Week 3 - He is for you
Matthew 28:16-20
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus lives! He lives today as much as he did in AD 33. The great commission is one of those stories that seems to be so simple it is almost unbelievable but it is one of the greatest commands that Jesus ever gave to us. There is a relevancy to all of us in this.
The passage starts of with the disciples travelling to where Jesus told them to go. Jesus commanded them to go there and they followed – similar to how we follow God’s calling on our lives. It is amazing to see the obedience of the disciples and how that in itself is a model of how to be like Christ – through complete obedience to God.
When they saw him they worshipped, but some doubted. Being a Christian isn’t easy, in fact it is probably one of the hardest things you could possibly do but it is life giving and fills you with a purpose that you have never felt before. Do you ever have times where you seriously question and wonder what on earth is going on? They could be small doubts they could be big doubts.
Whatever the size of these doubts it is okay to doubt – in fact it is healthy and boosts your faith even more. Jesus knows exactly what we are going through and he is with us every single step. I’m reminded of the song Guardian when I read this where it says, “You go before me, you’re there beside me, and if I wonder, Love will find me, goodness and mercy will always follow, you go before me, my guardian.” God doesn’t leave us. He is with us every step of the way – both the mountains and the valleys. He never leaves.
Now we get to the part which is the most important. Jesus tells us to make disciples of ALL nations and baptising them into the trinity and the family that is the church. This is massive. We are the disciples today. You are a disciple of Jesus Christ. Every day you are being formed into a disciple of Jesus and it is one of the best things that could ever happen to you. It doesn’t matter if you are 80 or 8, God will use you for his kingdom to allow others to know about him and his goodness. We are called to make disciples of everyone, not just one or two but every single person we see.
That in itself is daunting and intimidating but it is so much simpler than it first appears. Even smiling at someone or a simple act like putting others before yourself makes a massive difference. People notice a difference when you have Jesus in your life and it has the power to change lives around. I think back to when Shane Taylor visited one Sunday a couple of months ago and the difference that Jesus made in his life. If you haven’t heard his story then I encourage you to do so via the podcast on Spotify, Apple Music or the Website because that story is one of many of how Jesus has changed someone with no hope and no light into someone who is on fire for Jesus.
I want to end with this – Jesus never leaves us. He is always going to be with us until the end of time. The holy spirit is always with us and when we call out to God for guidance or help he always answers. It may not be in the way you imagined but God is for us, he is with us and best of all he LOVES us.