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question, and both times Peter
replies that he does. Both times,
Jesus also instructs Peter to take
care of His sheep—a reference to
the family of believers. Peter, who
had denied that he knew Jesus
three times in the high priest’s
courtyard during Jesus’s trial, is
now restored as a faithful disciple
of Christ and instructed to take
care of the community of believers
that would soon grow.Telling the world
During this period, Jesus often
meets the disciples as they eat
together. On one occasion, He tells
them to “wait for the gift my Father
promised, which you have heard
me speak about” (Acts 1:4). The gift
is God’s Holy Spirit, whom He has
told them is “power from on high”
(Luke 24:49) that will strengthen
them in their mission. God’s power
will be essential, because Jesus is
sending them to take His message
not just to Judea and Galilee, but
also to Samaria (a region often
avoided because of longstanding
political tension) and “to the ends
of the earth’” (Acts 1:8).
At the end of the 40 days, in
His last moments with the disciples,
Jesus sums up all He has taught
them in words that have becomeknown as “the Great Commission.”
First, He reminds the disciples of
the significance of His resurrection
from the dead: “All authority in
heaven and on Earth has been
given to me” (Matthew 28:18).
By defeating death, Jesus proves
that God has validated His life and
teaching, and has granted Him
divine authority over all things.
He then commissions the disciples
to bring others into His kingdom:
“Therefore go 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 I have
commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–
20). Jesus will be with the disciples,
but is now entrusting His divine
mission to human hands and feet.From disciples to apostles
Jesus’s Great Commission signals a
change in the identity of His closest
followers. Throughout His ministry,
the 12 have been called “disciples,”
which comes from a Greek word
meaning “learners’” or “followers.”
Now, the 11 disciples remaining—THE GREAT COMMISSION
A 5th-century Roman mosaic from
an eastern Mediterranean church has
the cross as a central image, testimony
to the spread of Christianity at the time.
It is now in the Louvre, Paris.The number 12
Throughout the Bible, the
number 12 recurs often, and
signifies the complete people
of God. Early on, Abraham’s
grandson Jacob has 12 sons.
They become the fathers of
the 12 tribes of Israel, God’s
special people and a sign of
His presence in the world. For
this reason, Jesus chooses 12
disciples to be the foundation
of a renewed family of God,
marked out by faith. After his
betrayal of Jesus, the disciples
have to find a replacement for
Judas in order to restore their
number to 12. The criteria for
apostleship was personal
knowledge of Jesus’s ministry,
so that the apostle could
provide witness to the fact
and significance of Jesus’s
life, death, resurrection, and
ascension. The disciples chose
Matthias. The number 12 also
appears frequently in the Book
of Revelation, referring to the
final completeness of God’s
worldwide family.The Tree of Life bore 12 crops
of fruit in John of Patmos’s vision of
Eden restored (Revelation 22:2),
one for every month.Declare His glory
among the nations,
His marvelous deeds
among all peoples.
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after Judas’s betrayal and suicide—
have become “Apostles,” from the
Greek word meaning “sent.” For
three years, Jesus has drawn them
closer to Him, demonstrating the
reality of God’s kingdom through
stories, teaching, and miracles.
Now, His “inner circle” can no longer
stay by His side, but must go and
announce the good news of Jesus
and His resurrection to all the world.A blessing for all
The Great Commission must have
been both daunting and exciting
for a group of ordinary men from
Galilee and Judea. For a long time,
the Jewish people had thought
that the appeal of their God would
bring people of all nations streaming
to the Temple of Jerusalem. Converts,
or proselytes, would then have to
commit to Jewish customs of lifeand faith. The Great Commission
subverts this idea. Rather than
people converging on Jerusalem,
the apostles must go from the city
to the four corners of the world,
even to those Gentiles who have
no regard for Jewish faith at all.
Baptism in the name of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit becomes the
initiation ritual for new believers.
Those who are baptized must
center their lives, not on the Temple
in Jerusalem, but on Jesus and His
presence in their lives through the
Holy Spirit. The Great Commission
thus fulfills an older promise given
to Abraham that through his
descendants “all people on earth
will be blessed”.
After two millennia, the Great
Commission remains a regular
impetus of the Christian faith. The
teachings of Jesus reached theTHE GOSPELS
Spread of early Christianity
Key:- Londinium
- Lutetia
- Colonia
- Massalia
- Rome
- Syracuse
- Athens
- Pergamum
- Ephesus
- Sirmium
- Byzantium
- Sinope
- Antioch
- Damascus
- Jerusalem
- Alexandria
- Memphis
- Cyrene
- Carthage
- Caesarea
- Tingis
- Gades
- Corduba
- Carthago Nova
- Tarraoo
- Burdigala
ends of the known earth within
the first two centuries ce. Today, the
mission is as focused on sharing
the message of the resurrection as
it is about journeying to the other
side of the world. ■AFRICAEUROPEASIAMediterranean SeaBlack SeaCaspian SeaNorth
SeaRed SeaAtlantic
OceanArea mostly Christian
by 325 ACE
Area mostly Christian
by 600 ACE
Spread of Christianity
12345678910
1114131215
161720191821222326
2524Therefore I want you
to know that God’s
salvation has been
sent to the Gentiles,
and they will listen!
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