Two Commissions: Two Missionary Mandates in Matthew’s Gospel

Matthew’s Gospel contains two discernible missionary mandates, where Christ sent His disciples to two different people groups with two evidently distinct messages. The command of Jesus to “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” (Matt. 28:19) is well known and oft repeated by Christians the world over. This missionary mandate has come to be commonly referred to as “the Great Commission.” However, there remains another commission with which the diligent reader of Scripture must come to terms.