The clause found in Mt 28:17, but some doubted, strongly suggests that there were more than eleven people meeting with Jesus on an undisclosed mountain in Galilee during the forty days of Christ’s post-resurrection appearances. It is also plausible that Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians (ca. 54-55 A.D.) made reference to those same people who were there approximately 25 years ago, many of whom were still living (cf. 1 Cor 15:6)!
The disclosure of the Great Commission in the Galilean mountains extends to all future believers (you and me) as well. We are still under the mandated objective to make disciples until Jesus decides when this commission is to come to a close. Though we may not baptize or teach personally, all of us are responsible, nonetheless, to be a witness of the truth about Jesus, a light set upon a hill, a lifestyle witness and a fisher of men in support of the GC in every which of way. But ignoring to personally fish or witness to a world that Jesus gave His life for is unsustainable in biblical thought.
(Mat 28:18) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
(Mat 28:19) Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
(Mat 28:20) teaching them to observe all things that
I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of
the age. Amen.
Notice in this Great Commission above, not the Great Option, the four all’s:
(1)
all authority (exousia, absolute sovereign right
or power),
(2)
all the nations (not just for the Jews, cf. Mt 10:5-6; 15:24),
(3)
all things (cf. Mt 4:4; 2 Acts 20:27; 2 Tim 3:16), and
(4) with you always (cf. Mt 1:23; Heb 13:5).
This Great Commission, which houses one direct command by Jesus, applied to all of His followers (the body of Christ) to make disciples (Mt 28:19; conversion is implied). How? By the three participles modifying the aorist imperative verb make: going, baptizing, and teaching (Mt 28:19-20), these participles take on the imperative mood of the main verb indirectly.
It is not within the scope of this article to jump into the syntax of the GC (Mt 28:18-20) and tackle the arguments of interpretation, but it is to remind all of us of our personal obligation to reach out to the world for Christ, and it starts right here in our own neck of the woods. Though the GC doesn’t speak of “witnessing,” per se; it is implied. What does a witness do? He/she tells what he/she knows about the truth of Jesus! The more we know and grow, the more we have to say about our wonderful Savior. Think about this word from Peter,
But sanctify
the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a
defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with
meekness and fear (1 Pet 3:15).
People are fearful of being a fisher of men due to willful ignorance of the Scriptures; I get it, but you don’t have to have all the answers; it is simply telling the truth of what you know about Jesus. Somehow, we have this notion that we have to have a great command of the knowledge of Scriptures to give us the confidence to be an effective witness. What we need is Someone, not something to be effective; I will get back to this.
I turned 45 in the Lord back on 1.19.21, and I most certainly have not “arrived.” There are so many things I do not know! Remember, an effective witness is impossible without the Holy Spirit living within the heart, and we are yielded to His leading. That is the great “missing” in being an effective witness for Christ. Paul declared,
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes … (Rom 1:16).
What I do know is this; you nor I can argue no one into heaven. We simply tell or answer others of what we know about the truth of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. God only knows how many witnessing situations He has placed us in, and we squandered the opportunity to possibly be a part of bringing about an eternal difference in the life of another through the Holy Spirit. Sadly, some believers think that if they remain ignorant that gives them a valid excuse not to witness!
Have you ever stopped to consider that even Jesus Himself could not win everybody that He came into contact with? He is the ultimate rejected One. Jesus will respect a person’s will even if he/she rejected His offer of salvation. They must come to Him freely of their own accord (Lk 13:34). The consequences of rejecting Jesus’ offer of salvation are a frightful prospect, but those who put up the hand in the face of Jesus have no fear of Yahweh or any idea what awaits them in a Christless eternity.
Who doesn’t dislike rejection, yes? When Israel wanted a king like the other nations, Samuel, the current judge over Israel, was reminded by Yahweh that he was taking it personally by saying to him that they were not rejecting his judgeship but His theocratic rule over them (1 Sam 8:7)! There is another notion that mistakenly thinks that inviting people to church is witnessing or fishing. I like people inviting others to church, but this is not fishing but inviting. People also feel awkward sharing their faith with others.
Feeling awkward reminds me that when it comes to rod and reel fishing or swinging a golf club, I don’t have it together. Other than that, I can pat my head and rub my belly simultaneously! I can recall a time when my son was around 8-12 years of age that we went fishing in the Florida Keys with my brother-in-law.
When we returned back to the cabin after fishing for some time, the ladies asked how it went because we had no fish to show for our effort? My brother-in-law answered, “Alex did fine, but I had to spend all my time untangling Michael’s line,” literally! He didn’t say that to be mean because it was tragically hilarious! I’m all thumbs down when comes to a rod and reel and casting. If you are bad at something, there is no reason to be embarrassed. If math is not my forte, why should I be embarrassed since I majored in aftermath in school?
Anyway, it would have been better had I just tagged along and watched my son and his uncle fish; they may have actually caught something? Fishing, like golfing (cow pasture pool), was not something I wanted to spend my time perfecting. Tangled lines and a handicap based on how many golf balls I lose are telltale signs of imperfection in those areas! I own no fishing gear, and my golf bag is hanging up in the attic; I accept it; I move on to things that I am better at.
When it comes to being fishers of men, we are all clumsy whenever we decide to leave the Holy Spirit out of our fishing trip and arrogantly rely on our own abilities to make it happen. It is akin to me trying to fish or play golf with some degree of success. I am awkward and uncoordinated, and I catch no real fish or experience a par; I spent more time looking for my golf balls than playing the sport!
