Carl Peterson
Exegesis
Matthew 28:16 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had
designated. 17 And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 18 And Jesus came
up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and
the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even
to the end of the age." (NAS)
Chapter 28 concludes Matthew’s gospel, taking the reader from the discovery of the empty tomb
to Jesus’ appearance to the disciples at Galilee. It is helpful to recall that Mary Magdalene and
the women who accompanied her to the tomb were given the task to tell the disciples to proceed
to Galilee for two reasons. The role and view of women in the patriarchal Hebrew society would
cast doubt on anything they had to say. The disciples did not personally receive the message
from Jesus to proceed to Galilee. Despite these factors, the disciples went and encountered Jesus
who proclaims to them what we have come to know as the Great Commission. The Great
Commission gives us two primary items to work with in our Christian faith. Firstly, it affirms
Jesus missional stance to proclaim the sovereignty of God to everyone. Secondly, it is the
clearest Trinitarian statement in the Bible.
As a peripheral observation about this pericope, it is interesting to note that once again Jesus is
directing the disciples to a mountain. This is perhaps reminiscent of the people of Israel going to
Mt. Sinai, the mountain of God. This is, however, also consistent with the predominant settings
Matthew uses when Jesus teaches as Hebrew teachers spoke from raised platforms in the
synagogue and Matthew’s primary anticipated audience would have recognized the mountain
slope as a lace where the teacher would be above the audience. Returning to Galilee also brings
the disciples full circle, back to their origins and place from which to start their ministries.
In verse 19, Matthew uses the verb πορευθέντες (poreuthentes) as Jesus tells the disciples to go.
The form of this verb is a participle in the aorist tense. These two characteristics indicate an
activity of duration. The aorist tense does not imply past, present, or future, but imposes a look at
an action in its entirety in an imperfect (incomplete) aspect. The participle in Greek is conjugated
in the nominative masculine plural form, indicating it encompasses the disciples collectively.
The command or imperative form of this statement connoted that the disciples are to go and to
keep going. The infinitive form permits also that other actions can and should occur, as indicated
in the verb μαθητεύσατε (mathoteusate). This verb may be either transitive or intransitive and
may mean to be a disciple (intransitive) or make disciple (transitive). It is in this verb, conjugated
in the second person plural imperative form, that we can perceive the imperative nature of the
clause. The phrase “all the nations” serves as the object of the verb, indicating the transitive
nature of the verb, resulting in the correct interpretation as “making disciples.” The noun ἔθνος
(ethnos) is consistently used in Matthew’s gospel to indicate nations other than Israel. This
insight affirms the view that followers of Christ are to proclaim the good news to everyone in the
world and not solely to the people of Israel. Matthew has developed this theme throughout the
gospel writings, at first showing Jesus to be interested in serving only the Jews, then expanding
to include the Samaritans, the Roman centurion, and here concluding with everyone.
The command given is to baptize all the nations. Our word, baptism, comes from the Greek
βαπτίζω (baptizo) and means to dip or immerse. It is used in Mark and Luke to include washing
hands and of other Jewish ritual cleansings. It is more frequently used in Matthew, Acts, and 1
Corinthians in reference to the ritual immersion by John the Baptizer and Christians. In this
context it should be understood as a reference to the new practice of baptism, with connotations
of ritual cleansing carried over from Jewish tradition.
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Carl Peterson
Exegesis
The words Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are straightforward, guiding the interpretation fairly
clearly. If one were to read this sentence in isolation, there is no guidance that would point to the
Trinitarian interpretation and understanding. Each of these words, conjoined as they are in the
sentence, could refer to individual persons or deities. However, given the context of the entirety
of Matthew’s gospel, this interpretation cannot be accepted. Matthew dedicates the first twelve
chapters of the gospel to establishing the identity of Jesus as God present with humankind. These
same chapters set up the contrasts made in the latter chapters of the gospel between the earthly
kingdom and the heavenly.
The last clause of this pericope ends with “to the end of the age.” This phrase is differently
interpreted by scholars because of the breadth of meaning the Greek word holds. It can mean
“eternity” or “in perpetuity” or it can mean a specific era. Those who interpret this clause to
mean a specific era have attempted to predict the end of that time for centuries. More comforting,
though, is the interpretation of this to mean eternity. This fits with interpretations, such as in
Hebrews 4:14, which have Jesus as the great high priest for all eternity.
I want the sermon to be a call to proclaiming the good news locally and globally through word
and deed, emphasizing that as Jesus commands we must go out into the community and not wait
for the community to come to our doors. I selected this text because my sermon had already been
developed on the theme of servanthood as a means of proclaiming the gospel and this pericope
underscores the mandate to carry this out. I was intrigued in the exploration of this passage at the
verb about discipleship. I was surprised to learn that it could be both transitive and intransitive,
thus creating the connotation of both at the same time (stative and dynamic; to be or to make).
Our contemporary language would use the cliché “you must walk the walk to talk the talk” but
here it appears in the ancient Greek (connotatively). I also find the use of aorist tense interesting
each time it is encountered because the tense itself often indicates a “God’s eye” perspective
instead of a passage of time.
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