Matthew 28:18-20 reads: •And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. •Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, •teaching them to keep [observing] all that I have commanded †you; and behold, I am with †you always, until the completion of the age." (Modern Standard Version)
After rising from the dead, Jesus told his disciples that he had all authority in heaven and on earth. When he said that this authority had been given to him, he implied that the Father was the One who had given him this authority. That meant that his commands were to be obeyed. He proceeded to give his disciples the command known as the Great Commission.
The central verb in the Great Commission is "make disciples." A disciple is a follower who learns from his teacher. Implied here is that the disciples would look to Jesus as their leader and teacher. The verb is in the imperative mood/mode which implies that it is a command. Jesus told them to make disciples of all nations. Nations as a whole cannot believe; it is the people in the nations who believe. Because of this, it is perhaps better to understand it as an ablative genitive: "make disciples from all nations." The word nations here does not refer to the modern geographical divisions of nation states; rather, it refers to ethnic groups. A modern nation state make be comprised of many ethnic "nations." The command is not completed just because a group of people within a nation state have become disciples when there are other ethnic "nations" within that entity. The search for disciples must reach all the ethnic "nations" as well.
The verb "make disciples" is modified by three participles: going, baptizing, and teaching. When a participle is found with an imperative verb, it is known as an imperatival participle and has the force of a command.
The first participle is "going." One must go before disciples can be made. It is not stated where to go, but if disciples are to be made from all "nations," it would imply that the disciples are to go to all "nations." Occasionally, one hears someone say that "going" is a circumstantial participle and simply means "as one goes" with no force of a command (so the International Standard Version). Obviously, such people know a little Greek and have not yet advanced to studying participles that modify imperatives. Or, maybe they just want to avoid the command to go. Wisely, most English translations render this participle with the English imperative "Go."
The second participle is "baptizing." The word baptize comes from the Greek word baptizō which means "I immerse." Water is implied here. Failure to understand Greek has led to other uses of water that are mistakenly called baptism. Disciples are to be immersed "into" (Greek eis) the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. To be baptized into the name of someone means that one belongs to that person (see I Corinthians 1:12-14). It is problematic that English translations have translated the Greek words for "in," "into," and "on" all with the English word "in." Regrettably, some have made a distinction between being baptized in the name of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit and being baptized in the name of Jesus (quoting Acts 2:38 where the preposition is the Greek word epi "on"). Even if the Acts passage said "into the name of Jesus," there is little difference is saying that one belongs to God (as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and saying that one belongs to Jesus. Jesus is the only way to the Father and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus.
The third participle is "teaching." But here it is not just imparting knowledge. It is "teaching to keep all that I have commanded you." Knowledge of what Jesus commanded is obviously implied here, but the disciple must hold to Jesus' commands, that is, obey them. The present infinitive here implies continuous obedience. This makes the Great Commission recursive. It was given at first to the eleven. But as they taught disciples to keep all that he commanded, one of the things that he commanded was to go, make disciples, baptize, and teach them to obey his commands. So it continues on, even to this day.
Finally, Jesus ends with the promise that he is with his disciples, even all the days until the full end of the age. Since those first disciples did not survive until the end of this age and the command is recursive, this is assurance that he is still with the disciples that are still being made. He is with us as we continue to carry out his command called the Great Commission!
†Plural you
