The simple answer is the Great Commission is a commission by Jesus, to the disciples of Jesus, to go and make disciples. But is being commissioned the same thing as being commanded?

The most common quoted verse regarding the Great commission is Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”. When the Great Commission is quoted starting with verse 19, leaving out verse 18, we miss power of the passage. In the previous verse Jesus says, “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Jesus is declaring he has all authority to command things. His disciples were no strangers of the power of Jesus’ words. Earlier in the gospel of Matthew we read of Jesus rebuking the winds and sea and his disciples marveled saying even the winds and waves obey him (Matthew 8:26-27). Jesus has the authority to charge, command or commission his disciples, Jesus tells his disciples of this authority and then the very next word he says is GO. Therefore, it is quite clear that Jesus did command his disciples. This command that Jesus gave to his disciples can be found in all four gospels and in the book of Acts. (Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:15-18, Luke 24:46-49, John 20:21-23, Acts 1:8) There is no way to make a legitimate argument that the Great Commission doesn’t exist or was not a command for his disciples without completely ignoring what scripture teaches.

There are some, however, that argue the Great Commission was only given to the Apostles. These arguments claim the Great Commission was intended as a temporary solution for the initial building of the early church and doesn’t apply to believers today. It is true that in the context of scripture Jesus was speaking directly to the eleven disciples. So are these arguments backed by scripture or does this commandment extend to every disciple? Even though Jesus was speaking directly to the Apostles, who were his first disciples, his command to go and make disciples also extends to every disciple. Scripture teaches this in the latter part of the passage. In verse 19 Jesus tells them to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19), but in verse 20 Jesus tells them that they are to teach them (them being the disciples that they are making) to observe all that I have commanded of you (Matthew 28:20). Therefore, since scripture is clear that the Great Commission is a commandment, then Jesus is commanding them to teach the new disciples to also observe this commandment. Scripture shows us that the Great Commission doesn’t stop with the original disciples. Would Paul tell Timothy to do the work of an evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5) if the command to make disciples was not valid for him? Or would Peter write, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9) if we’re not to proclaim what Jesus has done for us. They wouldn’t and didn’t. Are you a disciple? If by God’s grace through faith you have trusted in Christ alone for your salvation, knowing Jesus died in your place and defeated death and the power of sin, then that means you are also a disciple. I wouldn’t be a Christian today and neither would you if disciples of Jesus didn’t continue to go and make disciples. There wouldn’t have been anymore disciples being made after about 100 A.D. when the last Apostle died.

The final argument against the Great Commission is that every believer is not called to obey the Great Commission because it’s not possible for every believer to go to all nations or to the ends of the earth. Once again Scripture has the answer and reveals to us, throughout the New Testament, that this is not what Jesus is telling us to do. If the Great Commission demanded this, then every Apostle would have failed in obeying it, as there is no evidence that they reached every nation before their death. We’re not all called to the ends of the earth in cross cultural missions. However, we’re all called somewhere. Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The original intention of this verse would be to inform the disciples that some were called locally, some were called regionally, some were called to go to their enemy and some were called to the very ends of the earth.

Jesus has the authority to command and Jesus did command his disciples. To do what? Go therefore and make disciples. How were they to do it? They were to make disciples through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus commanded them to make disciples and to teach the new disciples to observe all that he had commanded. Therefore, we as disciples are also commanded to make disciples. For how long? He is with us always to the end of the age. So, until the end of the age.

The Great Commission is a command and it is for every believer. To answer the question, is it still relevant nearly 2000 years later? Yes, because it’s not the end of the age and Jesus is still building his church. The Great Commission is awesome, every believer should be in awe of. It is remarkable that the King of Kings would redeem sinners through only his finished work and then invite those that He has purchased with His blood to be a part of the building of his church, not because he needs us but because he is sovereign. It doesn’t make since to use broken sinners but he chooses to. Knowing what I know about myself I wouldn’t choose me and you probably wouldn’t choose you either. But if by faith you have trusted that he has redeemed you, then he has also called you and chose you, so obey him and his Great Commission. You’re not called everywhere, but you’re called somewhere. So GO, you have been sent by Jesus himself the Son of God and he promises to be with you until the end of the age.