Deeper Gospel 4: Jesus’ mission

Most people aren’t sure what to do with Jesus’ resurrection. For many it is merely the happy ending to a story of a wonderful ministry that climaxed in the self-sacrificing death on the cross. The cross saved us from our sins and opened the way to heaven for countless billions of people. The resurrection on the other hand …?

In our series that goes deeper into the Gospel we’ve been discovering that the good news about Jesus in the Scriptures is as much about how we our lives are being changed now as it is about life after death.

1. Being saved from sin means being given a fulfilling life of love now.
2. Being saved from self-centeredness means being given the gift of following Jesus as disciples; to be given a purpose in life beyond yourself.
3. Being saved is not a private thing but is a communal thing as you become part of God’s loving community- the Church.

This week we hear from Matthew 28:16-20 what a difference Jesus’ resurrection makes to our lives. It’s all about Jesus continuing the mission he started.

The resurrection is not a happy ending. It’s not an ending at all! It’s Jesus taking his earthly mission out of ‘first gear’ and putting it straight into ‘overdrive’. Note how everything gets bigger and wider in verses 18-20

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (TNIV)

At the start of Matthew Jesus ministry is just with ‘lost children of Israel’ Mt 10:5-8 but after the resurrection it is “all nations”. Earlier he was the Jewish Messiah but now “all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me”. In other words Jesus has been ‘promoted’ (elevated!) by God when he was resurrected, and now has authority to take the same mission to every nation- even Australia!

The mission is still the same mission as before “make disciples … teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” But he now does his mission in a new way; a partnership with us disciples, “I am with you always”.

Many Christians act as if Jesus is either dead or simply out of the picture and we carry on his mission without him. This view leads to despair because the world never seems to change even if we work so hard we burn out. Prayer to becomes a pointless ritual. But Matthew is saying when you join the living Jesus in his mission you are part of something really big that spans generations and nations. In other words you only have to be faithful in your little part of Jesus mission- let him carry the weight.

Secondly, prayer becomes a real conversation with Jesus about mission type things in all the different parts of your life. Prayer becomes natural, essential, and spontaneous as you and He go about his work in your family (raising disciples), your workplace (social justice and witnessing to Christ), your community (social justice and witnessing to Christ) and your church (being a church that is about Jesus’ mission).

If Jesus really is the key ‘player’ in his own mission and not a spectator then prayer about mission in our daily lives is the natural result. And prayer should break out in every gathering of the church simply because we want to work with Jesus not instead of him. Thomas Aquinas saw it as the litmus test of what a church really believes about Jesus!

Jesus is alive! What next? Talk to him about it …

Graeme.