By J.R. Miller
Jesus in His teaching, spoke much of His kingdom. On the evening of the day He died, however, it did not seem probable that He would found a kingdom, or leave anything behind Him in this world, which would endure. But three days after His death and burial--He arose! That changed everything. It proved that He was divine. A few weeks later He met His apostles and outlined His plan for the conquest of the world. The meeting was by appointment--it was not accidental, and it had a purpose.
First, Jesus told His disciples that all authority in heaven and earth had been given to Him. This was a tremendous claim, one no mere man could ever make. He had won His place as universal King, by His humiliation and death. It warms our hearts to remember that He who sits on the throne of all power--is a man like ourselves, Jesus Christ, whom we know to be so human, so gracious, so loving. With all authority in His hands, nothing can ever go wrong with us, His friends.
Then Jesus told His disciples of their part. All authority had been given to Him--but men did not yet own Him as Lord. "Go, therefore," He said, "and make disciples of all the nations." If the claim of
Jesus to universal authority was so stupendous, this duty now laid upon His followers seemed vast beyond all possibility. Yet the words of the commission are so plain, that there can be no mistake as to their meaning. That little handful of the Master's followers, was to make disciples of all nations. Believers of today are the successors of the first disciples, and the commission is theirs now. Christ is universal King--but there are millions who still do not own His sway, and it is our duty to make disciples of these.
The disciples might have pleaded their inability to do this vast work. But the Master said that they were not to do it alone--they and He would do it. "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." He was about to go away into heaven as to His human presence. But He would return again in His spiritual presence and stay with His Church unto the end. The promise was fulfilled and His disciples went everywhere, Christ working with them. We alone cannot win men to Christ--but if Christ is with us, nothing can resist His power!
