Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Mission from Everyone to Everywhere


Philip Manuel & Laila Anie Philip
Carmel MTC, Boston MA

20.b "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The given passage speaks of three great truths that Jesus expressed to His disciples when they had gathered on the mountain top just before He ascended into heaven.
a. A Great Authority
Jesus here affirms that all authority in Heaven and earth has been given to Him. Why does Jesus make this statement?
Many a time when we are called to evangelize to the lost, we are afraid; we are scared of the reactions we will get from the people we approach. Think about those people we see standing on the roadside or in subway stations handing out religious pamphlets. We will see that people, and sometimes we ourselves, studiously avoid running into them. This is because we rely on our own power and authority. Jesus here is asking us to give up our power and authority, and rely on Jesus’ power.
Throughout the new Testament we see the power of Jesus’ authority: authority to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to cast out demons and we see that Jesus distributes this authority to His disciples - Luke 9:1 “Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,” But this distribution of Jesus’ authority is not just to the disciples but to all of us who believe. Mark 16: 17-18 says ,” 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So to acquire this authority we need to believe and have faith.

b. A Great Command
Sandwiched between a great affirmation and a great promise is the command to “make disciples of all men, baptize them in the name of the Father , the Son and the Holy Spirit  and teaching them to obey all of Jesus' commands.”  From the above we see that if we have faith, we will have all the authority of Jesus to go and make disciples without fear. So what else do we need in our arsenal to make this happen? We need to make ourselves available; we need to be obedient to His command and we need to be submissive to His will and share our resources(time, money & talent). We need to remind ourselves that the Great commission does not apply just to the disciples but to all of us. 
c. A Great Promise
 Jesus helps us fulfill His command to be with us on this journey of making disciples. We are not alone even though like in the poem “footprints in the sand” we may think we are.
So let us remember Jesus 'words in Mathew 9:37 ‘ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;” and again we need to remind ourselves that this verse applies to us too. So if our motive is to glorify God, our mission should be to bring others to Christ.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, We thank You for the great promise that You will be with us always. Help us to share the gospel humbly, boldly and passionately. Amen

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
“The Church exists by mission, just as a fire exists by burning. Where there is no mission there is no Church; and where there is neither Church nor mission, there is no faith." Emil Brunner
 

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