JESUS’ KINGLY SUMMONS TO THE MISSION

CHAPTER 10

JESUS' KINGLY SUMMONS TO THE MISSION

  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.
Matthew 28:19–20

  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Matthew 24:14


At the outset of his public ministry, Jesus recruits people to join him in his work. "Come, follow me," he says to Peter and Andrew, "and I will send you out to fish for people" (Matt. 4:19). Clearly, their discipleship has as its ultimate goal to prepare them to carry Jesus' ministry far beyond the scope of what he himself could accomplish in his short time. Consequently, having designated his disciples as "apostles" (meaning, "sent ones"; Matt. 10:2; Mark 6:30; Luke 6:13), Jesus dispatches them as workers into the Galilean "harvest" of burdened and vulnerable people (Matt. 9:36–37; 10:5–42; Mark 6:6b–13; Luke 9:1–6). He does the same thing on a larger scale as he approaches Judea, to prepare for his ministry there (Luke 10:1–16).
Finally, following his resurrection, Jesus confers on his disciples the responsibility of continuing his ministry into the entire world. Known as "the Great Commission" (Matt. 28:18–20), Jesus commands them to represent him, making disciples of all nations through baptism and instruction. The mission is there at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of Jesus' interaction with his disciples.
Any discussion of Christian discipleship must, therefore, wrestle with Jesus' missional command. How are we to understand this mission responsibility? What exactly are we commanded to do? Is it primarily to engage people in apologetic conversations that will lead to evangelism? After all, Jesus said, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matt. 24:14; emphasis mine). Is it, rather, to engage in social activism that transforms the lot of the disadvantaged and reveals the character of the reigning King? As we bring our all-too-brief discussion of the "What" question to an end, it is appropriate that we consider this culminating command once again in the context of God's overarching covenantal purposes.

THE COVENANTAL EXPECTATIONS

The Abrahamic Covenantal Expectations

When God declared his commitments to Abraham, included among them was his intention to bless all nations through him and his descendants (Gen. 12:3). In chapter 3, we observed that this promise came hard on the heels of the rebellion at Babel. Since this corporate apostasy culminated humanity's godless, postflood pursuits and mirrors their preflood rebellion, the Abrahamic promise of universal blessing should be seen as God's gracious response to the depressing legacy of Genesis 3–11.

  "We cannot speak biblically of the doctrine of election without insisting that it was never an end in itself but a means to the greater end of the ingathering of the nations. Election must be seen as missiological, not merely soteriological."1

What was this blessing to entail? Obviously, it takes the remainder of the covenantal flow and the historical narrative of the Scriptures to flesh this out. But pondering the beginning of this sequence will help us avoid the tendency of truncating Jesus' missional command, reducing it to something that does not retain God's original intention. It is significant in this regard to recall that God's blessing would flow to all nations only as Abraham's descendants experienced God's holistic provision on their own behalf. That is, as God shaped them into a people and provided for them in the land, they would serve as a testimony of God's nature to the rest of the world.
Therefore, one might expect that Israel's experience in covenant with God would become a paradigm for God's intentions for the rest of humanity. As the historical narrative of the Old Testament unfolds, this expectation is found to be correct, with the epic events of the exodus from Egypt, the provision of the land, and the return from the Babylonian exile serving as the patterns of salvation and blessing that image God's expansive agenda of blessing. Although the spiritual dimension is at the heart of this blessing, God's holistic deliverance extends into the physical, social, and political spheres. In many ways, this ought not to be surprising, given God's comprehensive provision for Adam and Eve in the garden prior to any redemptive need. When we ask what Jesus is commanding his followers to do when he confers on them his mission, each of these dimensions must be kept in view.
But how is this mediation of the blessing to be accomplished? We learned in chapter 4 that the covenant most closely tied to the promise of universal blessing is the conditional covenant of Genesis 17, where circumcision sealed Abraham's covenantal commitment to walk before God faithfully and blamelessly (17:1). The implication here is that the extension of this blessing to all nations will be accomplished through people who follow Abraham's example of faithful obedience to God. The Lord's confirmation in Genesis 18 bears repeating here:

  Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him. (Gen. 18:18–19; emphasis mine)

In other words, the mission will not be accomplished by mere proclamation. Rather, the mediating element between Abraham's election and the blessing to all nations is ethics. As Wright insightfully observes,

  the ethical quality of life of the people of God is the vital link between their calling and their mission. God's intention to bless the nations is inseparable from God's ethical demand on the people he has created to be the agent of that blessing.
  There is no biblical mission without biblical ethics.2

Thus, through the community of those who have embraced God's demand to live life in alignment with his character, symbolized by circumcision, the blessing will spread to the nations. As we have seen, this is where the Mosaic Covenant enters.

