Why Share the Good News?

Bible Passage: Matthew 28:18-20

After Jesus rose from the dead, his final words to the disciples focused on two central themes: the mission to spread the good news, and the promise of the Spirit’s help. These closing verses of Matthew’s Gospel, often called “the Great Commission,” capture both. They show us why we share the gospel, what we are called to do, where the mission extends, and how we can do it.

WHY: When Jesus gives the disciples their task in verse 19, he introduces it with the word ‘therefore’, highlighting that what he has said just before is the reason for what he is about to tell them to do. This reason is that ‘all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’. The resurrection wasn’t just a comeback story, it was a coronation. The cross defeated sin, the resurrection conquered death, and now Jesus reigns as Lord over all. Because he has all authority, we go with all confidence. The gospel isn’t just good advice; it’s good news about a victorious King who rules and saves.

WHAT: The task that Jesus gives his followers is to make disciples. Reading through the gospels, we can see that being a disciple means following Jesus and learning from him, and he now wants his disciples to invite others into the same journey. Practically speaking, this means telling others about Jesus with our words, showing his love and power through how we live, and creating clear moments of invitation for people to respond and follow him. Jesus highlights two parts of the journey of discipleship – baptism and teaching obedience. Baptism speaks of the beginning of the journey, as someone decides to repent of doing things their own way to follow Jesus, and puts their trust in him for the forgiveness of their sins. Teaching helps us see that being a disciple is more than a one off moment but involves a whole life of continuing to learn the way of Jesus and practice it in our lives. As we seek to make disciples of those around us, it will include both of these things.

WHERE: When Jesus told his followers to make disciples of all nations, this was a change from what they had been doing during his earthly ministry, when they had been focussed on reaching the towns and villages of Israel. Now the scope is to do the same thing but all over the world. We should remember that this is a shared commission, and it wasn’t that every believer was told to go everywhere (which would be impossible), but that together his people are sent everywhere. Evangelism is both local and global, personal and shared. On an individual level, this means both working hard to make disciples where we are, and thinking about how we can support the spread of the gospel into other places too. This might involve going ourselves to another nation or to plant somewhere else in our own country or city, or it might involve supporting and praying for others who are on the front lines of spreading the gospel to new people and places.

HOW: The idea of sharing our faith and seeing others become disciples can be a daunting one, and sometimes we can feel like we need help. In verse 20, Jesus promised the disciples this help as he told them that he would be with them always to the very end of the age. When he said, “I am with you always,” he was promising his presence through the Holy Spirit. A few weeks later, at Pentecost, that promise came to life as the Spirit empowered the church for witness. We know that all believers have the Spirit, and we also know that we can experience being filled with the Spirit again and again to continually empower us. Whenever mission feels hard or we feel timid we can lean on the resources that he gives through the Spirit to help us in the task.

Potential Applications:

• This sermon helps introduce the series on evangelism. For some who are newer to church it might serve to lay a foundation in something they have not thought about before. For others it might be a helpful reminder and prompt to keep going in this area.
• You could invite people to bring to mind one or two others they want to share their faith with. Either lead a prayer from the front for all the people who have been brought to mind, or invite people to get into small groups and pray for those they are thinking of.
• You could then challenge people to write down the names they brought to mind and commit to praying for them every day during this series.