The Great Commission: What Did Jesus Really Ask the Church to Do?

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He left His disciples with a clear assignment. It was not a suggestion. It was a command that would define the mission of His Church.

In Mark 16:15, Jesus said:

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

The Gospel was never meant to remain within the walls of a church building. It was to be carried into homes, cities, nations and to the ends of the earth.

Matthew 28:19-20 gives us another dimension of this command:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them… teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.

Jesus did not simply ask the Church to gather converts. He commanded us to make disciples. The assignment is to introduce people to Christ, lead them into a relationship with Him, and teach them to live according to His Word.

And why is this message so important?

Because Jesus is the way to God.

He declared in John 14:6:

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Through His death, burial and resurrection, Jesus opened the way to the Father. The Gospel is therefore not merely a message of encouragement; it is the proclamation of what God has done through Christ to reconcile humanity to Himself.

After His resurrection, Jesus made the assignment even clearer. In Acts 1:8, He told His disciples:

You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

And they obeyed.

Peter preached, and thousands responded to the Gospel (Acts 2:41). The disciples continued teaching in Jerusalem despite opposition (Acts 5:42). Philip went to Samaria and “preached Christ to them” (Acts 8:5). The Gospel crossed cultural and geographical boundaries when Peter was sent to the house of Cornelius (Acts 10). Paul and Barnabas traveled from city to city preaching Christ and establishing churches (Acts 13-14).

The command Jesus gave them is the same command given to us.

We may live in a different generation, speak different languages and use different technologies, but the assignment has not changed: go, preach, make disciples and be witnesses of Christ.

Jesus has established His kingdom, and we have been entrusted with the privilege of proclaiming its King. We are not called merely to occupy seats in the Church; we are called to take the Gospel to the nations.

Some will go across borders. Some will go to the street next door. Some will preach. Some will disciple. Some will pray. Some will give and send those who go.

But every believer has a part to play.

The question is no longer whether the Great Commission applies to us.

The question is: What part are we playing in it?