Tag: Matthew 28:19

  • The Royal Mandate, Matthew Part 6 of 7

    The Royal Mandate, Matthew Part 6 of 7

    The Royal Mandate

    Welcome back to The King and His Kingdom. We have journeyed from Jesus’ royal identity to His fulfilment of Scripture, His global rescue, His formation of a new family, and His unfailing presence with His people. Each part has carried us forward — not toward an ending, but toward a beginning.

    Now we arrive at the sixth movement: the risen King sends His people. Matthew closes his Gospel with a royal command that defines the church’s identity and purpose. The King does not only call people into His Kingdom — He sends them into the world under His authority.

    This is the heart of Part 6: the church is sent — making disciples is our mission and purpose.

    What Matthew Teaches

    Matthew shows that the risen Jesus gathers His disciples on a mountain — a familiar place where God reveals His purposes. The One who once walked to the cross now stands alive. His authority spans heaven and earth. Nothing lies outside His rule.

    On that foundation, He gives His disciples their task. They are to go, baptise, and teach — not merely spreading ideas but forming disciples who live under His commands. This is not a suggestion. It is a royal commission.

    To baptise in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is to bring people into a new identity. Their lives now belong to God Himself. They are drawn into the life of the Trinity — welcomed into fellowship with the Father through the work of the Son and sealed by the Holy Spirit.

    To teach them to obey everything Jesus commanded is to nurture a new way of life. Discipleship is not momentary; it is lifelong. It forms whole lives under the gracious rule of the King.

    This mission is global. The disciples are sent to “all nations.” Jesus does not limit the scope to one people or place. The grace of the King extends across every boundary. Matthew began his Gospel by naming Jesus as the One who would save His people from their sins. He ends it by sending His followers with that same message into the world.

    Matthew notes that some of the disciples worshipped while others hesitated. Their uncertainty did not disqualify them. Jesus did not send them away or replace them. Instead, He grounded them in His authority and entrusted His mission to them. The weight of the mission does not rest on their inner strength; it rests on Him.

    At the heart of this mission lies a great promise: Jesus will be with His people until the end of the age. The command and the promise belong together. The church goes because the King leads. The church speaks because the King empowers. His authority sends, and His presence sustains.

    The Spirit Who Enables

    Matthew shows that the mission Jesus entrusts to His people is not carried out in human power alone. Earlier, when He first sent His disciples out, He told them they need not worry about what to say when they were brought before authorities. In that moment, what they needed would be given to them. They would speak yet not speak alone. The Spirit of their Father would speak through them (Matthew 10:19–20).

    This reveals something vital. The King who commands His people to go also gives them divine help. The Holy Spirit upholds their mission. The disciples are not left to invent strategies to make their words effective. The Holy Spirit Himself enables their witness. False confidence is emptied; God supplies what is needed.

    When Jesus later commands baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, He makes this truth unmistakable. The mission is rooted in the life of God. The Spirit’s work is not an optional influence but God’s gracious provision. He strengthens, guides, and gives courage to fearful hearts so that they may bear witness with truth and love.

    The King sends, and the Spirit enables.

    Why This Matters

    Matthew teaches that discipleship is not private. The risen King does not call His people into a quiet corner to reflect privately on what He has done. He sends them into the world to make disciples — beginning in their homes and cities and stretching to every land.

    This outward movement is not driven by guilt or pressure, but by the authority of Jesus and the enabling power of the Spirit. The One who commands is the One who remains. His rule is not distant; His presence is active.

    This matters because it aligns us with God’s purpose. From the opening chapters, Matthew has shown that Jesus came to save. Now, at the end, Jesus sends His followers to share that salvation. The church’s mission arises not from human creativity but from the King Himself.

    Discipleship touches every part of life. To be baptised is to belong to God. To be taught to obey is to live under the King. Jesus’ commands are not burdensome; they reveal the way of life we were made for. Discipleship is not simply learning about Jesus but learning to walk with Him.

