Contemporary Western Christians interpret and apply the Great Commission with an individualistic bias, which bypasses the Commission’s rigorously ecclesial aspect. This paper investigates the Great Commission’s ecclesial dimension by examining the intratextual connections between Matthew 16:13-20, 18:15-20, and 28:18-20. The thesis of this paper is that Matthew’s gospel textually links Matt. 16:13-20, 18:15-20, and 28:18-20 in distinct ways, so we should interpret the Great Commission through the lens of the first two passages and thus in an ecclesial frame. This thesis is substantiated by the repetition of unique words and phrases, the allusions and foreshadowing of 28:16-20 found in 16:13-20 and 18:15-20, and shared typological echoes across all three texts.
The goal and purpose of researching this topic is to promote the faithful fulfillment of our Lord’s command by clarifying the specificity of its vision. In search of this specificity, this paper explores the interpretive connections between the passages cited above and considers their mutually interrelated implications for the church in accomplishing its peculiar mission. For example, the structure of a local church’s polity is crucial to the authoritative nature of Christian discipleship if there is an intratextual connection between the passages cited above. In addition, an intratextual connection between these passages signifies that the keys, exercised by the gathering of a true church, functioning obediently as a body, are central to disciple-making and integral to its explicitly missional Commission. The gatherings themselves must be understood as practical disciple-making and missionary events.