Today we reach the end of the book of Matthew.  As I sat this week and reflected on everything we covered, I asked the question, “What does the book of Matthew – the gospels – mean for my life?”  I can’t read, study, and listen to the book of Matthew – to God’s Word – for an entire year and nothing change in my life.  What am I going do with the life of Jesus now?  What are you going to do with the life of Jesus now?  Here’s my answer: I must live out the core, the essence, of what it means to be Christian.  The book of Matthew ends by telling us exactly what the core of being a Christian is.  Making disciples is the core of being a Christian.  We’ve learned so much through our time in Matthew.  Jesus was born, a miraculous birth.  He lived the perfect, sinless life – just think about that for a minute.  He went His entire life never disobeying God.  I can’t go more than a few hours.  He called the disciples to follow Him and carry out the mission He started.  He showed His power through miracles.  He challenged the religious leaders in their thinking and disrupted religion as it was known.  He willingly let the Jews and Romans kill Him.  He rose from the dead after 3 days and appeared to many people.  

1) We make disciples because Jesus has complete authority. (vs. 16-18)  As a refresher, in the verses right before our passage, Jesus had rose from the dead and appeared to Mary and Mary as they were running to the disciples to them about the good news.  The message that Jesus gave Mary and Mary was for the disciples to meet Him in Galilee.  Well, word travelled quickly.  The leading priests came up with a plan to lie about Jesus.  Just put yourself in the shoes of the 11 disciples right now.  It was 11 because Judas, who betrayed Jesus, was gone at this point.  They had spent over 3 years with Jesus and preparing for the coming Kingdom – and then He was gone.  They knew He said He would rise 3 days later, but you can imagine on that third day, doubt would have start growing.  Now, the news of Mary and Mary would have sent shockwaves through the disciples.  We see in verse 16, they all go to the place where Jesus told them to go.  ¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.  As they go, you know Peter was power walking out in front of group.  And Thomas in the back with His hands in his pockets saying, “I’m not so sure about this…” Then that moment, as they crest the hill and see Jesus:  ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!  They all worshipped, but some of them, in their worship, doubted.  “Is this real? Is Jesus really here?”  “I don’t know if I believe it.”  Doubt is a part of the growth process of being a Christian.  It’s okay to have doubts.  The main thing is what you do with your doubts:  Bring them to Jesus.  Be willing to doubt your doubts. 

The disciples are reunited with Jesus.  Jesus isn’t staying too long. He’s about to go back to heaven.  So, he begins His final words and commands to the disciples.  Jesus starts with a statement that frames everything else that follows:  ¹⁸ Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.   It can be easy to move past this statement, but I want the weight of what Jesus said to sink in.  Jesus has authority over everything.  I read this week about just what Jesus has authority over:  All authority. He has authority over Satan and all demons, over all angels -good and evil - over the natural universe, natural objects and laws and forces: stars, galaxies, planets, meteorites; authority over all weather systems: winds, rains, lightning, thunder, hurricanes, tornadoes, monsoons, typhoons, cyclones; authority over all their effects: tidal waves, floods, fires; authority over all molecular and atomic reality: atoms, electrons, protons, neutrons, undiscovered subatomic particles, quantum physics, genetic structures, DNA, chromosomes; authority over all plants and animals great and small: whales and redwoods, giant squid and giant oaks, all fish, all wild beasts, all invisible animals and plants: bacteria, viruses, parasites, germs; authority over all the parts and functions of the human body: every beat of the heart, every breath of the diaphragm, every electrical jump across a million synapses in our brains; authority over all nations and governments: congresses and legislatures and presidents and kings and premiers and courts; authority over all armies and weapons and bombs and terrorists; authority over all industry and business and finance and currency; authority over all entertainment and amusement and leisure and media; over all education and research and science and discovery; authority over all crime and violence; over all families and neighborhoods; and over the church, and over every soul and every moment of every life that has been or ever will be lived.[1]  Jesus has the right and power to do whatever He pleases with anything on this earth.  Jesus’ authority over everything means that whatever God calls you to do in this life, He has the authority over it.  “Well, Jess, what about when it seems like Satan is just doing whatever He pleases?”  Let me remind you of something:  Satan’s rule is a temporary lease.  Jesus is the owner and when the time comes there will be a final eviction.  I want you to see your life and your calling as under the complete authority of Jesus.  We’re about to see that Jesus is calling you to go.  And when we know that Jesus has complete authority over us and over the circumstances of our calling, we can trust Him.  It gets better.  Jesus has authority over us and everything around us.  But He doesn’t put us on floating ice in Antarctica, give us a good shove, and say, “You got this!”  Jesus goes with us.  We make disciples because Jesus is with us.  

