Making disciples

“All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

How could a religious establishment that taught and studied God miss the fact that God was before them? Jesus said that they did not understand the scriptures. In Martin Luther's time, it was very similar. He was a very devote monk whom practiced religious rituals, self-abasement, and asceticism at a monastery for five years. He knew something was missing and it was when he began to read the scriptures, did he begin to understand and see the false teachings and practices of the religious establishment of the day.

It was very much like Paul’s experience when Ananias laid hands on him and he was filled with the Spirit  “and immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales” (Acts 9:18). In Paul’s eyes he thought he was doing the right thing, God’s thing. Paul states, “Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:13-14).

Jesus said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). In Jesus’s day and during Martin Luther’s a great part of society was ostracized by false teachings in the name of God. Jesus Himself was ostracized because He broke the laws and traditions of men. Jesus said He did not come to do away with the law but to fulfill it so that our righteousness would exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5: 17-20). So Jesus hung out with tax collectors and sinners, the "unclean" according to religious men who did not understand God.  

Today is no different. Jesus wants us to be like Him, reflecting His image, a light to a dark world, the salt of the earth, we must do as He did; hang out with tax collectors and sinners. We must love our neighbor. When Jesus gave this commandment, someone asked "who is my neighbor?" He responded by telling the story of the Good Samaritan which is about a man lying on the side of the road, in a ditch, all beat up. A priest and a levite, whom should have known better, passed him by. It was a Samaritan, an outcast of society, who understood God’s love and helped. 

Jesus came and was crucified by the religious establishment, to them He was a lawbreaker. But He came, died, and rose again so that sinners might come to Him. Only in Him does our righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. He taught and made disciples, teaching them with authority. His word is authority, “he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).

We read His word today because His disciples wrote it down. We see His word spread throughout the world because His disciples made disciples. At the Last Supper Jesus washes the feet of the disciples and states, “for I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.” He did more than wash their feet, He made them disciples. For three years Jesus devoted much time and teaching to 12 men, it was more than a once a week, one hour gathering. Jesus was intimately involved daily in the lives of his disciples, he is our example.

“All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” -- Jesus Christ