Daily Devotions
The "Therefore" in the Great Commission
Reading for August 11th: Isaiah 64-66
Weekly reading for August 9-15: Matthew 25-28
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples..."
Matthew 28:18-19
What makes the Great Commission so powerful is the way Jesus connects His call for us to make disciples of Him and His authority.
We've seen this before in Matthew. Before the "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew 5-7 we read that Jesus was "proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people." (Mt 4:23) What's the point of that? Jesus' ability to heal demonstrated His authority.
Before Jesus sent out the disciples on the "Limited Commission" (Mt 10) we see Jesus once again "proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction." (Mt 9:35) Again, Jesus demonstrated His authority.
How does this motivate us to go and make disciples? We know that Jesus has the answers to our greatest need. Jesus can heal our greatest disease. He speaks with authority. His credentials are unquestionable. We can have absolute confidence in Him. Let's go and call people to follow our Lord!
Father, thank You for giving us confidence in our Lord's authority. Give us strength and courage to boldly call people to follow Him.