    This mission also matters because it is global. The Gospel carries dignity across cultures. It does not erase them but welcomes them into the Kingdom. Every person is invited; no nation is too distant.

    The promise of Jesus’ presence gives unshakable hope. He does not send His people alone. He walks with them, opening hearts as they speak. Their confidence does not rest on what they can accomplish but on who He is. Even when opposition arises, the Spirit of the Father speaks through His people. He enables what He commands.

    This truth frees us from self-reliance. The mission is not carried by human charisma, planning, or strength. It is carried by the King and empowered by His Spirit. Our role is obedience; His presence gives power.

    Hope and Challenge

    The Great Commission lifts our eyes beyond ourselves. For believers, it brings dignity and clarity. Whether speaking to a neighbour, encouraging another believer, or quietly serving, every act offered to Christ participates in this mission. Nothing is wasted.

    The challenge is real. Some feel hesitant or fearful. Yet Matthew records that even among those who bowed in worship, some doubted. Jesus sent them anyway — and promised to be with them. Our frailty does not cancel His calling.

    For seekers, this is an invitation. The King who sends His people is the same King who invites all to follow Him. To become a disciple is to receive forgiveness, to learn His ways, and to walk with Him. The Spirit does not simply help those already strong; He strengthens those who come weak.

    The mission is vast, but no one is sent alone. The King goes with His people. The Spirit speaks through them. The Father holds them fast.

    Conclusion

    Matthew does not end with a farewell. He ends with a command and a promise. The risen Jesus, with all authority, sends His followers to make disciples among all nations, baptising in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to live under His gracious instruction.

    The church is therefore not merely gathered — it is sent. Its mission is not rooted in human cleverness but in the authority of the King. Its power does not rise from within but from the Spirit of the Father who speaks through His people. Its hope does not rest on circumstance but on the promise of Jesus’ unshakeable presence.

    The mission is global.
    The power is divine.
    The King is with His people — always.

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  • More Than a Crowd. Matthew 4 of 7

    More Than a Crowd. Matthew 4 of 7

    Jesus’s Call to a New Community.

    Welcome back to “The King and His Kingdom,” our seven-part journey through the Gospel of Matthew. In the first three parts, we have encountered Jesus as the promised King—the fulfilment of ancient hopes, the One who extends God’s rescue from Israel to all nations.

    Now a deeply personal question emerges: What happens when we respond to His invitation?

    We live in an age of unprecedented connection, yet profound isolation. The human heart aches for belonging, for community, for family. We were not made to be alone.

    Many imagine faith as something private and individual—a quiet arrangement between the soul and God. But Matthew reveals something far richer. When Jesus calls people to Himself, He does not gather scattered individuals. He forms a family.

    This is the heart of Part 4: To follow Jesus is to belong—to Him, and to His people.

    The Open Invitation.

    Every family has a doorway. For the family of Jesus, that doorway is His invitation in Matthew 11:28:

    “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

    The only qualification is need.

    Jesus does not call the strong, the sorted, or the spiritually impressive. He invites the exhausted—those carrying burdens too heavy to bear, those who have reached the end of themselves. This is astonishing grace. To enter His rest, we do not first make ourselves worthy. We simply come.

    Notice the invitation is not to a system, a philosophy, or a set of rules, but to a Person: “Come to Me.” Jesus Himself is the source of rest. He offers what no religion, achievement, or human effort can provide.

    This new community begins not with accomplishment, but with welcome. Not with status, but with need. Not with perfection, but with honesty. Every member stands on the same ground: all come weary, all receive grace. This shatters our ideas of self-sufficiency. The family of God is built not on our strength, but on our shared need for His mercy.

    For anyone seeking, this is breathtaking news. You do not have to fix yourself to be welcomed. You are invited in your weariness.

    From Crowd to Called.

    Early in Matthew’s Gospel, large crowds follow Jesus. They listen, marvel, and press close. But as His ministry unfolds, something shifts. Jesus begins calling individuals to walk with Him—to learn, to leave old lives behind, to share life together.

