Piper's Notes

November 14, 1982 (Morning)

Bethlehem Baptist Church

John Piper, Pastor

"GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES, BAPTIZING THEM …"

(Matthew 28:19)

Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to

me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the

Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have

commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.

I thought the best thing I could do in a brief meditation in preparation for baptism this

morning would be to give a simple, straightforward exposition of the passage where Jesus

commanded us to baptize. Baptism is a requirement for church membership at

Bethlehem.

The reason for this is that the New Testament makes baptism a normative part of

becoming a Christian. Jesus said, "Make disciples, baptizing them…" Which should

probably be paraphrased like this: "I intend for a normative part of becoming a disciple to

be getting baptized." And this is just what the early church did. In Acts 2:41 it says that

after Peter's first Pentecost sermon, "Those who received his word were baptized." And

twenty-five years later, when Paul wrote to the church in Rome where he had never been

before, he assumed that all the Christians were baptized. He said in Romans 6:1-3, "Are

we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin

still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus

were baptized into his death..." In other words, Paul assumes without any question or

explanation that all the believers in Rome know what baptism is and have been baptized

and he appeals to the meaning of that baptism as the basis of his ethical instruction to all

Christians. So Jesus made baptism a normative part of becoming a Christian in Matthew

28:19 and the apostles carried this out. That's why baptism is a requirement for church

membership here at Bethlehem.

So let's look at the context in which Jesus gave this requirement. Before telling us to do

anything for him in v. 19, he tells us what he can do for us in v. 18. "All authority in heaven

and on earth has been given to me." "Authority" means the right and power to do

something. So Jesus means that he has absolute right and all power to do as he pleases

in heaven and on earth. There is no authority in heaven which can call the will of Jesus into

question and there is no authority on earth that can call the will of Jesus into question.

And no power on earth or in heaven can frustrate his will when he exerts all his power to

achieve it. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."

Without this declaration of Jesus' authority, we could never venture confidently to make

disciples. On what possible basis do we have any right to tell anybody they should change

their whole way of thinking and acting and become a disciple of Jesus Christ? Only one

thing could justify such outlandish proselytizing all over the world -- that Jesus Christ rose

from the dead and has been given an absolute authority over natural and supernatural

forces so that every human and every angelic being will give an account to him. If Jesus

has that kind of authority, then we Christians not only have the right but are bound by love

to tell other people to change and become his disciples. And Jesus does have that kind of

authority, or else he is a deceiver or this book (the Bible) so distorts his portrait that we

don't know who he was. But to call Jesus a deceiver and to call this book a distortion are

both unwarranted accusations. Therefore, this man has all authority in heaven and on

earth; more than President Reagan, more than Mr. Andropov, more than the military-

industrial complex, more than all the CEO's of all the corporations in the world put

together. He is the absolute sovereign of the universe and one way or the other every knee

will bow to him.

And therefore -- notice the word in verse 19 -- therefore, those who bend the knee of

allegiance to his authority have from him the right and the power to go and make disciples

everywhere. The command to go make disciples is not arbitrary. It is reasonable. Jesus

did not say, "Do it because I told you and that's it." He said, "Do it because all authority is

mine." Nothing is more reasonable and more loving than to plead with the rebellious

creatures of Jesus Christ that they turn and give their devotion to the King of kings who will

have the last say in this world.

And notice also in v. 19: since Christ's authority extends over the whole earth we must go

to all the nations, all the ethnic groups on the globe. There is no culture and no religion

beyond the authority of Jesus and therefore no culture and no religion beyond the great

commission. The great challenge to Biblical orthodoxy in the '80's is going to be

universalism -- the teaching that all men are saved whether they trust Christ or not, or at

least that all religions are legitimate paths to salvation. Tolerance and pluralism will be the

most praised virtues of our decade. But over all that stands a word of judgment in the

mouth of Jesus Christ: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations." Not Americanism, not Western

technology, not capitalism, but Jesus Christ is exalted over every culture and every

religion. With his absolute authority he lays absolute claim on every person in every place.

That's the foundation of all missions, domestic and frontier.

And observe also in verse 19 that our mission is to "make disciples" for Jesus. "Go and

make disciples." The most important word I think Jesus ever said about becoming a

disciple was Luke 14:27, "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me

cannot be my disciple." Bearing a cross does not mean primarily having hard times. It

means going to Golgotha. It means dying with Christ -- dying to the old attitudes of envy

and strife and jealousy and anger and selfishness and pride; and turning to follow Jesus in

newness of life. When we make disciples we bid people to come and die to their old,

destructive ways and to live for Jesus, who loved them and gave himself for them.

That brings us to the command to baptize in verse 19. The meaning of baptism develops

out of this meaning of discipleship. If becoming a disciple of Jesus means dying to your

old life and walking in newness of life with Christ as Jesus taught, then it's almost

inevitable that the symbolic act of that conversion should come to signify a death and

resurrection. And that's just what happened. Paul says in Romans 6:3,4, "All of us who

have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were buried

therefore with him by baptism into death so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the

glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." So Jesus commands baptism

as a normative part of disciple-making because baptism signifies in an outward way what it

means to become a disciple -- death to self-reliance and a new life of faith following Jesus.

When it says in verse 19 that we are to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and

the Holy Spirit, I think the point is that every member of the Trinity is active in the

conversion which baptism signifies. When a person becomes a disciple of Jesus, he

relates in a new way to the entire Godhead. The Father becomes our heavenly Father, the

Son our Lord, the Spirit our indwelling enabler. And in the act of baptism we submit

ourselves to all three and we pledge allegiance to all three.

Verse 20 shows that making disciples means more than getting conversions and

baptisms. "Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you …" Conversion and

baptism are essential, but so is the on-going teaching of what Jesus taught. The new life

of a disciple is a life of obedience to Jesus' commandments or it is not a new life at all. It

is worthless to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ in baptism and then ignore his

commandments. So all disciple-makers must be teachers and disciples must be continual

learners.

But teaching people to obey Christ is not easy. Obeying Christ in all he commanded is

harder yet. It requires tremendous spiritual power. And Christ was so gracious to leave us

with a word of comfort and power: "Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (v.

20). The reason that promise is packed with power is that the one who made it has all

authority in heaven and on earth (v. 18). He is not powerful and far away. Nor is he present

and weak. But he is with us and he is all-powerful -- for ever. The great commission is

sandwiched in powerful grace, and so are we.

As we baptize this morning, let's dedicate ourselves afresh to obeying Jesus and making

disciples. But let's do it by remembering that we are sandwiched in grace: the promise of

his absolute authority and power on the one side and the promise of his constant

presence on the other.