Go Make Disciples (Matthew 28:19-20)

I have struggled the past couple of weeks to understand The Commission of God. God’s Commission is simple in theory yet hard in practice. “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all I have commanded you and behold, I am with you, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). This is the commission I have had memorized since I was a young child. It was one of those “memorize this verse and get a gold star next to your name” verses (for those of you who know what I am talking about).

To me, The Commission of God was important. Apparently too many pastors I had heard throughout my life, they also thought this passage were important. I can’t think of one situation where I attended a church that a pastor did not, at least once, teach on this verse. Their message basically went like this:

“Folks. Jesus told us to go. We need to go out and make disciples of all nations. We need to spread ourselves thin and reach the world for Jesus. This is after all, The Commission of God, is it not?”

Over the past couple of years, I have had the extreme joy and challenge to study biblical Greek at Lancaster Bible College and now at Biblical Theological Seminary. It was just a few weeks ago; I was challenged to write a paper for a class I am currently taking on the missional church. It was a broad assignment that left the door open for anything concerning the missional church and/or postmodernism. I began to consider what I would write on and thought a great idea would be to understand the differences in how we deduce positive growth in a Church in today’s culture. Still, as I considered the topic, I thought it was too broad of a thesis. It was then, in my Greek class, we began to look at participles. My mind went back to Matthew 28: 19-20 and asked how we should ultimately translate this passage in light the adverbial participles and the imperatives within the verse. Based on my understanding of the verbs listed within the passage, I would parse them this way:

Πορευθέντες
πορεύομαι: to go
verb, aorist, passive, participle, plural, nominative, masculine

μαθητεύσατε
μαθητεύω: to make a disciple
verb, aorist, active, imperative, second person, plural

βαπτίζοντες
βαπτίζω: to baptize
verb, present, active, participle, plural, nominative, masculine

διδάσκοντες
διδάσκω: to teach
verb, present, active, participle, plural, nominative, masculine

τηρεῖν
τηρέω: to obey
verb, present, active, infinitive

ἐνετειλάμην
ἐντέλλω: to command
verb, aorist, middle, indicative, first person, singular

In Greek, participles are verbal substantives (or verbal adjectives), meaning that participles can be used either as verbs or adjectives (The Basics of Biblical Greek, Mounce, 329).

As I have noted already, the aorist imperative of this verse is “μαθητεύσατε” (”make disciples”), making it the main verb. In many sermons I had heard before, the main thrust of the sentence seemed to fall on the “Go!” rather than “make disciples.” I have come to realize that the imparative is “make disciples” and therefore is the direct command Jesus is calling His disciples to do. The word “Go!” or “Πορευθέντες” fits into the “Attendant Circumstance” category of participles (Greek NT Insert, Chapman-shogren, 33). Attendant Circumstance participles normally are: aorist participles, aorist main verb, indicative or imperative main verb, and precede the main verb. Ultimately, it is impossible to make disciples if you are not going. Since the go is needed in order to make disciples, we need the participle “Go!” “Go!” is the driving force of the imperative. So, in essence, it would not be wrong to say, “Go make disciples of all nations.” This might seem like a small difference but it holds a great importance to the passage and ultimately The Commission of God.

Finally, we have to ask how we are to “make disciples.” Jesus tells us to do it through the means of baptizing and teaching these new disciples all that Jesus had taught them. The responsibility on those who accept The Commission of God is enormous. It is no small deal.

“Therefore, go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you and behold! I am with you, even till the end of the age.”

Thanks to “Grasping the Cross” for the insight and parsing which has made this passage more meaningful to me.  Thanks also to Scot McKnight for his quick response to an email I sent him regarding this verse.  I totally agree with you, brother.