Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. The final participial phrase in Jesus’ Great Commission, “teaching,” indicates the process by which disciples of Jesus are continually transformed through discipleship and the discipling process. Discipleship is the process by which a disciple (Christian) is transformed, while discipling is the involvement of one disciple helping another to grow in his or her discipleship.

The basic elements of this final participial phrase are packed with significance. (1) The pronoun “them” indicates that everyone who has become a disciple of Jesus is to be involved in the process of discipleship. Access to education by an esteemed rabbi was normally reserved for privileged men in rabbinic Judaism. Some rabbis denied young girls even the basics of Torah instruction. But Jesus once again breaks down all barriers to indicate that all of his disciples—women and men, Gentile and Jew, poor or rich—must be taught to obey everything he has commanded. This means that everyone who has heard the gospel message and has responded by believing on Jesus for eternal life is a disciple/Christian/believer, all of which are virtually synonymous terms (cf. Acts 2:44; 4:32; 5:14; 6:1, 7; 11:26; 26:28).

Today many incorrectly use the title “disciple” to refer to a person who is more committed than other Christians or to those involved in special “discipleship programs.” But we can see from Jesus’ commission that all Christians are disciples. It is just that some are obedient disciples, while others are not. That leads us to the next elements of this participial phrase.

(2) The activity of discipleship is involved with “teaching.” New disciples are to be taught the rudimentary elements of the Christian life, while more advanced teaching is given to mature disciples as they advance in the Christian life. But the emphasis is not simply on acquiring knowledge; the distinguishing feature is always that disciples are to obey or conform their lives to the teaching. Obedience was the hallmark of Jesus’ disciples (see 12:49–50).

(3) All disciples, new and mature, are to be taught to “obey everything that I [Jesus] have commanded [entellomai],” so that they increasingly become like him (cf. 10:24–25; Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18). Does entellomai imply only specific “commands” Jesus gave (as in the Old Testament understanding of “giving the law”), or does it include Jesus’ entire verbal ministry? This verb in Matthew and in the New Testament generally can refer to a general commission (Matt. 4:6; Mark 11:6; 13:34; Heb. 11:22), the commands of God from the Old Testament (Matt. 4:6 with Luke 4:10; Heb. 9:20), and the command of Moses (Matt. 19:7; Mark 10:3; John 8:5). Its most distinctive use is found in the present context, where it has a more all-inclusive sense. Jesus is not pointing to particular commands but rather to the full explication in his life and ministry for disciples. All that Jesus communicated by word of mouth is included in his commands, whether they are teachings, proverbs, blessings, parables or prophecies.

But we should go even further to suggest that all of Jesus’ life is included in entellomai. This verb unifies Jesus’ words and deeds and therefore recalls the entire Gospel of Matthew. Jesus’ life, whether in word or in deed, fulfills God’s will in the Old Testament, and as his disciples teach other disciples to obey his commands, their lives will reflect the transforming will of God in their own every word and deed.

The verb entellomai and the noun entole have a summarizing effect in other contexts as well, especially when love is considered a summarizing of God’s will, of the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 22:34–40). Love summarizes all that Jesus said and did (cf. John 13:34–35). Thus, in the expression “teaching them to obey all I have commanded you,” the content of “commanded” is the complete expression of all that Jesus said and did. For the purposes of the context of the Great Commission, we can say that the content is Matthew’s Gospel itself. All disciples, new and mature, are to look at Jesus’ authoritative life and words in this Gospel—indeed, throughout Scripture—and they must be taught to obey it, follow it, and practice it in their own lives.

In the five discourses and the alternating narratives of Jesus’ life that are recorded in his Gospel, Matthew has prepared a convenient compendium of the material that Jesus initially gave his first disciples. Matthew’s Gospel became a handbook on discipleship in the early church for next generations of disciples of Jesus. H. N. Ridderbos says succinctly, “The apostles had to teach people to obey all that Jesus commanded them during His ministry on earth. Their listeners had to be brought under His commandments so that they could show by their lives that they really belong to Him. That is the final purpose of the preaching of the gospel.” What Jesus did in making disciples of his first followers, succeeding generations of the church will do in the making of new disciples of Jesus.

In other words, in the Great Commission it would be inappropriate for Jesus to state, “teaching them to obey everything I taught you.” He did more than teach. He gave a new authoritative basis for life as a disciple in this age. We are to “obey all Jesus commanded or authoritatively revealed as binding upon our lives as God’s will for us,” especially as Matthew has structured it in the Gospel generally, and in the five discourses specifically.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Jesus’ entrance to history is encapsulated in the name Immanuel, “God with us” (1:23), and his abiding presence with his disciples is evident in his concluding assurance, “I am with you always.” A true Israelite would proclaim only God to be eternal and omnipresent, so here Matthew records a concluding claim by Jesus to his deity. Thus, Jesus concludes the commission with the crucial element of discipleship: the presence of the Master. Both those who obey the commission and those who respond are comforted by the awareness that the risen Jesus will continue to fashion all his disciples.

• Jesus is present as his disciples go throughout the nations with the gospel of the kingdom of God, inviting all to become his disciples.
• Jesus is present as new disciples are baptized and are taught to obey all that he has commanded.
• Jesus is present as maturing disciples go through all the stages of their lives.
• Jesus is present as the church sojourns through this age awaiting his return.
• Jesus is always present for his disciples to follow as their Master.

We worship and follow a risen Master, who is with us constantly. All he commanded in word and deed as necessary for our growth as his disciples is included in the Scriptures, but his real presence comforts our individual needs and sustains us through all of our days, whether in our weakness, sorrow, joy, power, or pain. To the “very end of the age” or until the completion of God’s plans for this age, Jesus promises to be the sustaining presence that assures us that history is not out of control, that the kingdom of God has indeed been inaugurated, that he is a very present help in times of trouble, and that the work he accomplished on the cross is continually available through his risen and ascended ministry.

This wonderful promise of Jesus’ continual presence invites us as readers into the story. This should not evoke fear or a guilty conscience; rather, it should spur all his disciples on to proclaim the good news of the presence of the kingdom of God in our lives. We are the ongoing chapter of this story, walking receptacles of the presence of the risen Jesus and living demonstrations of the power of the kingdom of God. May we be faithful and obedient disciples of Jesus as we walk in the closest intimacy with him and proclaim this good news that he is with us to the very end of the age.