The Great Commission Begins

Matthew 4: 12-23

When I was in High School, my friends and I would “hang-out” in the library.  This was in part because we were generally nerds either on the debate team or National Honor Society, or both.  For fun we would scour the microfilms and microfiche for interesting articles or pictures.  It was our internet.  We would debate and make games on various information and thus for fun we would debate the meaning of certain words.  We would look them up in the various dictionaries and determine who had a better grasp of the meaning of the word in question.  I can clearly remember the time we were looking in the “W’s” and I saw the definition for woman.  I know we were not looking up the meaning of that word, for even though we certainly did not understand women, we were smart enough to know the dictionary would be of no value to us to understand.  What I did notice was the small “n” and small “v” in the definition.  I knew that woman was a noun, but I had never thought of the word as a verb.  I then looked around the library and realized it was womaned by great librarians.  (It is true that not every dictionary has woman as a verb, but it is clear that it was once a verb, meaning “to equip or staff with women” or “to put into the company of a woman” as per Dictionary.com)  The point of this, is not about inclusive language, but that a word can mean something to us today, and we lost part of the meaning, and specifically in this case a tense.

Today’s word is μαθητεύω (Matheteuo).  Which in the ancient Greek was a verb, yet it is often translated as a noun.  The word is disciple as a verb, or “to make disciples.” In today’s scripture, we learn of Jesus’ first call of His disciples, near the sea of Galilee.  This is actually really where the Great Commission begins, with Jesus’ preaching, teaching, and healing, and at the crossroads of Israel and the Gentile nations.  This was not understood in entirety until the resurrection, when Jesus asks his followers to go back to Galilee and He gives them the Great Commission.  Matthew 28: 16-20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

They and thus we were told to do exactly this, and we see the term make disciples and miss that it really is a verb.  Even in English the word disciple is a verb and a noun.  The noun is someone that follows the teachings of someone, generally assumed Jesus, capitalized it means a member of our denomination, but the verb tense is considered archaic and means to teach.  Thus the above highlighted text should just say “disciple” or “teach,” for the “make disciples” hints that the goal is to make more nouns and not do the verb.  Hope that makes some sense.

Let us return to the fishing metaphor Jesus used when He called the first disciples.  When one fishes even for a living it is about getting fish, but there is a lot of knowledge and preparation that must be mastered to allow for the full nets.  This is hinted at in the scripture, first of all that James and John sat with their father, implying that they learned the vocation of fishing from him, and they sat their mending their nets.  This reminds me of the adage, “watch the pennies and the dollars will follow.”  A good fisherman would know that there is a lot of preparation, knowledge, patience, and skill, to be awarded with the fish.  Even today when we successfully accomplish something that we did with preparation, knowledge, patience, and skill, we rightly thank God. 

When we try to fulfill the Great Commission we must remember that the first Disciples were told they would be fishing for people, and as fishermen, would understand the metaphor as the work they would do for God to provide the outcome.  The word, μαθητεύω, should be a verb to us and let the noun be for God.  Just as when I lower someone into the baptismal waters, it is God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus, who baptizes, not I the pastor, I am just there doing.  We are to teach, to disciple and as any good teachers will tell you when you teach you learn, and God will make disciples.