The Mosaic and New Covenantal Expectations

We learned in chapter 4 that the people's obedience to the Mosaic Covenant's demand of righteousness was the means by which Israel would serve as the priestly nation to all other nations, mediating the knowledge of Yahweh to the world. God's statement in this regard also bears quoting again here:

  Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. (Ex. 19:5–6a)

Through Israel's obedience, Abraham's blessings would extend to all nations (Deut. 4:5–8; Isa. 49:6).
When the nations look at Israel, they ought to discern the singular nature of Yahweh's claim—he is the only true God (Deut. 10:12–17; Josh. 24:14–15)! Similarly, they should perceive Yahweh's righteous attributes as they are displayed through the nation's obedience to the Ten Commandments and related legislation (Deut. 4:5–8). They should understand Yahweh's just demand and the need for the reception of his atoning grace through the ministries of the temple (Lev. 1:1–17; 4:1–6:13, 24–30; 7:1–6; 8:14–21; 16:3–24). They ought to realize God's compassion and mercy, as his people reach out to care for the poor, the powerless, and even the foreigner among them (Lev. 19:33–34; Deut. 10:18–19; 24:17–22). This would foreshadow the day when no one would be marginalized or disadvantaged (Isa. 55:1–2; 61:1–3; 65:13–16; Ezek. 47:22–23).
Though the people of the Mosaic Covenant largely failed in this, we have also seen the prophetic expectation that this ideal will finally be fulfilled in the people of the New Covenant, in whose minds God's law will be written and in whose hearts his Spirit will dwell. Through this transformed and enabled remnant of his people the character of Israel's true King will be seen. Such transformation will point ahead to the day when his reign is absolute in the earth. At that time, God's people will finally follow him into covenantal faithfulness.

The Davidic Covenantal Expectations

This is obviously where God's promises to David come in. When the great and righteous Son of David reigns over the transformed nation, his covenantal inheritance will be realized (Ps. 2:8–12). This will lead to the submission of all nations to him and their consequent participation in Abraham's blessings through him. The psalmist writes:

    Endow the king with your justice, O God,
      the royal son with your righteousness.…
    May he rule from sea to sea
      and from the River to the ends of the earth.…
    May his name endure forever;
      may it continue as long as the sun.
    Then all nations will be blessed through him,
      and they will call him blessed. (Ps. 72:1, 8, 17; cf. 2 Sam. 23:3–4; Amos 9:11–12)

This expectation is paralleled in Daniel's vision of the royal Son of Man, who must be linked with the Davidic line. When the "one like a son of man" comes to the Ancient of Days, all nations will submit to him:

  In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (Dan. 7:13–14; cf. v. 27)

At the time when God fulfills this promise of the coming king (Zech. 9:9–10), Zechariah tells us that all nations will be drawn to Israel's God:

  This is what the LORD Almighty says: "In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, 'Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.' " (Zech. 8:23; cf. Isa. 49:6; 62:1–2, 10c)

Even more stunningly, Isaiah affirms that the Gentiles will be included within God's people:

  In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance." (Isa 19:24–25; cf. Ps. 87:4–6; Zech. 9:7)

God will then be the King over all:

  The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name. (Zech. 14:9; cf. v. 16)

The kingdom of God will be consummated on the earth!
In this way, the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic covenants all coalesce on this notion of "mission." That is to say, God's holistic blessing will be mediated to all nations through the community that faithfully submits to the righteous King and responds to the covenantal demand of reflecting Yahweh's character in the earth. Then the knowledge of Yahweh will permeate the earth as Abraham's blessing is poured out to all nations. All of this converges in Jesus' missional command.