Interpreters of the Scriptures can be very persuasive in restricting the meaning of a witness to some apostolic commission only. Indeed, the eleven apostles were great men to emulate, but they set a pattern for each of us through their own obedience to the Lord’s command (cf. Rom 15:4). A cogent argument comes from the One who is living within all believers, the Holy Spirit of God. There is much to say about this, but I will try to be brief.
Prior to the Ascension during the forty days of post-resurrection activities by Jesus, He had told His disciples about what was going to happen during the approaching feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem,
But
you shall receive power [Gk., dunamis, our Eng. word “dynamite” comes from
this word] when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses
[martus, our Eng. word “martyr” comes
from this word] to Me in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8, emphasis mine).
It
is only through the indwelling of the Person of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s heart today and His
power that enable us to do the will of God. Selah. One aspect of
His will is to be an effective witness as it was on the day of Pentecost (Acts
2), for example. Numerous people were filled and indwelt by the Holy Spirit of
promise on that day; and the power that resulted from it became self-evident: Jews were speaking in a foreign tongue a known language familiar to others (Acts 2:4, 6, 8), and not only that, 3,000+
souls were saved who believed and were added to the church (Acts 4:41, 47b).
There
was a lot more going on during this feast, but you get the gist of how
effective their witness was because they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). I am almost
positive that the Sanhedrin (the supreme civil and religious authority of
Israel who condoned Jesus’ crucifixion) was tickled pink over these contemporaneous
activities at Pentecost! Have you ever noticed that the world’s answer to
biblical Christianity is always to silence by death? You can’t silence Him who is eternal, yes!
Concerning the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, before that particular day at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was with man on a temporary basis (cf. Psa 51:11; Jn 14:17, will be in you). During this particular feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to abide on a permanent basis (cf. Jn 14:16, that He may abide with you forever). And it has been that way ever since. Halleluyah!
And by the way, we
have all of the Person of the Holy Spirit at salvation; what ebbs and
flows is His power in our lives (cf. Eph 5:18); God the Holy Spirit has
the same omnipotent power as God the Father and God the Son. It is through that very enablement
by the Holy Spirit that we need in order to be an effective witness for Christ in any
given situation.
This power ebbs and flows in our lives because, again, God will not override our will; it’s about faith not force for us to be used of God. Holy Spirit power is not unstable at all; we are. The power is unleashed based not upon our abilities but personal holiness (cf. Gal 5:16), handing our will over to the control of the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18) in order to dovetail our thoughts and actions to His sovereign purpose to bring glory to Him in any given situation. I love this observation from one commentator (lost citation!),
“…enthusiasm is the normal condition of a Spirit-filled life, and being a witness is its inevitable outcome.”
Are we catching that? It slaps me all over! God wants to be known; God desires for His plans for mankind to be known; God uses us as witnesses, filled with the Holy Spirit, to team up with general revelation (creation) and special revelation (His Word) to make it happen! The very fact that the Holy Spirit lives within every true believer is a testament for us to be – a witness for Him. Imagine where this thing could go for God if we unleash the power of the Holy Spirit through our total submission to Yahweh! How else do you explain the boldness to be a witness in NT times even while under the threat of death, yes?
God is in the saving business; we can’t save anyone, only God can. Our job is to be a credible witness worthy of Christ. At times, even with the Spirit’s leading, it didn’t turn out like we thought it would; this, too, must be left in the hands of the Lord. He knows what He is doing. We can only plant or water; it is God who gives the increase (cf. 1 Cor 3:7), yes?
Sometimes, we rush into spiritual battle without being fully equipped. We should not make a habit of that and remember the words of Paul to the Ephesians to put on the whole armor of God (Eph 6:11). We can ill-afford to engage in spiritual warfare unequipped because of who and what we are dealing with,
For
we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts
of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12).
It
is vital we are holy before the Lord and not out of fellowship with Him because
of some sin. It is the personal holiness aspect referred to earlier. God will
always bless His Word, but He will not bless our actions if we are living in
willful disobedience. Sometimes, out of our arrogance and fleshly impulses, God
will allow the enemy to put a few rounds into us; you know; those fiery darts (cf. Eph 6:16)? I
always get the point quickly!
Witnessing
or fishing for Christ is engaging in spiritual warfare because the opposing
forces of our Lord do not like these kinds of advancement into their territory
where they are a controlling influence. We entered this fight as soon as we
received Christ into our heart; did you know that?
We made a myriad of enemies with that one decision! The migration from darkness to light naturally puts us all on notice with the forces of darkness (Col 1:13; Eph 5:8; Jn 8:12): enemies of Christ friends with the devil, enemies of Satan friends with Christ.
Looking back over the years, it was a great, great decision for me to freely choose light over the darkness back on 1.19.1976! It was, is, and will be the best decision I have ever made, bar none, this side of eternity. I would rather make enemies and come out on the right side of eternity than be a friend of the world, have everything, and come out on the wrong side of forever! Are you tracking?
Since the command is for us all to make disciples, we need to be about the business of reaching others for Christ (going out fishing or witnessing!), being catchers of men. We can enlist a good Bible-believing church to help us with the baptizing and teaching, yes? So let me ask you, “Have you been fishing lately, or is your net hanging in the attic like my golf bag?” <><
(1Pet
3:14, NLT) But
even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So
don’t worry or be afraid of their threats.
(1
Pet 3:15, NLT) Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if
someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.
