Gospel-formed Multiethnic Ministry

For generations, Christians have simply referred to Jesus’ command to his followers in Matthew 28:18-20 as “the Great Commission.” And we often hear church leaders say that the mission of the church is “to make disciples who make disciples.” Sadly, this memorable maxim completely misses the significance of what Jesus actually said to his Jewish believers. They could not have missed the point that Christians often ignore today.

Matthew intentionally begins his good news with a genealogy of Jesus. In his introductory verse, he specifically describes Jesus Christ as “the son of David, the son of Abraham.” This is because Jesus came to build a multiethnic family of God on the foundation of his everlasting grace.

In his gospel account, Matthew points to Jesus as the promised Davidic king who will build God’s kingdom and rebuild his house for the joy of his people (2 Sam?). What the Jewish Christians struggled to understand - and ultimately realized - was that the eternal house Jesus rebuilt also includes the Gentiles as fellow members of equal standing through faith in his grace (Acts 15; Eph. 2). But this should not have been a surprise to the Jews.

Over four hundred years before Israel became a royal priesthood, God blessed Abraham with the promise that all the ethnic families of the earth will be blessed through him. For this purpose, God specially called Israel to be a light to the Gentiles. When they utterly failed, God promised to not only restore them but also gather the nations to be his people. And Matthew identifies Jesus as the true Son who finally came to bless all ethnic peoples by faith in his grace.

It is no coincidence that Jesus grew up in “Galilee of the nations” and intentionally chose his twelve disciples from Galilee - not from Jerusalem. He wanted to train followers who were familiar with Gentiles. What these disciples witnessed in Jesus’ ministry was the very unveiling of the gospel of God for people of all nations. They were with Jesus when he graciously welcomed, healed, forgave, and blessed all sinners - Jews and Gentiles alike. They witnessed him humbly live a life they could never live and die the death they deserved to die. And they saw him victoriously come back to life to bless them with a ministry to all ethnic peoples.

So when Jesus commanded them to make disciples of people of all ethnicities, the Jewish disciples could not have missed the intentionality of their multiethnic mission. They saw Jesus live it out. They found in him the very purpose of their ethnicity. They knew they had to follow in his footsteps beyond the comforts of their ethnicity and culture. And this is what we see in Acts. The gospel formed and enabled Jewish believers to serve a multiethnic people.

What we call “the Great Commission,” then, is a humble gospel-formed multiethnic mission. It was a challenge for Jewish Christians. But Jesus strengthened them by his Spirit and provided resources along the way.

Faithfully pursuing this ministry will be equally challenging for us in our own context of racial disunity. Yet as he has in the past, we know that Jesus will strengthen us for this important gospel-centered work. He will provide us with unexpected resources as we humbly work together.

Contact

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Email Eddie:

hello@multiethnicity.org

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