The Great Commission in Matthew 28 tells us to GO and make disciples. This mandate is unmistakable. The Greek word “GO” really means “as you are going”. So, as we are living our daily life, we are to make disciples. This mandate has been well-preached, well-taught, and certainly well-understood by Christians. Luke, in his gospel, also recorded a mandate and Great Commission from Jesus in Luke 24:44-49: Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” 

Luke 24:47 would perhaps be the best summary of this mandate. It gives us the message, the method, the man, and the map of this Great Commission from Jesus. The message of priority  is “repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. The method to be used is  “proclamation”. The man of the message to be proclaimed would be Jesus, “in His name”. The map of where all this should take place is “all nations” but it begins in “Jerusalem”, our very own backyard. Examining these four elements should encourage us to fulfill the Great Commission.

The message we are to share is repentance for the forgiveness of sins. There is not a need for us to opine on many other things in life. We are to focus on calling people to repentance, so they may receive forgiveness of sins. Our efforts are to bring people to Jesus; to salvation, for their eternity’s sake! What a worthwhile message that is! So, let us focus on sharing this message. 

The method to share this message given to us is proclamation. Webster defines the word proclaim in two ways: 1) to declare publicly, typically insistently, proudly, or defiantly and in either speech or writing and 2) to give outward indication of. Under this definition, we understand that we are asked to boldly speak this message. Speak to ensure that others know why we are Christians. Speak to ensure others know our reason for living. Speak to ensure others know of our eternal hope. Speak to ensure others know that we have repented to be granted the forgiveness of sins. And not of ourselves but as a gift of God’s abundant grace and mercy. We are to use our mouth and words.

The man that this message is to be proclaimed is Jesus Christ. It is in His name that anything is worthy of doing, but certainly in the work of the Great Commission! We do not proclaim this message in our own name as if we are so intellectual or we know of a secret. We do not do this as if we are the ones who are better than our audience. No. We proclaim this in Jesus’ name because He is the one who deserves the credit and honor. And we know that anything done in His name doesn’t return back void. So then, we share this message in Jesus’ name and not our own. 

After outlining the message, the method, and the man of this mandate, we are given a map of where it is to be taken. “All nations”, but beginning in “Jerusalem”. The goal is for the ends of the earth to know Christ, but without forsaking the work in our own backyard; or front yard for that matter! When was the last time we walked across the front yard to have intentional “Jesus conversations” with our neighbor? We support missionaries in far away land but do we share the message with our colleagues at work? The map outlined is so comprehensive but yet it doesn’t release us from doing the work in our very own life. It is easier to send a check to a missions agency. But it is much harder to do the work of discipling a young person who could be a missionary one day. This mandate requires us to do both and also all the work in between.

So, Luke makes it abundantly clear what the mandate is for us as Jesus-followers: to proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name to the ends of the earth but starting with the people who are in our immediate lives. May this unburden us from the perception that the Great Commission is reserved for missionaries but instead encourage us to the reality of fulfilling the Great Commission on a daily basis.