God’s Word for You

Mark 16:15 The Great Commission

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Friday, April 12, 2024

15 He also said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

My opinion is that these words are Mark’s version of the Great Commission that Jesus gives in Matthew 28:19-20. Perhaps that one was given only to the Eleven, and this one, with the very same meaning, was given to the large meeting of the Five Hundred disciples that Paul also mentions (1 Corinthians 15:6). Such a distinction is unimportant.

“Go” (πορευθέντες) seems like a command, and some readers might take it as the most important command; as if the going is more important than the proclamation that follows. A careful reading of the Greek term, however, shows that this “Go” is not the main verb of the sentence at all, but subsidiary or supplementary. The Lord is saying, “As you go into all the world, preach.”

“into all the world” (εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἅπαντα). The descriptive “all” comes after the noun here, just as it does in Mark 8:36, “to gain the whole world.” Every part of the world needs to be touched by the gospel, just as sin spread throughout the whole world when mankind fell. The act of bringing the gospel to every continent, country, county, city, village, house, cottage, barracks, and ship, is never fully accomplished. There is more to be done every time another baby is born, every time a new family appears in town, every time an upheaval in a faraway place reveals untold thousands or millions who do not know Christ. When Israel had been living in Egypt for more than three hundred years, a Pharaoh came to the throne who somehow “did not know about Jospeh” (Exodus 1:8), even though Joseph had been the greatest man in Egypt for more than eighty years; most of his lifetime. It is not unique to our generation that so many people have no interest in history. They still need to be reached with the word of God. No matter how active we are, no matter how many missionaries go, we will not be able to win over everyone, but by all possible means we might win some (1 Corinthians 9:22). For some, the gospel will be a testimony against them (Matthew 24:14), but it still must be preached.

“and preach the gospel” (κηρύξατε τὸ εὐαγγέλιον). Here is the main verb: Preach. To make something known is the basic meaning of “preach,” although in our time the word has begun to take on a negative meaning. In the historical film “Gettysburg,” Colonel Chamberlain encourages a group of soldiers before a battle and then says, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to preach.”

To truly preach the gospel is grossly misunderstood even by many Christians. Preaching the Gospel also means preaching the Law. The will of God (the Law) and the various and countless ways in which mankind and each individual person has broken God’s law is vital to this proclamation. The Law must be preached in all its severity, most especially when there is a heart that rejects the consequences of unbelief and sin and feels no shame at all, since that person has no place for the Gospel. But when the Law has been proclaimed (as Jesus does, for example, in the Sermon on the Mount), the Gospel must then follow, so that hearts are led to trust in Christ alone for forgiveness, for righteousness, for salvation, and for eternal life in heaven.

“to all creation.” (πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει). No human being is closed off from the promises of Christ and his forgiveness. Jesus our Lord went often to the outcasts, the outsiders, and the unexpected people in the corner, showing us that everyone is to be included in the “all” of “all creation.” The Great Psalm proclaims: “This is my comfort in my suffering: that your word gives me life” (Psalm 119:50).

The striking choice of “creation” rather than “people” reminds us of our place. The people to whom we preach are not accidents of nature, nor the property of someone else, nor is any race, nation, language, people, or individual person outside our calling. All mankind, every last person, is God’s holy creation. He wants us to remember that we are here to do his will, and to shepherd his sheep. They are not ours, but his. Whatever gifts we have to proclaim his word is for the sake of God’s own kingdom. The responsibility of the church of God is not foremost to care for physical things, but spiritual things without leaving out physical things when there is a need. But the spiritual must always come first. The civil government is there to help with things apart from the gospel, but the proclamation of the gospel is the duty of the church. In fact, of the three estates, both the government and the family are there to supply for physical needs. The family is there for the spiritual needs of its own members, but the church is primarily concerned with the proclamation of the word of God (the Gospel), the administration of the sacraments and the forgiveness of sins, and teaching the word of God.

One question we must remember is, is it my calling to do this personally, or not? The church and its called ministers are called by the Holy Spirit to carry out the proclamation of the gospel, teaching, administering the sacraments, and so on, in public. But each Christian is commissioned to proclaim Christ privately with the people around them.

This is our mission, and our commission. The question for each of us each day is, how is my relationship with my God? And next: How can I serve him best in my family, in the church, and in the world? The saying is true: “Who is sufficient to proclaim the majesty of the beauty of God’s love?” Yet this is what we are instructed to do: “The congregation will proclaim his praise.” Whatever we do, let us do it to the glory of God.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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