“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 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.’”

Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)

For many, this is a familiar passage. We know about our commission by Christ to go into all the world and preach the gospel. For many, that seems like a daunting task. How can we go in the world and be effective in reaching the lost? When we look at the vast amount of people around us, we feel small. That is where this passage really shines.

This passage, while it does contain the Great Commission, is not simply a command for Christians. Look with me at v. 18. Jesus does not start out by giving a command. Rather, he starts out by telling us that all authority over all things has been given to Him. There is nothing that isn’t under his control. If we then skip to the last part of v. 20, we see that Jesus promises us that He will be with us to the end of the age. To better understand the implication, let’s rearrange the passage. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” This is Jesus’ promise. We then look to the commission: “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.” If we look at it in this order, we see that the commission is not a command, but rather the result of Jesus’ sovereignty and promise to be with us! We go because we have nothing to fear for Christ is over all and above all and is with us.

As you go this week, remember that God is in control and He is with you. Proclaim His good news with boldness. For if God is for us, who can be against us!