This coming Sunday is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” Jesus’ universal reign demands a universal mission. The restriction of the disciples’ mission to Israel alone in 10:5–6 can now be lifted, for the kingdom of the Son of man as described in Daniel 7:14 requires disciples of all nations.

Ethnē (‘nations’) is the regular Greek term for Gentiles, and it has been argued that this command therefore actually excludes the Jews from the scope of the disciples’ mission. But to send the disciples to ‘the Gentiles’ is merely to extend the range of their mission, and need not imply a cessation of the mission to Israel which has already been commanded, and can now be taken for granted.

Moreover, the phrase panta ta ethnē (‘all nations’) has been used previously in 24:9, 14; 25:32 in contexts which include Israel in ‘the nations’. And surely there can be no suggestion in Daniel 7:14 of the exclusion of Israel from  the dominion of the Son of man, who himself represents Israel. This then is the culmination of the theme we have noted throughout the Gospel, the calling of a people of God far wider than that of the Old Testament, in which membership is based not on race but on a relationship with God through his Messiah (3:9; 8:11–12; 12:21; 21:28–32, 41–43; 22:8–10; 24:14, 31; 26:13).

Harrington [Collegeville Bible Commentary, 902] offers a final thought on the great commission: “…verses 18b–20 consists in the statement about Jesus’ authority (v. 18b), the command to make disciples (vv. 19–20a), and the promise of Christ’s abiding presence until the fullness of God’s kingdom comes (v. 20b). Thus it summarizes the three major themes of Matthew’s Gospel:

1. Supreme and universal authority has been given to Jesus by his heavenly Father. Therefore he far surpasses every other human being and deserves all the exalted titles given to him.
2. The disciples are to share their discipleship with all people (not simply their fellow Jews) and to hand on Jesus’ teaching to them. The largely Jewish community for which Matthew wrote his Gospel probably needed some encouragement to share their faith with non-Jews, and the statement in verse 19a was most likely understood as a reference to the Gentile mission. The wording of the command to baptize (v. 19b) undoubtedly reflects a baptismal formula used in the Matthean community.
3. The promise of Jesus’ continuing presence with the disciples and their successors brings to fulfillment the name “Emmanuel” (“God is with us”) given to Jesus at conception (see 1:23), in accordance with Isa 7:14. The promise assumes a “time of the church” between the inauguration of God’s kingdom through Jesus and its fullness at the end of the world. The spirit of the risen Jesus will guide and protect the church during this time.”

Image credit: “Trinity” by Andrei Rublev | Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Moscow | PD-US