Saturday
Saturday
Worldwide Mission
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”
Matthew 28:18–19
It is important to observe that the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations stems from the resurrection. Only after Jesus had risen could he claim universal authority, and only then could he exercise it in sending his disciples into the world. It was the resurrection that made the difference.
This was the thesis of Johannes Blauw, formerly Secretary of the Netherlands Missionary Council, in his book The Missionary Nature of the Church. He pointed out that in the Old Testament the prophets’ vision of the last days was of a pilgrimage of the nations to Jerusalem, for Mount Zion would be exalted above all mountains, and all nations would flow into it like a river.
In the New Testament, however, the direction is reversed. The prophets’ “centripetal missionary consciousness” is now replaced by a “centrifugal missionary activity.” That is, instead of the nations flowing into the church, the church now goes out to the nations. And what was the turning point? It was the resurrection. The resurrected Lord Christ, who could claim universal authority, could exercise his authority in commanding his disciples to go. “Mission,” Blauw concludes, “is the summons of the lordship of Christ.”
The essential link between the universal authority of Jesus and the universal commission of the church pervades Scripture. For example, we see it in Daniel 7, where the Son of Man is given authority so that all nations will worship him. We also see it in Philippians 2:9–11, where we are told that God has super-exalted Jesus and given him the name above every name, that is, the rank above every rank, in order that every knee should bow to him and every tongue confess him Lord. If God wants universal homage to be given to the risen Lord, we must want it too.
For further reading: Matthew 28:16–20