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18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” （Matthew 28:18-20）


What is the relationship between Easter and the Great Commission? Resurrection is the only reason for the Great Commission. Without the assurance of the resurrection, the Great Commission does not work. The Great Commission is nothing but empty words. If Jesus has never been resurrected, the Great Commission is nothing but some nonsense fabricated by Jesus’ disciples.

After Jesus was resurrected, He entrusted His disciples His words. The Bible says “Jesus came up and spoke to them.” Jesus spoke to His disciples alive. A living Jesus gave His words authority and power. If not, the Great Commission is nothing but propaganda for the dead. Even the dead has something to say to the world but probably not worthy of risking one’s life. In 20th century, two leaders collected the most fanatic and dedicated admirers during their lifetime. They are worthy to be known as idols of their time and place. Hitler is one of them. His Nazism brought Germany from the defeated of WWI to become a superpower capable of conquering the whole world. After Hitler’s suicide, not a soul is willing carry on with the torch except some skinhead. Nazism does not carry except by Hydra of Marvel Comics. The other is Mao Zedong. He dies peacefully at old age and is still drawing thousands to pay respect to him. But his Maoism, Communism of Struggles just does not have successors.

Jesus is different. In the Jewish leaders’ eyes, Jesus was utterly defeated and executed. However, for the last thousand years, His disciples of all ages go out to spread the gospel, practice and try to fulfil the Great Commission. For the past forty years, Lord’s Grace Church continue to send out missionaries to fulfil the Great commission. Just a month ago, we have just send out our second generation missionaries. And our first generation missionaries have yet to retire. There is only one reason for doing so. The resurrected Christ has motivated us for the resurrected Christ gives us the assurance. This is the assurance that we will be metaporhasized and transformed. Jesus will offer us a completely transformed life and He Himself is the first sample and a beginning. Maybe we have had too many Easters. Every year we have an Easter around Spring break and Easter becomes ordinary. No, Easter is meant to remind us of the extraordinary, to bring back to us the shocking reality of resurrection. We shall think back how our lives were transformed on the day we became Christian or the day we were baptized. Today is Easter, shall we remember how we were charged, and “we shall go make disciples of all people. We teach them all that Christ has taught us from generation to generation until the day He returns.”