Making Disciples

 

 
“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and
on earth has been given to me. 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. And surely I am with you always,
to the very end of the age.’”

— Matthew 28:18–20 (NIV)

How to Use This Devotional

Over the next six days, we will walk slowly through Matthew 28:16–20 — one of the most extraordinary passages in all of Scripture. 

Known as the Great Commission, these five verses capture the final recorded words of Jesus to His disciples before His ascension. 

They are words of authority, words of mission, and words of promise.

Each day focuses on a single theme drawn from the passage. 

You’ll find a short reflection, a prayer to close your time, and a question to carry with you into the day. 

There is no rush. Read slowly. Sit with the words. 

Let them work on you.

Whether you are new to faith or have followed Jesus for many years, our prayer is that this week draws you deeper into the heart of the One who sends us — and closer to the people He longs to reach.

DAY 1

They Worshiped Him

“When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.” — Matthew 28:17

It is a detail easy to rush past: before the mission, there was a mountain. 

Before the command, there was a moment of worship. 

Eleven disciples made the journey to Galilee, to the very place Jesus had appointed, and when they saw the risen Lord standing before them, they fell in worship.

But Matthew doesn’t sanitize the scene. 

“Some doubted,” he writes, with disarming honesty. 

These were the same men who had walked with Jesus, eaten with Him, watched Him die. 

And yet, even in this moment of resurrection glory, doubt was present. 

Worship and uncertainty, side by side on the same hillside.

This should be an enormous comfort to us. 

The Great Commission was not given to a group of perfectly confident, doubt-free disciples. 

It was given to people like us — people who kneel and wonder at the same time, who believe and still feel the trembling of uncertainty beneath their faith. Jesus does not wait for us to have it all together before He calls us.

What matters most in this opening scene is not that some doubted — but that they came. 

They went to the mountain. 

They showed up. 

And in their showing up, they encountered the risen Christ and were changed forever. 

The invitation to you today is the same: come, even with your questions. 

Worship, even in the trembling. He meets us there.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, I come to You today — with my faith and with my doubts. Thank You that You do not require perfection before You meet me. Help me to simply show up, to kneel before You, and to trust that Your presence is greater than my uncertainty. Amen.

REFLECTION

Reflect: Is there an area of your faith where doubt and worship coexist right now? 

What would it look like to bring both honestly before Jesus today?


DAY 2

All Authority

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” — Matthew 28:18

Before Jesus says “go,” He says “all authority.” 

This is not a small claim. In a world of competing powers — political, spiritual, cultural — Jesus declares that every ounce of authority in heaven and on earth has been placed in His hands. 

Not some authority. 

Not authority in spiritual matters only. 

All of it.

The word translated “authority” here carries the sense of the right and the power to act. 

Jesus is not simply asserting influence; He is announcing sovereign reign. 

The resurrection is the vindication of His claim. 

Death could not hold Him. 

The grave could not silence Him. 

And now, exalted to the Father’s right hand, He speaks from a position of unrivaled supremacy.

Why does this matter for us? 

Because the mission He is about to give us rests entirely on this foundation. 

We are not sent in our own strength, with our own resources, hoping things work out. 

We go as ambassadors of the One who holds all things. 

The One who commissions us is the same One who commands the wind and raises the dead.

This is not a call to arrogance, but to deep, settled confidence. 

You may feel small. 

The needs around you may feel enormous. 

But the authority of Christ is the bedrock beneath every step of obedience. 

You go because He reigns. 

And He reigns over everything.

PRAYER

King Jesus, I confess that I sometimes live as though the problems of this world are bigger than Your power. 

Forgive me. 

Remind me today that all authority is Yours — in my home, my workplace, my fears, and my world. 

Help me walk in the confidence of Your reign. Amen.

REFLECTION

Reflect: In what area of your life are you tempted to forget that Jesus holds all authority? 

How does that truth change how you approach that situation today?

DAY 3

Therefore Go

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” — Matthew 28:19

The word “therefore” is doing a lot of work here. 

It connects the command to go directly to the declaration of Christ’s authority. 

Because He holds all authority, we go. 

The going flows from the reigning. 

Mission is not grounded in our enthusiasm or gifting — it is grounded in who Jesus is.

In the original Greek, the main verb in this sentence is not “go” — it is “make disciples.” 

Going is assumed. 

It is the posture of someone already in motion, already oriented toward the world beyond their doorstep. 

Jesus isn’t asking His followers to add ‘going’ to their calendar. 

He is describing the shape of a life that has been captured by His mission.

For some of us, “go” means crossing an ocean. 

For others, it means crossing the street. 

It might mean an honest conversation with a neighbor, a consistent presence in a difficult community, or a willingness to speak of Jesus in places where His name is unfamiliar. 

The geography of our going differs. 

The call itself does not.

What holds many of us back is not lack of love but lack of courage. 

We care deeply — but we hesitate. 

The good news is that Jesus does not say, “Go when you feel ready.” 

He says go. 

And with His authority behind us and His presence before us, ready enough is now.

PRAYER

Lord, forgive me for the times I have stayed when You called me to go. Give me courage today to take one small step of obedience — to go toward someone, to speak when I’d rather stay silent, to be present where You are at work. 

I trust You with the outcome. Amen.

REFLECTION

Reflect: Where is your ‘go’ right now? 

Who or what situation is God calling you toward that you may have been hesitating to engage?

