ritual of innocence while proceeding anyway — the hand-washing is theater, and Matthew's placement of it invites the reader to notice that a gesture of clean hands does not clean them. The centurion, a Roman soldier professionally engaged in the killing, is the one who names Jesus correctly.

That the clearest confession in the chapter comes from an executioner is Matthew's point, not an accident of arrangement. Throughout this Gospel, recognition of who Jesus is keeps arriving from the least expected quarter, and here at the end it arrives from a man whose job that morning was crucifixion.

Then Jesus cried out again and released His spirit. At that moment, the Temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split, and tombs broke open — the bodies of many godly people who had died were raised, and after Jesus's own resurrection, they left the tombs, entered Jerusalem, and appeared to many people (a paraphrase of Matthew 27:50–53). This is the first time I recall noticing this detail — I don't think the other Gospels mention it. Since Matthew doesn't cite any specific Old Testament passage here, does this event connect to anything in the OT? Was it simply another sign confirming Jesus as God's Son? How long did these raised people live afterward — did they have full physical bodies, or were they something more like spirits appearing briefly?

Yujin responds... Great question! These weren't spirits, since the text specifically says "bodies" were raised — and if they were only spirits, the tombs wouldn't need to open at all. As for how long they lived afterward, I'd compare this to Lazarus's resuscitation in John 11: I'd assume they simply resumed ordinary mortal life from whatever point they'd been at death, and eventually died again. This isn't technically "resurrection" in the final, biblical sense — that awaits the end times (see Revelation 20); this would be more accurately called a resuscitation, a temporary return to ordinary mortal life. Matthew appears to be the only Gospel recording this event, likely because Matthew was written primarily for a Jewish audience, for whom the resuscitation of these saints — quite possibly Old Testament believers — would have carried particular significance. While not the final resurrection of Revelation 20, much of what happens around Jesus's death and resurrection foreshadows that ultimate future event. The Old Testament itself anticipates a resurrection of the righteous in places like Isaiah 26:19, Job 19:25–27, and Daniel 12:2–3, 13. Martha's exchange with Jesus in John 11 clarifies the distinctions well: she affirms belief in "the resurrection at the last day," and Jesus responds that He Himself is the resurrection and the life — whoever believes in Him, though they die, will live, and whoever lives and believes in Him will never truly die (a paraphrase of John 11:23–26). Lazarus was then raised back to ordinary, temporary life — but for Lazarus, Martha, and everyone else, it's ultimately faith in Jesus, not any temporary resuscitation, that secures eternal life.

AI-Expanded Reflection

The distinction this exchange draws between "resuscitation" and final "resurrection" is worth extending as a genuinely important theological category. Scripture records several instances of the former (Lazarus, Jairus's daughter, the saints raised at Jesus's death) without treating any of them as the ultimate resurrection itself — each of these people, remarkably, died again afterward. These earlier returns to life function as previews or confirmations of a future reality rather than the reality itself: the dead raised at Jesus's death didn't receive glorified, permanent, death-immune resurrection bodies — they received a temporary reprieve, a foretaste pointing toward something still to come, which this comment's own response rightly locates as arriving only at the end of the age.