This is the commission (commonly called ‘The Great Commission’) that Jesus gave to His disciples just before His return to heaven. In the previous verse, Jesus has just revealed that “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (v18) In Acts 1v8 Jesus promises to pass on His power through the giving of the Holy Spirit – this power is specifically for the fulfilling of this commission. It is in this context that Jesus then commands the disciples to save souls for His kingdom.

Each potential believer in all of the nations is to be taught and then baptized. When we look at the next verse also, Jesus finished the sentence with: “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (v20) From Jesus’ words we can see that the commission was not just for the generation of the disciples, but to every one that would be taught in succession after them, all the way down the line to the end of the world. The commission is as much for us today as it was back then – we should still be baptising others into the faith, and then teaching them to do the same.

Jesus here gave the disciples the authority or name to invoke during baptism. Note that the word “name” is singular and not plural, denoting that there is only one name. A common mistake that people make is to repeat the words that Jesus said, rather than understand what He is saying. Let me illustrate this point:

If I send one of my children to the shops with the command “go to the shops and buy some milk and a loaf of bread” I would not expect them to repeat these words to the shopkeeper. The child that said to a shopkeeper “go to the shops and buy some milk and a loaf of bread” would reflect badly on the parents that sent the child into this situation not understanding what was expected of them. I would expect my child rather to say something like “Could I have a 6-pints bottle of semi-skimmed milk and a loaf of xyz brand wholemeal medium sliced bread, please?” This is because my child has understood what I have asked them, have been to the shops with both me and my wife more than a few times, know what kind of milk we get out of a choice of maybe three types and at least four sizes, which loaf of bread we get from maybe a choice of 10 different loaves from just the one manufacturer that we would normally buy from. The child knows me and understands me. Perhaps I might also back this up with the use of a mobile phone (perhaps called a cellular phone in your part of the world) so that the child can contact me if the first choice of milk or bread is not available, so that they can find out what to do next.

When we apply this to the command that Jesus has given here in Matthew 28v19, we realise that there were the following similarities:

• The disciples that received this command had been with Jesus for about three years, and knew him well.

• Some of the disciples had also been originally disciples of John, and had been involved with baptism since John’s time. (If you read John 1v35-40 you will see that two of them left John to follow Jesus, one being Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother)

• When we read John 3v22-26 (sections {48} {49} {50}), we find that Jesus and his disciples were already baptising way before this time – back as far as the time when John the Baptist had not yet been imprisoned (or killed) by Herod. So they had already performed many baptisms under Jesus’ oversight. No doubt they also understood the new revelation contained in this command when compared to how they had been baptising previously. (See also Luke 7v29-30 {37} {38})

• On the day of Pentecost, after receiving the Holy Spirit, the disciples now had a direct connection to God, with a line open 24 hours a day ready for instant communication. (John 16v13, Ephesians 2v18)

• As well as the disciples, God has also given us many examples of how this command was actually carried out by the early church, starting from Acts 2v38 {56} on the day of Pentecost, and right on through the rest of the New Testament.

So basically the disciples knew what Jesus wanted done when he gave this command.

It is also worth noting that “Father”, “Son”, and “Holy Ghost/Holy Spirit” are not names. I am a father of three children, but that is not my name. My children may call me “Father”, “Dad”, “Daddy”, or other titles and nicknames, but it is still not my name. I am also a son to my father, along with my four brothers – but when my father calls me “son” it is not my name. If he called out “son” in the presence of my brothers, more information would be required, such as which one he was looking at at the time perhaps, to work out who he was talking to. If I am in a shop I might be addressed as “Sir” until the assistant knows my name. The only name that I can sign to a cheque (or perhaps ‘check’ in your part of the world) for instance is Mark Joseph Anderson, no matter whether that cheque is intended for one of my children, my father, a shopkeeper, or anybody else for that matter. Jesus in Matthew 28v19 did not mention the name to use in baptism, but the titles “Father”, “Son”, and “Holy Ghost/Holy Spirit” that represent, define and describe the name that should be used. We will see as we study further how the disciples applied this command.

When we come to the day of Pentecost, and find Peter, in Acts 2v38 {56}, giving a slightly different command, we didn’t see Matthew (who was also present – see Acts 1v13-2v1 etc) standing up and rebuking Peter. There is no record in Acts 2 of the particular language group that Matthew ministered to on the day of Pentecost being baptised other than the same way that Peter commanded. Both of them had understood what Jesus had said, and also what He had meant by it. No doubt as he preached on the day of Pentecost, Peter was aware of this command of Jesus, and he was also aware of Isaiah 9v6: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah is clearly talking about Jesus (‘son’, ‘Prince of Peace’) and says that His name is defined to mean (including and encapsulating) the titles ‘Wonderful Counsellor’ (another title for the Holy Spirit) and ‘everlasting Father’.

Please also note that in the days of the New Testament, the facilities to publish the Bible quickly were not in place. In our day you can reach a potential audience of millions by perhaps writing a letter to a newspaper and seeing it published the next day, or you can even publish something on the internet within minutes to a potential audience of hundreds of millions. The method used to publish any of the scriptures however involved copying by hand to make just one more copy available. Also the first copy of the gospels were most likely collated from notes and not written in their final form until many years after the events that they talk about. So on the day of Pentecost, a week to ten days after this last event that Matthew recorded in his gospel, that gospel was not available to Peter in its final written form.

Matthew also witnessed – and even ministered – on the day of Pentecost, and perhaps many years later finally published his gospel to the whole world. Matthew did not write his gospel – and more specifically this verse – in order to contradict the experience of those baptised in the name of Jesus over the many years from the day of Pentecost until the date of publication of his gospel. Matthew was actually adding to the revelation that they already had regarding baptism and the name of Jesus. As we study further each verse on baptism in the Bible – especially on and after the day of Pentecost – we shall see just how many people were baptised by repeating these words of Jesus, and how many were baptised in His name.

In the end, there is no incompatibility between the gospel of Matthew and the preaching of Peter on the day of Pentecost. Any one who merely repeats these words of Jesus will only baptize in titles, and not use the supreme name that needs to be invoked since the ascension of Jesus. As Philippians 2v9-11 says: “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Clearly here we can see that there is no name above the name of Jesus, and confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord automatically brings glory to God the Father. If any of the following words were a name, the name of Jesus is higher in God’s reasoning – the following are actually titles of God:

• Father

• Son

• Holy Spirit

• Holy Ghost

• Wonderful

• Counsellor

• Wonderful Counsellor

• The Mighty God

• Everlasting Father

• Prince of Peace

Is it any wonder then that on the day of Pentecost, Peter would take this command of Jesus recorded in Matthew as a blueprint, and reveal it as the master-key command that would get the believers into heaven – see also the discussion of Acts 2v38 {56}.

As we continue our study of every verse related to baptism in the Bible, we shall find out just how many people were baptised by repeating this command of Jesus, and how many were baptised with a revelation of just what is the name of The Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

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