Matthew 28:19

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Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 28:19 (NKJV)

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 28:19 (NIV)

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Matthew 28:19 (KJV)

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 28:19 (NLT)

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.

Matthew 28:19 (ESV)

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 28:19 (NASB)

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 28:19 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 28:19 (AMPC)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Matthew 28:19 (MSG)

Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.

New Covenant Meaning

The Main Verb Is "Make Disciples," Not "Go"

In the Greek text, "go" is a participle (poreuthentes), not the main verb. The main verb, the imperative command, is matheteusate: make disciples. This distinction matters enormously. Jesus is not primarily commanding a geographic movement. He is commanding the formation of disciples. "As you go" or "going" captures the participle better than "Go and then." The Great Commission is addressed to disciples wherever they are: make others what you have become. Geography is the context, not the command.

The Trinitarian Formula Is Deliberate and Weighty

Jesus does not say "in the names" (plural) of the Father, Son, and Spirit. He says "in the name" (singular: onoma). Three persons, one name. This is one of the most compact Trinitarian declarations in Scripture, spoken by Jesus Himself. Baptism marks entry into the name of the one God who exists as Father, Son, and Spirit. This formula was not an accident of phrasing. It was a definitive statement about the nature of God and the identity of Jesus within that nature.

The commission is grounded in authority, not urgency. Jesus opens with "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me" (v. 18). The commission flows from that. Disciples are not sent to attempt something difficult. They are sent under the authority of the One who has been given everything. The scope of the mission (all nations) matches the scope of the authority (all heaven and earth). This is not human ambition with divine backing. It is a divine mission operating under the highest possible authorization.

Application for Your Life

Discipleship Is More Than Evangelism

Verse 20 completes the commission: "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." Making a disciple means bringing someone to the point of conversion and then teaching them to live by everything Jesus commanded. The Great Commission is not fulfilled by a gospel presentation alone. It requires the sustained work of formation. Someone who has been led to faith but not taught to follow Jesus has not been made into a disciple. The commission runs all the way to maturity, not just to the moment of belief.

The Promise Attached to the Commission

Verse 20 closes with a promise Jesus attaches directly to the commission: "I am with you always, to the end of the age." The commission and the presence are inseparable. Jesus does not send disciples out and then wait for their return. He sends them and goes with them. The mission was never meant to be carried out alone. The same authority that grounds the commission guarantees the presence. If you are making disciples, Jesus has promised to be with you in that work, always, without exception.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Lord Jesus, You have all authority in heaven and on earth. You have not kept that authority to Yourself but have commissioned those who follow You to go into every sphere of life and make disciples. I receive that commission. Not as an obligation to perform but as a mission to participate in, carried out under Your authority and in Your presence. Show me who You have placed around me to disciple. Teach me to teach what You have commanded. Let my going, wherever I go, be marked by the making of disciples. And as You promised, be with me always. I trust Your presence more than my own ability. In Your name. Amen.