The Great Commission: Who was Jesus talking to?

At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells eleven men to “go and make disciples of all nations” (28 v 19). But who was he talking to?

I’ve heard and read several times over the years that this “Great Commission” was:

• a specific command to the men who were there. So it doesn’t apply to us now.
• a command to these men who were specifically called to share the gospel, and to those who are given the gift of evangelism down through the church’s life. It doesn’t apply to very many of us now.

The rest of us are called to live distinctive lives, and answer people’s questions (1 Peter 3 v 15); but we’re called only to be reactive (waiting for the question to come), rather than proactive (aiming to talk about Jesus).

There’s something attractive about this. It means that I don’t need to take very many risks or count very many costs in doing something that doesn’t come naturally or easily: actively seeking to talk about Jesus (unless I’m an evangelist, and then I presumably find evangelism not-too-hard).

But here’s why I don’t think it can be only the eleven disciples Jesus has in mind.

At least one of them would need to still be alive.

Why? First, because the command is to “make disciples of all nations”. This hasn’t happened, yet. Since Jesus’ plans always come to fruition, we’d need at least one of these men still to be working his way around the nations. Second, because the promise is “I am with you always, to the very end of the age”. The end of the age—the return of the Lord in glory, the coming of the new creation, and the end of evangelism—hasn’t yet happened. If the “you” is only the disciples, then for Jesus to be with them, they would need to stay alive till his return. And they haven’t.

The “you” is me. And you. Anyone who’s a disciple is called to get on the front foot and be a disciple-making disciple. Perhaps quietly, and unspectacularly… but actively and consciously.

So, if the “you” is me and you, the question is: Do I live as though the Great Commission is for me? Jesus didn’t want me merely to understand his words; he wanted me to act on them.

Every day, we show in our lives what our true, functional answer is to the question: What am I here for? The Lord’s answer is: You are here to be a disciple who makes disciples and teaches disciples. He could have taken us to heaven already; he hasn’t, because there are disciples to be made. He could have done it himself already; he hasn’t, because he wants to give us the privilege of being the way disciples are made.

In a sense, there was a twelfth person there that day when Jesus appeared to the eleven and said (in effect): I’m the King, whose authority demands respect from everyone, everywhere. I’m the Saviour, whose love deserves praise from everyone, everywhere. And I’m giving YOU the privilege of telling them about me.

That twelfth person was me. It was you. It’s our commission. And it’s a great commission.