I am always a little puzzled by the teaching of the “Great
Commission.” Most puzzling to me is not what it says, but why we only teach a
portion of its message. Any Google search of the term “Great Commission” will
tell you it is covered in Matthew 28:18-20, but did you know it was also
witnessed by Mark, Luke and John?
Matthew 28:18-20: And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Mark: 16:15-18: And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Luke 24:46-49: And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
John: 21-23: Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
In order to fully understand the "Great Commission" we must look at all 4 witness accounts. Of course because these are 4 accounts of the same event, there will be some similarities, but even in the differences we see that God intended to use all 4 accounts to give us insight into what He commanded his disciples to do. In addition to the study of all 4 accounts of Jesus' words, we also have the luxury of looking in the book of Acts to see how they were interpreted by His disciples.
Above is a simple chart taken from all 4 accounts in a way that shows similarities of each. It is clear that the message of Jesus was to go (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) into the world (all nations, Matthew, Mark, Luke) and preach or teach (Matthew, Mark, Luke) them to obey His commands and to baptize them in the name of Jesus (Father Son and Holy Ghost, Matthew, Mark, Luke), for the remission of sins (Luke, John) and that they would receive the promise of the Father (Power from on high, the Holy ghost, Mark, Luke, John), which would then give them power to perform miracles if they would believe (Mark).
The Old Testament prophet Joel foretold that there would come a day when God would "...pour out my Spirit upon all flesh (Joel 2:28)." The book of Acts 2, according to the Apostle Peter, was the fulfillment of this prophesy (Acts 2:16). This chapter begins with the words "And when the days of Pentecost was fully come." Pentecost (Also called Shavout or the feast of weeks) was the Old Testament celebration of the giving of the law to Moses 50 days after God delivered the children of Isreal from Egypt. So what does it mean when Luke recorded that the day of Pentecost had "Fully Come?" Jeremiah revealed this to us (Jeremiah 31:31-33) when he said God would "make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah" by putting His "laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds (Also Hebrews 10:16)." So not only was the pouring out of God's Spirit on His people the fulfillment of Joel's words, but also of the giving of the law by now putting His law in our hearts and minds.
But does Acts chapter 2 match the great commission?
Verse 3 says they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit of God gave them (Mark, Luke, John) .... Because Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom (Matthew 16:19) to bind and loose things in heaven and Earth, he stood and gave the first New Testament sermon. When the crowd of Jews were convicted about having killed this man Jesus whom God had made "Both Lord and Christ, they asked Peter ... "What do we do now? (Acts 2:37-38) Peter said unto them, Repent (Luke) and be baptized (Matthew, Mark, Luke) every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ (Mark, Luke, further interpreting Matthew's NAME of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost is) for the remission of sins (Luke, John) and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Mark, Luke, John) ... "And many wonders and signs were done by the Apostles (Acts 2:43, Mark).
So the Great Commission is not one passage, but consists of 4 witness accounts, one by each of the writers of the 4 gospels, and gives us a more well rounded view of the actual words of Jesus on that day.
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12, Webster Bible).
