Perspective...Matthew 28:18-20

The Key to the Missionary’s Work

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” –Matthew 28:18-19

The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost will never be saved if we don’t go- He simply says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” (Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, Oct 14)

"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" - As one of the last things that Jesus said before he ascended back into Heaven, there is quite a bit of meaning in these few words. In these few words Jesus acknowledges that He is God. Not only does He have power of diseases, sin and death, but over all of heaven and earth. In this statement, He clarifies that He is not lower than God himself but equal.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." - As an early Christian, I remember a sermon I heard where the Pastor mentioned the word "therefore" and said that whenever you come across this word in the Bible, you should stop and see what it is there for. Before this word is the command "Go". Not sit, not just pray but Go and make disciples. It's going to take work, but it must be important because Jesus said it. And then we stop at the word therefore and discover what Jesus is calling us to do. To make disciples of all nations. We are called by Jesus to tell others about His love, that He always has, and that He always will. We are equipped with the Holy Spirit so that what God did for us by sending Jesus to the cross and raising Him from the dead can be shared through us to others. 

In the paragraph that follows the verse where Chambers provides a short devotion from the scripture, he says, He does not say that the lost will never be saved if we don't go- He simply says, 'Go...' As I read that small sentence, a weight lifted off my back as I realized that Jesus does all the work. He gives us the strength, power, courage and words to say for in the verse that follows 19, Jesus says I am with you always. He is with me, whether I am here in San Diego or across the seas in another part of the world. His promise goes with His command and He challenges us to hold on to His promise and take up His cross and Go. 

The last few days, I have been thinking about the word perspective. It really does change everything when you look at a conversation, a statement, an action, or an attitude through Jesus' eyes. He always see's the truth in a conversation, reality in a statement, opportunity in an action and genuineness in an attitude. As we go about our day, with boundless opportunities to display His love to others, I pray that we can acknowledge Jesus in all that we say, do and think and hold on to His promise that He is always with us, so that through His power and strength, people may come to know Him as their Savior. Whose eyes are you going to see this world through?