Go and Teach

10/27/2020

Matthew 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach [disciple] all nations.”

Right now in our country, many parents are teaching their children at home either full-time or part-time, depending on their town’s school districts response to Covid. This was not something that most parents thought they would be doing, but hey, it’s 2020, the year full of changes. Unless you have some sort of teaching background, you may feel unprepared and ill-equipped for such a task. (Actually, even some teachers I know felt this way as well.) They are doing their best, however, like we all are during this unusual time.

Parents of school-aged children are the people that came to mind when I read the verse above. Jesus, after His resurrection, charged His followers to go and teach all nations. This is known as The Great Commission. With all that they had witnessed and were now experiencing, this was probably an overwhelming thought. I would imagine they did not feel up to this monumental task. How in the world would they be able to teach all nations? They walked with, and heard, the words of Jesus first hand, but they were not Him. There are, however, comforting words for the disciples following the charge. Verses 19 & 20: “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.” The only way such a thing could be possible is because Jesus would always be with them. He had taught them personally. They had also witnessed Jesus perform miracles, and beheld His death and resurrection. They could go and teach when charged because they had been taught by the Master, and they knew Him. Their risen Lord Jesus could do this monumental task through them.

Every Christian has the same calling, to disciple others. I may feel that I am not up to such an imperative calling in my humanity, but just like those original people who walked with Jesus, I am never alone. He teaches me through His Holy Word, and because I know Him, He will also be with me until the end of the age. If I am willing and bold, He will enable me to witness to others. The same Holy Spirit that flowed through them also flows through us.

Chambers would have us remember this: “Jesus Christ did not say—Go and save souls (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but—‘Go and teach,’ i.e., disciple, ‘all nations,’ and you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself.”