Ever wonder what Jesus wants us to do? He left us a job description!
This is Scripture for Students. I’m Steve Whitacre, president of Trinity College and a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. I want to help students build a daily habit for life-long Bible reading. Today is January 28, 2025 and this episode of Scripture for Students is called A Job Description for the Church. Grab your Bible and let’s get started.
Our readings for today are Genesis 29, Matthew 28, and Esther 5.
Please open your Bibles to Matthew 28.
When I was in college, I had a job working at a clothing store in the mall. It was a pretty easy job. Mostly folding shirts and pants and finding shoes in the right size for customers. I liked buying clothes at a steep discount but I did not like it when I discovered that the store manager was unhappy with me because I had not been sweeping or mopping or cleaning the bathrooms. I was willing to do those things, but no one had ever told me that they were part of my job. The problem was I had been hired to sell clothes, but never told exactly what I was supposed to do. I didn’t have a job description.
A job description is a list of your responsibilities as an employee. Maybe it doesn’t sound so bad to not have a job description: you get to do the things at work that you want to do, right? No. I’m telling you: it isn’t that great to feel like there might always be more that you’re expected to do but that no one ever told you to do.
What is our job description together as a church? What are Christians supposed to do in the world? Our Scripture for Students today gives us a job description for the church so that we don’t have to wonder what the Lord wants from us.
Please follow along with me as I read Matthew 28:16–20,
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
May the Lord bless the reading and the hearing and the keeping of his Word.
This is the very last paragraph of Matthew’s gospel, so you already know the setting: Jesus has come, lived, died on the cross, and has risen from the dead but he has not ascended to heaven yet. Jesus sent the disciples along ahead of him to a mountain in Galilee and they went. I am sure that was a joyful journey as they reflected on what it meant that Jesus was risen from the dead and walking on the earth. I’m sure they experienced joy, relief, and peace.
In fact, it says that when Jesus visited them, they worshiped him. But some doubted. Matthew doesn’t mention Thomas here, but you can read more about that story in John 20:24–29. What’s important for us is what comes next. Matthew 28:18–20 contains a job description for the church and for every Christian.
Two things I want us to notice here. First, Jesus explains that he has authority over everything. “All authority in heaven and on earth,” he says. This is big. When Jesus lived on earth, it said that he was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. That the son of man had no place to lay his head. That he was rejected by his family and eventually abandoned even by his disciples. And then crucified with great pain and great shame, bearing the wrath of God. But my, how things have changed. Now, by rising from the dead, Jesus has conquered sin and death and the Devil and the Father has given him authority. What does Jesus do with that authority? Lots of things. Here, he gives the church a job description.
Second, let’s think about what this job description really means. At first glance, it seems like there are four things to do: go, make disciples, baptize them, and teach them. But the grammar of the text puts the emphasis on one thing. The main thing that Christians are supposed to do here is make disciples. “Go” is the setting for making disciples. The idea here is not so much that Jesus is calling his people to move to another country, although he does sometimes call people to do that. Mainly he is saying something like, “As you are going…” In other words, make this a part of your daily life.
The other verbs here: baptize and teach, describe how we make disciples. There are two steps here: baptize them and teach them. We baptize people when they first become Christians and make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Then, we teach them. We teach them to obey all that Jesus has commanded. If we were to chart this on a timeline, think of baptism as a dot on that timeline, a specific point in time, and then teaching them to obey is a line that extends on until they die.
So, this is what the church does. And because all Christians are supposed to be a part of a local church and actively involved in it, then all Christians are called to share the gospel with non-Christians so that they come to believe, are baptized and are taught to obey.
But here’s the twist we need to think about: this is not only what the church and each Christian is called to do; each of us is also in the midst of this right now.
If you are listening to this and you have not been baptized, why not? Are you following Jesus? If not, why not? Maybe you are thinking that there is something in life that you know you would have to give up to follow Jesus. I am here to tell you that whatever that is, it will not make you happier than Jesus. In fact, anything that you are trying to hold on to instead of Jesus will make you miserable. But you can be truly happy if you have nothing but still have Jesus. If you are not following Jesus, come to Jesus, become a Christian, get baptized and take your place in the church!
And if you are a Christian, these verses also describe what life is supposed to be like for you right now: be baptized and learn to obey all that Jesus has commanded you.
This is a great moment to stop and ask yourself: am I obeying? And am I learning to obey all that Jesus commanded me? Jesus commanded us to do a lot. If you aren’t sure what that might include, John Piper has a book called, What Jesus Demands of the World. There are something like 50 different commands in there that Jesus wants us to obey.
Maybe we just start with the big ones: in Mark 12:30–31, Jesus says to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. Are you growing in your love for God? It’s a command that we are called to obey. So, are you growing in your devotion to God, his word, and his people? And are you growing in your love for your neighbor? As young people, this starts with your family. Are you growing in your appreciation for your parents, your affection for your siblings, and your eagerness to be together and to serve around the house?
In all of this, we have a duty: God has given us commands and he expects us to obey. That comes with its own benefit: the joy and comfort of a clear conscience in the knowledge that we are pleasing God. But there is one more benefit here: Jesus reminds us that he is with his Christians always, even to the end of the age. So he is quick to help us obey and quick to forgive us when we fail to obey. So let’s go, make disciples, baptize, and teach. That’s our job description!
That’s all for today. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with a friend and follow us on Apple Podcasts.
This content is sponsored by Trinity College of Louisville. We shape young men and young women for Christ and for the church. Learn more at TrinityCollegeLou.com. Until next time, keep growing!