Matthew 28:20

Discipling also involves teaching followers everything Jesus commanded His disciples. Notice that the content is not the Old Testament law but Jesus’ commands. This does not mean that the Old Testament is unimportant. Jesus validated the whole Old Testament during His ministry (Matthew 5:17-20). However the focus now becomes Jesus as the source of revelation rather than secondary sources such as the Old Testament prophets (cf. Hebrews 1:1-4). Likewise the revelation of the rest of the New Testament came through Jesus and is therefore also authoritative (Acts 1:1-2). All of this teaching remains authoritative forever (Matthew 24:35).

Disciples must not just understand what Jesus has commanded, as foundational as that is. They must also obey it.

". . . Matthew uses this command to weave the final thread of his argument. The purpose of his Gospel was to prove to Israel that Jesus is the Messiah. The inquiring Jew would ask, ’If Jesus is our King, where is our kingdom?’ Matthew has indicated that the kingdom was offered to Israel, rejected by them, and postponed by God. At the present time and until the end of the tribulation the kingdom is being offered to the Gentiles (Romans 11). Therefore, the disciples are to disciple all nations. At the end of the age the kingdom of Israel will be inaugurated by the return of Israel’s King." [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., p. 319.]

This Gospel ends not with a command but with a promise, or rather a fact. Jesus will be with His disciples as they carry out His will. This is His great commitment. Immanuel is still God with us (Matthew 1:23; cf. Matthew 18:20). The expression "to the end of the age" (Gr. pasas tes hemeras) literally means "the whole of every day." [Note: Moule, p. 34.] Jesus promised to be with us every day forever. It does not mean He will cease being with us when the present age ends and the messianic kingdom begins. Throughout the present age (Gr. sunteleias tou aiovos) Jesus’ disciples are to carry out His Great Commission. [Note: See D. Edmond Hiebert, "An Expository Study of Matthew 28:16-20," Bibliotheca Sacra 149:595 (July-September 1992):338-54; and L. Legrand, "The Missionary Command of the Risen Lord Matthew 28:16-20," Indian Theological Studies 24:1 (March 1987):5-28.]

Jesus began each of the preceding major sections of Matthew’s Gospel with ministry and concluded each with teaching. However in this one He concluded with a command that His disciples continue His ministry and teaching. Thus the book closes with the sense that the ministry and teaching of Jesus are ongoing.