JESUS' MISSIONAL COMMAND

When placed against this covenantal backdrop, we can see the significance of Jesus' sending of his disciples into the mission. For the fulfillment of these covenantal hopes has now arrived. There are several dimensions of this.3

The Covenantal Pattern

As we have seen, God's missional strategy is to mediate his blessing to all nations through Abraham's descendants. Paul follows this tack in his affirmation that God's salvific grace came "first to the Jews, then to the Gentile" (Rom. 1:16; cf. 2:9–10; Acts 26:23) and in his missionary strategy of going first to the synagogues in each of the cities in his journeys,4 even though he was explicitly sent to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; 13:47; 22:21; 26:17–18). His expectation obviously was that God would use those Jews who came to faith in each city to be the means by which those in the surrounding region would hear the good news.
Jesus too follows this pattern. Though he eventually grants the request of a Canaanite woman to help her demonized daughter, Jesus initially fends her off by asserting that he was sent "only to the lost sheep of Israel" (Matt. 15:24). Similarly, when he sends his disciples on their missionary journey, he carefully delineates their focus: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel" (10:5–6; cf. 23:34). It comes as a bit of a shock, then, when he sends them to the world at the end of his earthly ministry: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations …" (28:19a; cf. 24:14; Acts 1:8). When his actions are set in the context of the Abrahamic promises, however, it is clear that he is following the covenantal pattern, whereby God's blessing of the Gentiles is mediated through Abraham's descendants. Covenantally speaking, Jesus had to begin with Israel. But since the ultimate covenantal horizon has always been the entire world, Jesus' final commissioning widens out accordingly.

The Light of the World (Matt. 5:13–16)

Second, Jesus confirms the covenantal means by which the world will be included in the blessing. As we learned in the covenantal interactions between God and Abraham as well as with the people of Moses' day, the means by which the world would come to participate in the covenantal blessings would be through the witness of those in covenant with him.
This is where Jesus' call to obedience that we have been considering in these chapters comes to the service of the mission. It is significant that immediately prior to his declaration of the fulfilled law, Jesus specifies their role as "salt" and "light" to the world:

  You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
  You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matt. 5:13–16)

Whatever Jesus intends by the images of "salt" and "light," it is clear that his followers are to be different from those surrounding them in the world. Salt was used in the ancient world for flavoring, for fertilizer, and especially as a preservative. Jesus does not identify which of these functions he has in mind, but the attribute common to each of them is that salt is distinct from what is around it, bringing with it some kind of benefit.
The function of "light" here is clearer. Those who light a lamp put it on the stand so that it gives light to all who are in the house. Once again, the image of "light" communicates a dramatic difference between it and the state of affairs in that house prior to its lighting. It was dark! As Jesus goes on in the Sermon on the Mount to discuss how his followers are to live, it becomes clear that this difference is a moral difference—they are salt and light as they live their lives in morally distinct ways from those around them. Whereas the world is languishing in sin, in squalor, in meaninglessness, and in the relentless pursuit of things that ultimately do not satisfy, Jesus' followers are to be identified by their purity, their devotion to God, and their commitment to love others.

  "The world will see no reason to pay any attention to our claims about our invisible God, however much we boast of his alleged nearness to us in prayer, if it sees no difference between the lives of those who make such claims and those who don't."5

The prophets had looked forward to the day when God's redeemed covenant people would serve as a beacon for the nations. Isaiah affirms that when God redeems his people, their "salvation" will shine forth "like a blazing torch," which the nations will see (Isa. 62:1–2). As they respond with the sort of covenant faithfulness that pursues justice for the powerless and extends compassion for the poor (Isa. 58:6–7, 10), they will stand as light bearers in the world, drawing them to Yahweh (Isa. 58:8, 10b). Isaiah writes:

    It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
      to restore the tribes of Jacob
      and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
    I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
      that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. (Isa. 49:6)

Consequently, Isaiah exults, "Raise a banner for the nations" (Isa. 62:10e), for at that time the blessing will go forth through this purified remnant of the nation to all the nations of the world: "Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn" (60:3).
Therefore, when Jesus declares to his disciples that they are the "light of the world," he is claiming that the time of the fulfillment of these prophetic hopes has finally arrived! It is time! Those who respond to Jesus' call to the sorts of things we have been considering in this section will be the ones through whom he will shine the light of his truth and mercy to all nations.

