Jesus promised to be with his disciples in the task of making disciples until the end of the age. The commission to the church remains, even if the world has moved on. Os Guinness writes: The message is so familiar that people know it so well that they don’t know it. Yet at the same time they are convinced that they are tired of it.4 It is hard to make disciples in such a culture. What’s more, this culture is very adept at making its own disciples. Christians find themselves being discipled by the world. 

The risen Jesus proclaimed that all authority had been given to him. Of course all authority belonged to Jesus—he had just conquered death! But Matthew tells us in chapter 28 that while some worshipped, others doubted (28:17). Luke records a similar reaction from the disciples who met the risen Lord on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:25, 32). Jesus said that they were slow of heart—and yet when Jesus opened the Scriptures, their hearts burned within them. This mixture of worship and doubt, slowness of heart and burning hearts, may be a fair description of disciples today.1 And like the Apostles, the church—made up of vacillating disciples—has the task of making disciples of all nations.

We are so familiar with the directive to make disciples that we often overlook its basis. Jesus has all authority! Throughout Matthew’s account, the authority of Jesus has been demonstrated. He fulfilled the Old Testament. He had power over nature, sickness, the demonic and death. And yet his kingdom was secret and humble, likened to the insignificant mustard seed. The authoritative king entered Jerusalem for his coronation riding on a donkey!

The cross was his coronation and finest hour. The irony of the crown of thorns and the sign above the cross is not lost on the gospel writers. His submission to a Roman cross resulted in a victorious death over all that afflicts this creation and the humans who were made to rule it; his resurrection is the guarantee that the victory has been achieved. All authority has been given to Jesus!

Note that this authority is not just a ‘spiritual’ authority: it is authority over heaven and earth. There is nothing outside his authority. He is Lord of the secular. Individually we submit to his Lordship, but the authority of Jesus also demands universal allegiance. The gospel is public truth for the whole world.

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