Great Commission
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| Major events in Jesus's life in the Gospels |
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In Christian tradition, the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples, that they spread the faith to all the nations of the world. It has become a tenet in Christian theology emphasizing mission work and evangelism. It has been a primary basis for Christian missionary activity.
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[edit] Gospel accounts
The most familiar version of the Great Commission is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew 28:16-20:
- Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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."(NIV)
Other versions of the Great Commission are found in Mark 16:14-18, Luke 24:44-49, Acts 1:4-8, and John 20:19-23. All these passages record words of Christ spoken after his resurrection.
[edit] Interpretations
The commission from Jesus suggests that his followers have the duty to go, teach, and baptize. Although the command was initially given directly only to Christ's Eleven Apostles, Christian theology has typically interpreted the commission as a directive to all Christians of every time and place, particularly because it seems to be a restatement or moving forward of the last part of God's covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:3.
Commentators often contrast the Great Commission with the earlier Limited Commission of Matthew 10:5-42, in which they were to restrict their mission to their fellow Jews, to whom Jesus referred as "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24).
Textual critics note that the portion of Mark 16 which records the commission is not found in two of the oldest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus. The response generally given is that this is immaterial, as essentially the same thing is quoted as having been said by Jesus in at least three other New Testament passages, and additionally that the passage in question was regarded as part of the canon of the scriptures throughout most of Church history.
Some believe that the Great Commission was already fulfilled based on the statements "And they went out and preached everywhere," (Mark 16:20), "the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven," (Colossians 1:23), and "Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations," (Romans 16:25-26). [1]
Since the versions of the great commission vary from each other, are attributed to the resurrected Jesus, and do not appear at all in some the earliest examples of the gospels--scholars of the historical Jesus (such as the Jesus Seminar) generally portray the statement as a later editorial addition to the text.
[edit] See also
- Disciple (Christianity)
- Great Commandment
- Seventy Disciples
- Second Coming
- Expounding of the Law
- Missionary
