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The Scriptorium

A Call to Faithfulness

We are called to make disciples. Matthew 28.1-20

Matthew 28: Risen! (7)

Pray Psalm 22.29.
All the prosperous of the earth
Shall eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust
Shall bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep himself alive.

Sing Psalm 22.29.
(Dix: For the Beauty of the Earth)
All the prosp’rous of the earth shall before His mercy fall;
bending low before His worth, hear them humbly on Him call.
Even those low in the grave He will by His mercy save.

Read and meditate on Matthew 28.1-20.

Prepare.
1. Why is this chapter so important?

2. What is the Great Commission?

Meditate.
In Matthew 2, the world came to Jesus, to worship and adore Him. In chapter 28, Jesus sent His disciples into the world with the Good News of the Kingdom of God. In between those chapters, Jesus fulfilled His earthly calling to take away the sins of the world and open the door to eternal fellowship with the Father.

No lies of the devil, powers of demons, schemes of men, or force of arms could keep Jesus from fulfilling His calling. And none of these can keep His love from us, or us from fulfilling what He has appointed for us to do. In his gospel, Matthew has fulfilled a portion of what the Lord assigned him – to teach all things whatsoever Jesus taught, so that the Good News might come down to us today. We are the link between Jesus, Matthew, and generations of faithful witnesses to the generations that will succeed us. We must not fail to take up our calling.

The women who saw Jesus alive from the dead were faithful to their appointed task. The disciples who met with Him in Galilee proved faithful in theirs. Matthew’s gospel ends like a gauntlet thrown down at our feet. Or better, an invitation to full and abundant life, following Jesus and obeying His will to make all the nations disciples. Jesus Who issued the Great Commission is watching us. But even more, He is with us always. He will grant us everything we need to be faithful in our generation.

But we must embrace making disciples as the “as-you-are-going” and defining motif of our lives. The world may despise or mock us, but the world needs what only Christians can offer – forgiveness, eternal life, and a calling fraught with eternal significance here and now. As we conclude our study of Matthew’s gospel, I encourage you to embrace your calling all over again in prayer, and commit yourself day by day to seeking the Kingdom in an as-you-are-going life of making disciples and glorifying God.

Reflect.
1. What does it mean for us to be faithful in our generation?

2. We remember that “the end of the age” is coming. What should we be doing until then?

3. How can believers encourage and help one another in being faithful to our calling?

He is in effect saying, “These difficult things that you will undergo are soon to be finished with this present life. For this world will come to an end. But the good things you are to enjoy are immortal, as I have often told you before.” Having invigorated and roused their minds by the remembrance of that coming day, he sent them out. Those who live faithfully, with good works, should strangely desire that day even as those who lack good works should fear it. So let us not fear and shudder. Let us repent while there is opportunity. Let us rise out of our sins. We can by grace, if we are willing.  John Chrysostom (344-407), Gospel of Matthew, Homily 90.2

I go forth today, Lord, to make disciples in my Personal Mission Field. Help me to…

Pray Psalm 22.30, 31.
Prepare in prayer for opportunities to talk about Jesus today. Encourage your fellow believers, serve the lost, and look to Jesus to be with you as you are going.

Sing Psalm 22.30, 31.
Psalm 22.30, 31 (Dix: For the Beauty of the Earth)
Let the generations all witness to His saving grace;
let them to all nations call, “Bow before His holy face!”
Let the children of the earth hear of Jesus’ saving worth!

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from
The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).

 

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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