    A gentle distinction forms: the crowd listens; the disciples belong.

    As these disciples follow Jesus from village to village, they are shaped together—not only by His words, but by shared experience. This prepares them for a moment when Jesus reveals the new reality He is bringing into existence.

    The Called-Out Ones.

    At Caesarea Philippi, after months of walking with Jesus, Peter makes the great confession: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

    Jesus responds with a profound promise in Matthew 16:18: “On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

    This is the first time the word “church” appears in Matthew’s Gospel. The word Jesus uses is ekklesia—a Greek term that does not describe a building or an event, but a people. A called-out assembly.

    We are the ekklesia: the called-out ones.

    This is the core idea. God is calling people out of isolation, out of the kingdoms of this world, and into a new spiritual family. This family is not defined by bloodline, nationality, or social standing. It is defined by one thing: faith in Christ. We are a family built on the shared confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

    Three truths emerge from Jesus’s promise:

    Jesus Builds. “I will build My church.” The church does not begin with human initiative. It is His work. He gathers, He forms, He sustains. This is an incredible comfort. The community we belong to is not held together by our feeble efforts but by the power of the King Himself.

    It Belongs to Him. “My church.” This family carries His name. Its identity is rooted in Christ—not in heritage, ability, or accomplishment.

    It Will Stand. “The gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Even the powers of death and darkness cannot destroy what Jesus establishes. This family has a divine guarantee.

    We belong not because we hold tightly, but because He does. This speaks directly to our need for belonging. We are not merely admirers of Jesus; we are members of His household. To be a Christian is to be part of a “we.”

    A Family with a Mission.

    This new community is not called to be an inward-only fellowship. Jesus gathers—and then He sends.

    After His resurrection, the King gives His family their purpose in Matthew 28:19: “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.”

    The invitation of Matthew 11 becomes the commission of Matthew 28. Those who have found rest now extend that rest to others. Those who have been welcomed now welcome.

    This connects everything. The new community of faith is the very instrument God uses to accomplish His global rescue plan. Following Jesus is not a solo activity, because the mission He gives us is not a solo mission. We are called to go together, to make disciples together, to baptise new members into this family together.

    This is not work for isolated believers. Jesus gives this commission to His gathered disciples. It is communal work—obeyed together, lived together, shared together. We grow by supporting one another. We persevere by encouraging one another. We reach the world by going together.

    The church is both the fruit of the mission—new people welcomed—and the instrument of the mission—disciples making disciples. Christ builds His family; His family carries His invitation to the world.

    Belonging in a Restless World.

    Loneliness wears many faces. It can settle in a crowded room. It can linger in a busy life.

    Jesus meets that ache with Himself—and with His people. He calls the weary to rest. He calls the lost into His household. He calls the alone into communion.

    This means we are not meant to carry our burdens alone. We are not meant to struggle alone, grow alone, or serve alone. Faith is never merely “me and Jesus.” It is “Jesus—and us with Him.”

    To follow Christ is to step into a shared life. A life of encouragement, prayer, learning, forgiveness, patience, and mission. In this family, every believer receives a place. No one is unnecessary. No one is forgotten.

    For seekers, this family welcomes you. The Church is not a museum for saints but a hospital for all who know they are weary and burdened. It is a place to belong.

    For believers, this is a vital reminder. Do not try to live this life alone. You were not meant to. You have been brought into a new spiritual family. The fellowship of the ekklesia is not optional; it is the God-designed context for your faith, your rest, and your mission.

    More Than a Crowd.

    Jesus calls us into something deeper than interest or admiration. He forms a spiritual household.

    A family that begins with invitation: “Come to Me.”

    A family built on confession: “You are the Messiah.”

    A family held secure by the One who builds it: “I will build My church.”

    A family sent with purpose: “Go and make disciples.”

    What an astonishing King—who not only saves us, but adopts us, gathers us, and calls us His very own family.

    Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

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