[1] https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-lofty-claim-the-last-command-the-loving-comfort

2) We make disciples because Jesus is with us. (vs. 20b)  The final words in the book of Matthew are some of the most comforting words.  ^20b …And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Be sure of this: I am always with you.  The same God that has authority over everything is the same God that says He will always be with you.  The same God that is watching over you at 2pm is the same God that is watching over you at 2am.  God doesn’t stop.  God doesn’t take breaks.  I think the most exhausted people in the world are young moms.  I don’t get a lot of “amens” from you all, but that should!  As much as young moms love their kids, they need some time to recharge.  God watches over children with complete joy without ever tiring.  He’s always there for you.  But why is Jesus always there?  So that we can fulfill the calling on our lives and bring Him glory.  Jesus isn’t always with us for only comfort.  Jesus is always with us to give us the fuel we need to keep going.  I want you to think of it this way:  You can’t obey God without God.  You can’t live your life in the public sector of our society if you aren’t spending significant time privately with your Savior.  The time you spend privately with God will propel you to share Christ publicly.  The public life of a Christian is fueled with private moments with God.  So many of you may hear this sermon and go, “Jess, I’m just too exhausted right now to even think about making disciples.”  And I get it. I really do.  There are seasons where all we can do is lay the feet of Jesus.  And Jesus gets is too.  Psalm 3 - David’s son is trying to raise up an army, capture David, and remove David from the throne.  I’m sure that made for an awkward family Christmas morning.  Look at what it says:  ¹ O Lord, I have so many enemies;  so many are against me.  ² So many are saying, “God will never rescue him!” Interlude^{[a]   3} But you, O Lord, are a shield around me;  you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.  ⁴ I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy mountain. Interlude ⁵ I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety,  for the Lord was watching over me.  ⁶ I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies who surround me on every side.  ⁷ Arise, O Lord!  rescue me, my God!  Slap all my enemies in the face!  Shatter the teeth of the wicked!  ⁸ Victory comes from you, O Lord.  May you bless your people.   David’s son was trying to capture him and what did he do?  He ran to God who is always with him!  “You are a shield around me…”  The reason you can make disciples is because Jesus has authority over your life and He’s with you every step of the way – even if you don’t feel like He is.  That’s why we can make disciples.  But let’s not lose sight that we are called to make disciples.  We make disciples because Jesus tells us to.

3) We make disciples because Jesus tells us to. (vs. 19-20a)  You can’t deny the command in verses 19 and 20.  ¹⁹ Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  I think the phrase “make disciples” for most Christians is either a foreign or ambiguous term.  And when hard pressed, a group of 5 people would probably come up with at least 4 different definitions.  Here’s the problem with that:  You can’t make disciples if you don’t know what a disciple is.  For the sake of brevity, a disciple is someone who learns from Jesus how to live like Jesus.  What does it mean to live like Jesus?  I think there are 3 major components:

1. Worship – We let every aspect of our lives declare God’s glory
2. Serve – We use our God-given gifts to serve the body of Christ
3. Share – We tell others the good news, the gospel, the hope of Jesus

That’s what we are striving for – to be like Jesus to bring glory to God.  And we do it by worshipping, serving, and sharing.  Throughout the entire book of Matthew, as Jesus was providing a way to have an eternal relationship with God, He was also preparing His disciples to make disciples.  I can’t recall a time anywhere in the gospels where the disciples asked each other and themselves the question, “Why should I go?”  They knew why they should go.  They knew that everything they had learned was to go.  They knew core of being a Christ-follower was to go.  We should do the same.  We don’t ask why we should go. We ask why we should stay.  How we go will look different from person to person.  But at the core, we should all be worshipping, serving, and sharing.  And teaching other people to do the same.  As we look to 2023, this won’t be the last time you hear me talking about making disciples.  In fact, in many ways, this sermon is our launch into next year.  I want to do a better job here at TCSH of making disciples.  I want us to be a church that shares Christ and helps other people worship, serve, and share Christ.

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