Reflection:
Luke’s version of the Great Commission permanently links Jesus’ ethical teaching to the disciples’ mission to the world. This passage affirms the use of Jesus’ ethical teachings by the church in its mission to the world.
Jesus told his disciples to proclaim ‘repentance for forgiveness of sins…in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem’ (Lk.24:47). ‘Repentance’ takes concrete forms revealed by the narrative of Luke’s Gospel, especially Jesus’ call to repent from materialism and ethnocentrism. This clarifies the disciples’ mission and contextualizes the reason why Jesus gave this surprising ethic towards wealth and enemies: He expects the disciples, empowered by the Spirit (24:49), to engage the world with his lordship over Israel and the world. He calls them into a transnational reconciliation movement bearing witness to the unity and peace under his kingly rule. He calls his disciples to have a pilgrim ethic in relation to material wealth in order to testify to the pilgrimage of the new creation people awaiting their new creation land. These ethics are a permanent feature of the church’s life and teaching until Jesus comes again.
The final words of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel bring ‘the nations’ into view (24:47), just as Matthew’s version does. Luke is obviously concerned to root the movement of Christian world evangelization in the Hebrew Scriptures, as shown by his reference to Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms (24:44). Luke claims that the Old Testament, properly understood, is being revealed and fulfilled in the Christian mission to the world. This is a significant, and much debated, claim. Once again, a full defense of this position would require more space than is appropriate here, but a few observations are profitable.
Once the Davidic dynasty was established, prophetic expectation subsequently looked to the reign of the kingly Messiah proclaimed from Jerusalem outward. This was foreshadowed by Solomon, the son of David, receiving praise and honor from Gentile rulers like the Queen of Sheba in Jerusalem; this is especially significant to the Book of Chronicles. Within the Prophets, on the one hand there are passages indicating how the Messiah’s reign over the Gentiles would bring destruction against those Gentiles who resist him (e.g. Joel 3:1-17). On the other, there are passages indicating that his reign will bring peace, at least to those who bow the knee to him (e.g. Isa.2:1-4; Mic.4:1-5). In both cases, Israel and her covenant with YHWH would be vindicated before the world.
Moreover, the Psalms view ‘the nations’ as the ‘inheritance’ or ‘possession’ of the king of Israel. Psalm 2, a psalm recited at the coronation of every Davidic king in Jerusalem, picks up the language of ‘possession’ begun in the prophecy of Balaam. God encourages the king of Israel to ‘ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession’ (2:8). Psalm 2 thematically anticipates the Messianic king of Israel, expecting his rule over the world to be fully enacted. Similarly, Psalm 110 picks up the word ‘scepter’ and envisions the king of Israel ruling in the midst of his enemies and simultaneously being a priest in the order of Melchizedek, the first priest-king. These two Psalms are especially significant to Luke. Jesus himself crafts a riddle from Psalm 110 concerning his claim to the Davidic throne (Lk.20:42-43). Luke records God Himself quoting from Psalm 2 at Jesus’ baptism (Lk.3:22) to designate Jesus as the ‘Son’ anointed king over Israel. Luke also records the original disciples quoting from Psalm 2 to describe the impact of Jesus’ lordship engaging the Gentile political powers (Acts 4:25-26). And both Peter and Paul discuss Jesus’ kingship in their very first recorded speeches (Acts 2:13ff. and 13:33ff.).
First century Israel expected their Messiah to bless some nations and destroy others. A certain amount of ambiguity therefore existed in first century Israel about how the Messiah would actually do these things. Typically Pharisees expected the Messiah to use military force, against Rome in particular, to establish his reign in Jerusalem, a reign that would eventually encompass the entire Gentile world. Jesus’ understanding of how this would happen was, of course, different. He understood the rejected prophet pattern as normative and embraced the suffering Messiah passages – including Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 – as part of his vocation. He postponed Israel’s claim on its own land inheritance in favor of his disciples going out to the nations to proclaim his lordship among them; Jesus is now claiming his inheritance, his possession of ‘the nations’ through his disciples. They are to welcome them into the Messianic community, including its mission and ethics, continuing in the trajectory of his suffering as well. The time for ultimate blessing and cursing, as appropriate, of Israel and the nations was set for the future, when Jesus returns. It was left to Paul and John to clarify that Jesus promised an entirely renewed, garden world to his renewed people after their resurrection; such is consistent with the prophecies of Isaiah and Ezekiel about the consummated new creation. Ethnic Israel will not inherit a fresh, abundant land, but the new humanity of God in Jesus will ultimately inherit a fresh, abundant world (e.g. Rom.4:16-17).