The People of the King (Matt. 28:18)

Jesus also evokes the Davidic Covenant in his missional command. This is especially evident in his prefatory comment to the Great Commission. Jesus asserts, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matt. 28:18). This surely echoes the wording found in Psalm 2 and Daniel 7:

    Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,
      the ends of the earth your possession. (Ps. 2:8)

  He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. (Dan. 7:14a)

By virtue of his resurrection, Jesus has entered into his inheritance. As the great Davidic King, his reign over all nations has begun (Acts 2:32–36). In light of this, his disciples are to go forth in the confidence that Jesus is truly the Sovereign of the world, even though the consummation of this reign lies yet in the future.6
But notice also the remarkable way in which this sovereignty is to be established. If we glance back at the contexts of the Old Testament passages I listed above, we see that the establishment of the king's dominion is expected to be achieved through forceful means. When he comes, the opposing kingdoms will be undone (Dan. 7:11–12, 17–26), and any rebellion will be met with swift justice (Ps. 2:9–12). Yet, surprisingly, such is not to be the case in the present age of Jesus' reign. Rather, the nations will bow before his throne through their reception of the gracious message of the gospel: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:19–20a; cf. 24:14). There will come a day when the nations will be forcefully subjugated to him,7 but in the interval between Jesus' resurrection and his glorious return, the nations will be graciously won through the call to discipleship!

The Command to Preach, to Serve, and to Suffer

How is this call to be communicated to others? What is it explicitly that his disciples are to do as they go forth in the mission?

A Holistic Mission (Matt. 10:1, 5–42)

Since God's salvation fulfills the exodus/return-from-exile pattern, it is not surprising that Jesus' missional summons entails a holistic ministry. As Israel was enslaved, poor, oppressed, and helpless before God's past actions of deliverance, so also will Jesus' salvific mission focus on the same conditions experienced by the poor, disease-stricken, and ostracized. This is borne out by Jesus' instructions to his disciples as they go out on their missionary journey.

  Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.… "As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." (Matt. 10:1, 7–8)

If these instructions are understood to provide a sort of shorthand agenda for disciples in every age, several things are evident. First, Jesus' mission summons involves proclamation and teaching. His missionaries are to make disciples by teaching others all that Jesus had taught them (Matt. 28:20), including especially the announcement that the kingdom had drawn near (10:7; 4:7; Luke 10:11) and was even present (Matt. 12:28). Central to this is the surprising proclamation that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah (16:16–17). The unexpected nature of the kingdom brought by Jesus and his eventual crucifixion would be major reasons why some in their Jewish audience would respond with skepticism (Matt. 12:38; 16:1; Mark 8:11; John 2:18; 6:30) and rejection (Matt. 27:42). His missionaries are those in every context who embrace the offense of Jesus' cross as they confess his kingship (1 Cor. 1:18–31).
Second, also important is the announcement that through Jesus' representative death, the grand redemptive moments in Israel's history had come to their consummative fulfillment (Luke 4:16–21). Accordingly, the great exodus for his people and their long-awaited return from exile had somehow taken place in this surprising manner. We will explore several dimensions of this in the next section. It is enough for us here to note that the upshot of Jesus' fulfillment is that forgiveness of sins would no longer come through the sacrifices offered up each day in the temple, but through the crucified heir to David's throne!8 In the pluralistic age in which we live, affirming that forgiveness is available solely through Jesus is nothing if it is not insultingly offensive. But such is what Jesus commands his followers to proclaim.

  Jesus summarizes his own ministry by claiming to fulfill Isaiah's return from exile description: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18–19; citing Isa. 61:1–2a). In claiming to fulfill this return-from-exile prophecy (Luke 4:21), Jesus affirms that his ministry culminates the pattern of deliverance that began in the exodus and recurred in the return from Babylon.

Third, since Jesus' death also institutes the New Covenant (Luke 22:20), the ways in which Jesus mediates the law to his followers certainly also formed a central pillar of this proclamation. Communicating some of the material we have gone over in chapters 6 through 9 undoubtedly became important as the church began to settle into the new covenantal era. Unfortunately, few in the church today are able to do this sensitively. So if New Covenant Christianity is to be clearly articulated to the world, a renewed commitment to equipping Christians with this sort of knowledge is imperative.
Fourth, Jesus also instructs his disciples to go beyond mere proclamation. Since God's kingdom was arriving in fulfillment of his historical actions of deliverance, Jesus' disciples were to demonstrate its presence in tangible ways that image its presence. Proclamation and demonstration—these dimensions belong inextricably together. Without either of them present, God's mission is only partially realized.
So Jesus graciously confers on his disciples the authority to perform exorcisms and healings (Matt. 10:7–8). When God's kingdom comes in its fullness, Satan will no longer be free to work his mayhem. Consequently, the casting out of Satan's minions in the present age presages the kingdom's culmination in the future. Similarly, when God's full blessing is poured out, sickness and death will cease. The healings effected through his disciples by the power graciously given to them (10:8b) foreshadow that great day.
Finally, though he does not specify it here, Jesus also must have exhorted his disciples to utilize their wealth in ways that would ameliorate the plight of the poor (Matt. 11:5e; Luke 4:18b). Since God's deliverance in the exodus and his provision of the land graced the Hebrews in their poverty, the law included provisions for the poor at harvest time (Lev. 19:10; 23:22; Deut. 24:19–22; cf. Amos 5:11) and for the payment of tithes, some of which would be given to the poor.9 Accordingly, however one interprets the difficult parable of the shrewd manager (Luke 16:1–13), central to its meaning is the command to use money in gracious ways that incline others toward the master.
This is confirmed by the rich man's condemnation in the next parable for not actively reaching out to Lazarus in his misery, even though he lay at his gate (Luke 16:19–31).10 It is for this reason that any declaration of the kingdom's presence necessarily includes acts of mercy, compassion, and justice, even as Jesus' own mission targeted the poor. Whatever monetary resources that are granted to us must, therefore, be stewarded in such a way that inclines others toward God as they see and experience grace through us.

