Parting Words – Matthew 28:16-20

In our Scripture passages today, both Jesus and Paul give their followers and readers some parting words. In the case of Jesus, he was able to return from the dead to give his parting words. In the case of Paul, he knew that his time was coming close when he would be put to death for the crime of treason against the state because of his public profession of faith in God in Jesus Christ.  And for everything that both Jesus and Paul had said to their followers and readers over the years, they knew that the last things they would say would be the most critical and, hopefully, the best remembered.

Our passage from Matthew comes right at the end of the Gospel.  It is often called the Great Commission as it is recognized as the manifesto for the new movement which will come to be known as Christianity.  Just as a side note, I find it interesting that when the eleven disciples gathered with Jesus, Matthew says that they all knelt in worship but that some were doubtful.  I am sure that they may have had doubts about their ability to carry on the mission that Jesus had begun.  Something else I want us to note from the text is that Jesus does not say to the disciples that he will carry on the mission – it is up to them.  Except for one time when Jesus sent them out on a training mission, the disciples have only had to follow Jesus; now they will be asked to take the lead. The mission will be in their hands.

Jesus gives the disciples assurances that are designed to help allay their doubts and fears about the future.  He reminds them that full authority in heaven and on earth has been committed to him.  In other words, whatever he will give them as tasks; they need not worry about fulfilling them.   The disciples are assured that they can go into the world with the confidence of knowing that Jesus stands with them and will ever support them.  To that end, he reminds them that he will be with them to the end of time.

His parting words to them are direct and concise: make disciples by baptizing people in the name of the Father, the Son and the Spirit and teaching them to observe everything that he had commanded them.  Jesus sees these two tasks as key elements in the formation of disciples. It is what will be required of every disciple as they continue the mission of reconciliation and the bringing of peace to the hearts and minds of humanity.

The act of baptism is an outward sign of an inward change in the heart and mind of those of us who choose to acknowledge their need of God’s grace and healing.  The act of baptism signals a new beginning to life – a life that is dedicated to God here and now and one that we pray will never end when we pass from this reality to the new reality prepared by God for all who will trust and follow.

The second key element is to teach the new converts the lessons Jesus had shared with them.  They are to instruct the new converts in the vision for life that Jesus shared.  In this way the disciples will   pass on to the next generation the message of God in Christ and ensure that generations to come will seek to live their lives according to the ways of the One who created life and who will redeem all life.  These parting words of Jesus that are to be our central focus as a community of faith.

Paul left some parting words for his readers at the church in Corinth.  While he had hoped to visit them a second time, it is unclear as to whether he ever got the opportunity. But Paul makes it clear that the intention behind his letter to them was to help them address issues in their community that were causing problems and divisions. He wrote the letter as a means of giving them instruction that would help them to recapture the truth of the message   – the commandments and teachings about God and life that Paul had received from Jesus and the disciples.

Often we think that the church’s failure to follow the commands and teachings of Jesus and create that community of love and respect that Jesus sought to show us is a modern phenomena, but it becomes clear from the letters of Paul that right from the beginning communities of faith have struggled to not only learn the teachings of Jesus but to maintain a spirit within their community which reveals that the teachings are actually being lived in daily life.

Throughout his letters, Paul addressed many issues that plagued the community leading to divisions and jealousies amongst its members.  And so in finishing his letter, he gives them the following exhortation:

Mend your ways; take our appeal to heart; agree with one another; live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Jesus’ parting words directed the disciples to create communities of faith by baptism and sharing the teaching he had given them. Paul’s parting words were about putting that teaching into practice which is critical to building communities of faith.  Jesus knew that people could not be expected to follow what they did not know.  Paul knew that the community would not survive if it did not practice what it had learned.

The old adage, “do as I say, not as I do,” really had no place in Jesus’ teaching to the disciples and it was to have no place in the practice of that teaching and its fulfilment in the life being lived by those who had been baptized and had committed themselves to following the way of God in Jesus Christ.

Both Jesus and Paul leave their followers and readers with parting words – words designed to guide them to an understanding of what God desires for their lives and words designed to encourage them to put that understanding into practice.  For it is only as learn the teachings of Jesus and make every effort to live them with each other and the world around us that we can truly say that we are the people of God and welcome others to come and experience the life we have with God.

AMEN.