And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you — the Great Commission is not only evangelistic but formative: the disciples are to make disciples who obey. The everything I have commanded you points back to the full teaching of Matthew's Gospel — the five great discourses, the Sermon on the Mount, the mission instructions, the parables, the community teaching, the eschatological discourse. Matthew's Gospel is the curriculum for the commission: everything in it is the content of the teaching mandate. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age — the final promise fulfills the first name in the Gospel, Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). The Gospel that opened with the announcement of divine presence closes with its guarantee. The risen Jesus who has all authority promises his perpetual accompanying presence to the community that carries his commission — not just until the commission is complete but to the very end of the age.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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