A Vulnerable Servant Mission (Matt. 25:31–46)

Finally, Jesus' summons to the mission involves the willingness to undergo persecution and suffering. Earlier I described the discipleship dynamic: having been graced by Jesus the Servant, disciples are summoned to follow Jesus the King. But since Jesus lived out the life of the Servant, following him amounts to emulating his servant life. This helps to account for Jesus' repeated command that his disciples pick up their own crosses in following him. That is to say, they are to be prepared to endure the same treatment that he experienced as he fulfilled his kingdom-centered calling of mercy and love.
This is the reason for the vulnerability that Jesus sets up for his missionary disciples, sending them forth without resources and dependent on those who will provide for them along the way (Matt. 10:9–11, 16, 40–42). As Jesus was vulnerable to rejection and attack during his Servant ministry, so also will his disciples be (vv. 17–25, 28, 38). This, in turn, also offers to those who hear their message the opportunity to demonstrate their acceptance of it in tangible expressions of mercy toward the very ones who have brought the gospel. This helps us understand Jesus' meaning in one of his best-known, but often misinterpreted stories.
Given its resonance with Jesus' concern for the poor elsewhere, it is tempting to interpret Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31–46 as promising salvation for those who show mercy to the homeless and impoverished in the world. Those who see it this way note Jesus' close identification with the need of the poor, so that acts of mercy done to any impoverished, imprisoned, or otherwise vulnerable person are also done to Jesus.11
But this reading struggles to convince for several reasons. First, Jesus makes it clear that those who will enter into the kingdom of heaven will be those who confess him before others and who keep his teachings (Matt. 7:21–27; Mark 8:37–38). He also explains that those who are his disciples will receive forgiveness of sin by receiving his sacrificial provision on the cross (Matt. 26:28), not by washing his feet or feeding him. Construing mercy to the disadvantaged as the sole criterion for entrance into the kingdom sits uncomfortably with the full range of Jesus' teachings, especially when people opposed to Jesus are oftentimes heavily engaged in these kinds of merciful acts. Indeed, those who interpret Jesus' parable as exhorting mercy to the poor in general usually have to supplement Jesus' simple words here with other dimensions of discipleship, such as faith and the reception of grace.12
Second, when Jesus metaphorically employs the term "my brothers" in Matthew, he does not use it to refer to the impoverished in general, but to his disciples who do the will of God (Matt. 12:48–50; 28:10; cf. 18:15, 35; 23:8). Most of the remaining instances of "brother" refer to actual familial ties and not to people in general.
Third, Jesus does not use the adjective "the least" in any other text to describe people, but he does employ its conceptual cousin, "little ones," to characterize his disciples (Matt. 10:42; 18:2–14; Mark 10:15; cf. Matt. 11:25; Luke 12:32).
These considerations set us up to see the significance of the most convincing evidence of all, namely, the parallel descriptions between Jesus' instructions to his disciples in Matthew 10:40–42 and his portrayal in Matthew 25. Notice first of all the identity that Jesus establishes between himself and his disciples in Matthew 10:40: "Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me." Jesus' depiction in Matthew 25:40 echoes this identification: "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' "
In addition, those who showed mercy to the disciples on their missionary journey and welcomed them into their homes were those who had heard their message and embraced it. This is what is implied by the examples of the reception by people in Matthew 10:41. They receive a reward for their reception of these individuals because they embraced what they stood for:

  Whoever welcomes someone known to be a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever welcomes someone known to be righteous will receive a righteous person's reward. (Matt. 10:41; emphasis mine)

  All of this prepares us for the nearly verbal parallel between the two passages:

  And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is known to be my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly be rewarded. (Matt. 10:42; emphasis mine)

  Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.… Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me" (Matt. 25:34b–35a, 40; emphasis mine).

