Day 2

The commission Jesus gave His disciples 2000 years ago is also ours today – to “go and make disciples of all nations.”

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him.  —MATTHEW 4:18-20

The first words Jesus spoke to His disciples were: “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” The last words that Jesus spoke to His disciples were: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

Parents often write down the first words of their children; and history often records for posterity the last words of people who have had a positive influence in the world. We like to regard both as important.

Sandwiched between these first and last words of Jesus to His disciples was 3 years of ministry and activity that literally ‘turned the world upside down’, but they were commenced and concluded with the same challenge – to make disciples. 

As Jesus handed the baton to the disciples, they were then to be His means on earth of fulfilling His agenda of spreading the gospel, which meets the deepest human need: our need to be reconciled to God. The commission Jesus gave His disciples 2000 years ago is also ours today – to “go and make disciples of all nations.”

God’s plan is to reach the world through ordinary people, both then, in the first century, and now in our twenty-first century. 

Have you taken the baton, or are you watching from the sidelines?