DAY 4

All Nations

“…make disciples of all nations…” — Matthew 28:19

Two words stretch the imagination of every disciple who has ever heard them: “all nations.” 

The Greek word is “panta ta ethne” — every people group, every tribe, every tongue. 

The heart of God is not regional. 

It is global. 

From the very beginning, His redemptive plan was never meant to stop at one people’s borders.

This phrase should quietly dismantle the comfortable boundaries we sometimes draw around our concern. 

It is easy to care for people who look like us, think like us, live near us. 

But Jesus names ‘all nations’ with breathtaking intentionality. 

There is not a language on earth that the gospel is not meant for. 

There is not a culture so distant that Christ’s love does not extend to it. 

There is not a person beyond the reach of His grace.

This verse has fueled centuries of mission. 

It sent Paul across the Mediterranean, Patrick to Ireland, Hudson Taylor deep into China, and countless unnamed believers into difficult and unreached places. 

It continues to send today. 

And it shapes the posture of every follower of Jesus — cultivating a heart that beats with God’s desire for every people.

You may not travel far. 

But you can pray far. 

You can give. 

You can welcome the nations as they come to your city, your school, your neighborhood. 

The Great Commission is not reserved for missionaries. 

It is the calling of every person who names Jesus as Lord.

PRAYER

Father, enlarge my heart to love what You love — every people, every nation, every person made in Your image. 

Break down the walls of indifference or fear that keep my concern small. 

Show me one concrete way I can participate in Your global mission, right where I am. Amen.

REFLECTION

Reflect: How does the phrase ‘all nations’ challenge or expand your understanding of who you are called to love and serve? 

Is there a people group or community you have rarely considered?

DAY 5

Baptizing and Teaching

“…baptizing them… and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” — Matthew 28:19–20

The Great Commission gives us not just a destination — all nations — but a description of what disciple-making looks like. 

Two participles fill out the picture: baptizing and teaching. 

Together, they describe the full arc of bringing someone into the life of Christ and nurturing them in it.

Baptism is the public, embodied declaration of belonging. 

To be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is to be marked as one who belongs to the triune God — welcomed into the family, sealed by the Spirit, and identified with the death and resurrection of Jesus. 

It is a moment of beginning, not completion.

Teaching completes the picture. 

And notice what kind of teaching Jesus has in mind: not merely teaching people to know His commands, but to obey them. 

The goal of Christian formation is not a head full of doctrine — as important as sound doctrine is — but a life being shaped by the way of Jesus. 

We are called to walk the way He walked, to love as He loved, to forgive as He forgave.

This is the long, patient, joyful work of community. 

None of us gets there alone. 

We need people who will speak truth to us, walk beside us, and model what obedient love looks like in the everyday. 

Who has done that for you? 

And who are you doing it for?

PRAYER

Jesus, thank You for the patient, ongoing work You do in me through Your Word and Your people. 

I want to grow not just in knowledge but in obedience — in love that actually looks like Yours. 

Help me to invest in others the way someone has invested in me. Amen.

REFLECTION

Reflect: Who in your life is helping you grow in obedience to Jesus? 

And who might you be able to walk alongside in their faith — however informally — this season?

DAY 6

I Am with You Always

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” — Matthew 28:20

Jesus ends where He began: with Himself. 

Not with a strategy, not with a to-do list, not with a list of metrics for success. 

He ends with a promise — perhaps the most sustaining promise in all of Scripture: “I am with you always.”

The word “always” in the Greek is literally “all the days” — every single one of them. 

The Monday that feels like too much. 

The conversation that goes badly. 

The season of fruitfulness and the season of barrenness. 

The ordinary Tuesday. 

The grief-stricken Friday. 

All the days, He is there. 

Not watching from a distance, but present — Emmanuel, God with us.

This promise is not a sentiment. 

It is a declaration from the One who holds all authority in heaven and earth. 

The same Jesus who commissioned the disciples was the same Jesus who breathed the stars into existence and rose triumphant from the grave. 

His presence with us is not a comforting idea — it is a reality as solid as the resurrection itself.

And it is meant to be enough. 

For everything the mission requires — the courage, the perseverance, the love, the wisdom — His presence is the inexhaustible supply. 

We go because He reigns. 

We make disciples because He teaches through us. 

And we keep going, through every hard thing, because He is always already there.

As you close this six-day journey, let this promise settle into the deepest part of you. 

You are not alone in this. 

You will never be alone in this. To the very end of the age — He is with you.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, what a gift it is to be sent by One who never leaves. 

Thank You for the promise of Your constant presence — not as a distant observer, but as the One walking beside me through every single day. 

Help me to live from this truth, not just know it. 

I am Yours, and You are with me. Amen.

REFLECTION

Reflect: Looking back over this week, which day’s theme resonated most deeply with you? 

How do you want the truths of Matthew 28:16–20 to shape the way you live in the days ahead?


A Final Word

The Great Commission is not a burden placed on the shoulders of extraordinary people. 

It is an invitation extended to ordinary followers of an extraordinary Lord. 

The disciples on that Galilean mountain were fishermen, tax collectors, and doubters. 

And yet, through their willing obedience, the world was changed.

The same invitation stands today. 

You do not need to be remarkable — only available. 

You do not need to have all the answers — only a willingness to go. 

And as you go, you carry with you the authority of Christ, the power of His Spirit, and the unbreakable promise of His presence.

May these six days be the beginning of something — a deeper love for the nations, a renewed courage for the mission, and an unshakeable confidence in the One who said, “I am with you always.”