Great Commission

The Great Commission is a tenet in Christian theology emphasizing mission work and evangelism, particularly (but not exclusively) emphasized by evangelicals. It has been a primary basis for Christian missionary activity in general. The most familiar version of the Great Commission is recorded in Matthew 28:16-20, in which Jesus is recorded as saying:


 * Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."(NIV)

Other versions of the Great Commission are found in Mark 16:15, Luke 24:45-48, John 20:21 and Acts 1:8.

The commission from Jesus suggests that his followers have the duty to go, teach, and baptize. Although the command was initially given directly only to Christ's Eleven Apostles, Christian theology has typically interpreted the commission as a directive to all Christians of every time and place, particularly because it seems to be a restatement or moving forward of the last part of God's covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:3.

Critics note that the portion of Mark 16 which records the commission is not found in two of the oldest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus. The response generally given is that this is immaterial, as essentially the same thing is quoted as having been said by Jesus in at least three other New Testament passages, and additionally that the passage in question was regarded as part of the canon of the scriptures throughout most of Church history.

Evangelicals often contrast this Great Commission with the Limited Commission given to seventy of Jesus' followers as reported in Luke 10, in which they were to restrict their mission to their fellow Jews [1], to whom Jesus referred as "the lost sheep of the house of Israel". However, this verse does not appear to literally suggest that the commission was only applicable to the Jews, see also Antinomianism, hyperdispensationalism.

This article was forked from Wikipedia on March 28, 2006.