Passover to Pentecost – The Great Commission Week 5 Day 7
Go. Matthew 28:19, Mark 16: 15; I am sending you. Luke 24: 49, John 20: 21; You will be my witness. Acts 1:8 (NIV)
The ionic phrase that is found in Matthew 28 has sent countless people to tell 
the Gospel, maybe it was in a foreign land or your downtown. Four writers, four slightly different perspectives form one complete picture.
The disciples finally went to Galilee to the mountain He had directed them too (probably Mount Tabor). If you are putting these appearances in a timeline think about it this way:
- The meeting with Thomas at the end of the feast of Unleavened Bread
- Peter and the catch of fishes
- The 500 and the commission are the same meetings (maybe)
Matthew 28: 18 – 20 – Starts and ends with a promise (all authority has been given to me and surely I am with you). Baptism and teaching lead to making disciples.
Mark 16: 9 – 20 – The NIV and other bibles give a note that this was probably added at a later date. I don’t see this as a problem, but it is more like an explanation of what was happening. If this section is a scorecard rather than just a commission it is easy to see that they were met with opposition when they went out.
Luke 24: 45 – 49 and Acts 1:7 + 8 – Both emphasize the promise of the Holy Spirit and waiting in Jerusalem until they have received Him. Luke is where we get the idea that evangelism should start in your “Jerusalem.”
John 20: 21 – 23 – Shows a chain of command about going to preach and forgive people their sins. Much has been written about Jesus breathing the Holy Spirit on them. Please remember that they had a separate experience on the day of Pentecost, which Luke stressed that they had to wait for. They needed the help of the Holy Spirit to retain all of the teachings Jesus was doing, but they received POWER on the day of Pentecost.
Mark's Bible Study 