WHAT DOES IT MEAN "TO MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS"?

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Jesus instructed his disciples in Matthew 28:19 (in what many Christians refer to as the Great Commission) to "make disciples of all nations".

Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,....................and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Most Christians consider this instruction as simply a command to win "New Converts" to the Church of Jesus. In as much as winning new converts, leading people to Christ and evangelizing the whole world are part of the instruction, it still goes beyond that.

The phrase "make disciples" comes from the Greek verb μαθητεύσατε (mathēteusate); from the noun mathetes which means to enrol as scholar/ pupil. The Greek verb is the same as that which is rendered "instructed" or "well trained" in Matthew 13:52, "Therefore," He said, "remember that every Scribe [student] well trained for the Kingdom of the Heavens is like a householder who brings out of his storehouse new things and old."

The instruction therefore communicates the idea of a learning Christian, someone who is growing in the knowledge of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is not a one-time profession of faith but a lifetime of spiritual growth. Jesus in John 8:31 also gives us an idea how to make disciples from the ones that believed and it is by continuous learning and following his teachings.

John 8:31 (NET Bible), Then Jesus said to those Judeans who had believed him, "If you continue to follow my teaching, you are really my disciples.

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