↗️ Matthew 28:19-20 | "Therefore go and make disciples..."

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📧 In today’s email…

• 🤔 The purpose of Matthew

• 🗣️ Jesus’ last words

• ✝️ Our mission, if we choose to accept

Let’s dig in…

 🧠 Memorize

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,

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Matthew 28:19-20

Author & Audience Context: Matthew ✍️ 

• Author:

  • Matthew is traditionally associated with the apostle Matthew, also known as Levi, who was a tax collector before following Jesus.

• Date:

  • Matthew’s gospel was written between AD 80 and 90, though some scholars argue for a date as early as AD 60.

• Original Audience:

  • Matthew’s audience was primarily Jewish Christians and believers who were well-versed in Jewish traditions and Old Testament Scriptures 📖 

  • We see this in Matthew’s emphasis on the fulfillment of Scripture’s prophecies and the genealogy of Jesus going back to David and Abraham 🌳 

• Purpose:

  • The main purpose of the Gospel of Matthew is to present Jesus as:

    • The Messiah from the line of David

    • The authoritative Teacher or “new Moses”

    • God with us (Immanuel)

Passage context: The Last Words 🗣️

Let’s set the scene of our memory verses this week.

Jesus is back from the dead (minor detail).

He’s received with utter shock from his closest friends and followers.

BUT he isn’t sticking around forever. After 40 days, he’s leaving.

With his disciples gathered, Matthew 28:19-20 makes up Jesus’ last words — or at least, the last words recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.

Proximity to leaving tends to heighten our sense of what is most important in life.

Whenever I leave my wife and 3 kids for a work trip, the last words I say to them carry more gravity. And I hug them a lot tighter.

Think about it.

If you knew you weren’t going to be with a friend or family member for a long time, each moment becomes even more precious to you and those around you.

This is the context of the passage we’re studying this week:

Jesus with his closest friends, right before he ascends to the Father.

💡 Try to feel the weight of setting and put yourself in that headspace as you engage with our passage this week.

Apply & Respond: Prepping for the week 🙏 

With limited time left with his followers, what does Jesus prioritize?

What are his final instructions? What does Jesus say with his “last words”?

He says to:

If my words as a father carry extra weight before leaving for a trip, how much more do Jesus’ final words before leaving carry extra weight?

These final instructions are the call his disciples and all future generations share.

It’s the blueprint for how to continue the ministry that Jesus started.

This is the most important task we have during our lifetimes.

Jesus is passing the baton. It’s our turn now.

But we are not alone as we accomplish these important instructions! Jesus ends this commission by saying:

Translation?

We are not alone. (Thank God! 😅)

So as we prepare for this week, let’s remember that we don’t disciple, baptize, and teach on our own. We are empowered by the very Spirit of God.

Pray 🙏

Lord, make this familiar verse fresh this week. Reveal yourself in a new way and wake up my heart to the urgency and gravity of this command.

Help me connect with the fact that this command was not just for your first disciples, but that it is for ME to carry out.

I love you Lord. Speak to me through your Word and your people this week.

Amen 🙏

Read 📖

Take the time to read Matthew 28:1-20 today.

As you read, note how the text speaks about the power and authority of Jesus.

👂️ Bonus: Listen to it in the morning to remind yourself of your mission.

Listen 🎵 

The power of music is incredible. I love that God created us in a way that we can perceive beauty and be moved by art.

There are songs that just seem to hit you in the soul and move you in a way that can’t be described.

This is one of them for me. I hope it helps you meditate on our memory verse this week.

Click here to listen on Apple Music | Click here to listen on Spotify