Demand #50: Make Disciples Of All Nations, For The Mission Cannot Fail

I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth . — Matt. 8:11-12


But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be our opportunity to bear witness. — Luke 21:12-13


They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. — Luke 21:24


Excerpts from book

Page 369 - We must not stumble over God’s unusual way of pursuing the nations for the glory of his Son.

Page 370 - But he did not intend to bring the kingdom the way they thought. His intention was to suffer and die for their sins before he would reign as their king. This was their only hope of eternal life. Jesus focused his mission on the Jews, giving them every opportunity to know him and believe in him.......And at one point he said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24).

We may think this a roundabout way to reach the nations. But God has his reasons. There are lessons the nations must learn from the failure of Israel to trust God and welcome a suffering Messiah......In the Jewish Scriptures that Jesus knew and loved, the prophecy was clear: The Son of God would one day inherit the nations.

Page 371 - Again and again in these Scriptures we read the promise that all the nations would one day bow down and worship the true God, and that his Servant-Son would be a light to the nations....When Jesus came as the light of the world, though his focus was on Israel, he began to make it clear that the kingdom he was bringing through suffering would bless the nations and that Israel herself would be, for a season, left to the side.

The mystery is opening. Gentiles—the nations—are going to inherit the blessings of Israel. Jesus had signaled this in his very first sermon in his hometown of Nazareth.

Page 372 - More and more it became clear, for those who had ears to hear, that Jesus had come to save all the nations as well as Jews.....There is no maybe here. The mission that he gives to his followers to go and make disciples of all nations will come to pass. “I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18). “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice” (John 10:16).....The mission to make disciples of all nations will succeed.


Page 373 - So even though God focused his redeeming work on Israel for many centuries, everything was preparation for the global mission to the nations. This was there from the first promise to Abraham....This is the promise that is coming true in Jesus’ command, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”... This is what Jesus meant in Matthew 21:43 when he said, “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you [Israel] and given to a people producing its fruits.” That new “people” is the church gathered from
all the nations.

His Final Demand: “Make a Global Claim on My Behalf” Jesus’ final demand is that we never lose sight of the global scope of his claim on the human race. He is not a tribal deity. He is the Lord of the universe. Every knee will one day bow either willingly or unwillingly (Matt. 25:31-32). All judgment is given to him (John 5:22). The demand is that his followers reach the nations with “all that he has commanded.”.

Page 374 - The certainty of success is guaranteed (Matt. 24:14). Jesus will see that it gets done. But it is in our hands to do it. We do it by prayer and by the word and by suffering for others. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the
Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Luke 10:2). We must earnestly pray that God will do what he promised he would do. Promises do not make prayer superfluous; they make the answer certain.

Then we must open our mouths and speak the truth of Jesus to all nations..... And don’t be ashamed.....Finally, in all our praying and speaking we must be ready to suffer....Jesus was sent to suffer. We will not be able to make disciples of all nations without taking up our cross and following Jesus on the Calvary road of sacrificial love (Mark 8:34). This is the light of Jesus that the world can most clearly see (Demand #48).

Jesus does not call us to an easy life or an easy mission. “They will lay their hands on you and persecute you,......

Page 375 - .....This will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:12-13). There will be no wasted suffering. In the short run, it will always be an occasion to speak and show the reality of Jesus. In the long run, it will lead to eternal life.....Therefore, in all your suffering for the advance of Jesus’ mission you are increasingly rewarded.

That reward is the enjoyment of the inexhaustibly glorious Jesus forever and ever.

Demand #49: Make Disciples Of All Nations, For All Authority Belongs To Jesus

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. — Matt. 28:18-20

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. — Matt. 9:37-38

Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. — Luke 14:23

I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. — Luke 15:7

As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. — John 20:21

Page 363-364: Before Jesus demanded that his followers go make disciples of all nations, he gave the justification for this seemingly presumptuous mission.

Authority refers to the right and the power to hold sway in a given relationship. So a father has authority over his children, but not necessarily over his neighbor. An army lieutenant has authority over his platoon, but not over the company commander.....We see a picture of the meaning of authority in the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Roman centurion. This officer wanted Jesus to heal his servant but did not feel worthy to have Jesus come into his home. .... (Matt. 8:8-9). In other words, authority is the right and power to have your subordinates do what you choose for them to do. That is the authority Jesus has over everyone and everything.....Therefore, everyone and everything is subordinate to Jesus. Every human. Every angel. Every demon. The devil himself. And all the natural world and what happens in it.

We see this illustrated even during Jesus’ earthly ministry. (Mark 2:7-12). We see it in the way he taught the people and the way he handled the Jewish Scriptures: (Mark 1:22; Matt. 5:17-18). We see it in the way he rebuked the devil (Matt. 4:10) and commanded unclean spirits: (Mark 1:27). We see it in the way he commanded the forces of nature by healing all kinds of diseases (Matt. 4:23) and turning water into wine (John 2:9; 4:46) and calming the storm:(Mark 4:39).
He raised people from the dead (Mark 5:41-42; Luke 7:14-15; John 11:43-44) and ruled over his own death and resurrection: (John 10:18). And he holds full sway in the final judgment. He said that God the Father “has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man” (John 5:27). And God has “given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom [God has] given him” (John 17:2).....there is nothing outside the authority of Jesus. He has the right and the power to demand allegiance from every soul that exists. ..... The way Jesus pursues this universal claim on every soul is by sending his followers to make disciples from all the nations. After saying that all authority in heaven and earth is his, he says, “therefore . . .” This word shows not only that his universal authority is the basis of his universal claim on every person, but also that the way he lays claim to those persons follows in the next verse.

Page 366: He lays claim on people through his followers. He laid down the principle while he was still here: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever
receives me receives the one who sent me” (John 13:20; Matt. 10:40). Yes, he is doing it himself. But he did not mean that he would do it directly from heaven without emissaries. We know this because when he prayed for the future church in John 17:20, he described them as “those who will believe in me through their word.”

Jesus builds his church and gathers his flock from the nations of the world through the word of those he sends......The words “to the end of the age” show that the mission should last till Jesus comes back.....The mission lasts as long as the mission-sustaining promise lasts. And that
promise is:.....“to the end of the age.”

This implies several things. First, it implies that Jesus’ exclusive claim will be made not just by him, but by his followers.

Page 367: A second implication of Jesus’ universal mission is that Jesus cares for all ethnic groups and intends to have disciples from every “nation.”

Page 368: There is no partiality with Jesus in this mission. He is not western, and he is not eastern. He is utterly committed to ethnic diversity and unity in the truth of his supremacy. In fact, the word from which we get “ethnic” is the word for “nations” in Matthew 28:19, e[qno~.
It has not always seemed as though God were pursuing all the nations. At times he seemed to be committed to his people Israel, but not the nations. His way has been indirect and at times
inscrutable. How shall we understand this roundabout way toward a global church of worshipers from all the nations? That is what we turn to in the final chapter.