Significantly, the acts of mercy toward the missionaries of Matthew 10 are done in full knowledge of their identity as Jesus' disciples. Set in the context of the mission, this strongly suggests that those homes that turn out to be "deserving" (Matt. 10:13) are those whose inhabitants demonstrate their acceptance of the disciples' message by their actions of hospitality. Notice Jesus' confirmation of this in the description of those who, by implication, are undeserving: "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words …" (10:14a). Their demonstrations of mercy and hospitality or the withholding of them are therefore set in the context of hearing or not hearing their message.
The same must then be true of the "least" in Matthew 25:34–40. Seen through this lens, "the least" must be those of his disciples who make themselves vulnerable in going forth into the mission to the nations, confidently proclaiming the gospel (24:14), compassionately serving the poor, and authoritatively exorcising demons and healing the sick in Jesus' name (cf. 10:1, 7–8).

SUMMARY

Jesus' discipleship summons, therefore, comes to each one of us: "Are we willing to be the least?" That is, are we willing to become vulnerable so as to present the good news of Jesus' kingdom ministry to others? As we have seen, this is the very place where the Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, and New Covenants all converge. As God's remnant people respond to the covenantal demand of reflecting his character in the earth, submitting in the process to the reign of David's righteous heir, God's holistic blessing will be mediated to all nations. Then the knowledge of Yahweh will permeate the earth as Abraham's blessing is extended to all nations.
As such, this is not a call that comes only to the "really committed" minority of Jesus' followers. Its summons comes right along with the grace of atonement. It is heard with the call to discipleship. There is no avoiding it. Jesus fully intended to reach the world through the bright light and penetrating salt of his faithful disciples. This is because God's purpose in gathering a people to himself is so that he can gather some more!
As a result, we must ask ourselves:

    •      Are we willing to be the least?
    •      Are we willing to declare the presence of the kingdom in this era of such suffering and evil?
    •      Are we bold enough to affirm the unique kingship of Jesus in the midst of modern attacks on the veracity of the gospel witness and the pluralistic relativization of Jesus' singular claim to truth?
    •      Do we dare to assert the redeeming nature of Jesus' self-sacrifice in an age increasingly opposed to the notion of the atonement of sins done against an all-holy God?
    •      Are we willing to live lives shaped by the true Servant, so that others might see him through us?
    •      Will we step into the role of being the conduit of Abraham's blessing, whether that be responding to the call to demonstrate the kingdom's presence in a crosscultural setting, participating in an urban ministry to the homeless, sharing our beliefs with a coworker, or extending love to our indifferent neighbors?
    •      Are we serving God rather than money, generously using our resources to further the mission next door and throughout the world?
    •      Are we bold enough to confront the powers of darkness in the authority of Jesus' name?
    •      What's more, are we filling the role of the "sheep," participating in the mission of the "least" around the world, supporting them with acts of mercy and hospitality—either in our own homes or through our investment in their care from afar?

If we aren't, there is little hope for those still languishing in the exile of the nations to see the gracious and compassionate nature of the Servant King who died for them and now sits on the throne. Those of us who have received Jesus' holistic gospel are commanded to respond by participating in this mission to the world. In these ways, we have the astounding privilege of contributing to the fulfillment of God's promise to bless all nations through Abraham.

RELEVANT QUESTIONS

    1.      How has viewing the Great Commission within the framework of the covenants changed your perspective?
   
    2.      Has the call to righteousness taken on a new urgency when it is viewed as the means by which the nations will see the truth of the kingdom and hear its good news?
   
    3.      Is the contemporary church succeeding in displaying the fullness of the kingdom message? What might be needed to strengthen its witness?
   
    4.      What might it mean for you to begin living as one of the "least" of Jesus' brothers and sisters? Are you presently living as one of his "sheep"?


Lunde, J. (2010). Following Jesus, the Servant King: A Biblical Theology of Covenantal Discipleship. Biblical Theology for Life (167–180). Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI.

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Regards,
Ryan Chia

It is not so much the case that God has a mission for his church in the world,
as that God has a church for his mission in the world.
Mission was not made for the church; the church was made for mission—God's mission.

From The Mission of God by Chris Wright