Matthew 28:18-20

 Mt. 28:18-20

A.) Ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· 

B.) πορευθέντες οὖν μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, 

C.) βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, 

B’.) διδάσκοντες αὐτοὺς τηρεῖν πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖν· 

A’.)καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεθ’ ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος.

A.) All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 

B.) Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, 

C.) baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

B’.) teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; 

A’.) and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

You have a command (B-C-B’) standing in the middle of a statement, one that ends in a promise. Notice that baptism stands at the center of Jesus’ statement. Baptism is not just “in” the name of the Holy Trinity, but “into” the name. It is baptism into union with the Triune God, which is baptism into His Church. It is a transition from a former state of being into a new state of being, and into a new set of relationships.

Jesus issues a threefold command, reflective of the triune God to which all true believers are united and which stands at the center of the command and of the chiasm.

The evidence for the chiasm exists not only in Jesus’ threefold command, but in the fact that the two verbs often translated “disciple” (μαθητεύσατε) and “teach” (διδάσκοντες) have essentially the same semantic range. The two phrases mirror one another. In addition, Jesus’ promise to forever be with His disciples points back to His first statement and to His authority everywhere and over all that exists. His disciples need not fear anything, because there is no place they can go where He is not King and in complete control.

The disciples are to “go” (πορευθέντες), and where they are to go is in the preceding word, the “world” or “earth” (γῆς). They are to leave Israel, to leave the Jewish people, and go to “πάντα τὰ ἔθνη”. Often translated “all the nations”, it simply means “all who aren’t Jews”, or “all the Gentiles”. The word for “nations” or “Gentiles” here has no implications for any particular structure of government. It does not support a modern nationalistic conception of country or government in any way. The passage is clear in its teaching, however, of Theocracy. Jesus is king over all people, all places, and of all things. And it is the duty of all creatures to submit to him.

But to pull vs. 19 out of context, force a meaning on the translated  word “nations”, and begin to argue for, or even assume, a certain structure of government or country beyond this is bad scholarship. And given the modern usage of the word “nationalism”, the use of the word in relation to this passage is obfuscatory and unhelpful.

Mary, Mary

 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And when he did, lo, there didst from the crowd fly a single stone, and behold, the stone didst graze the woman caught in adultery upon her brow, sending her to the ground. And Jesus didst look, and behold, it was his mother Mary who didst hurl the stone. “Awww, mom!” he did exclaim as he arose. But he did not rebuke her, for lo, she was conceived without Original Sin.

  -- John 8, Revised Roman Catholic Version 

The Inevitable Failure of Nationalism

 The current push for nationalism belies a distrust in God’s ordained means of grace - the Word, prayer, and the sacraments. We grasp for power in the wake of our failure as a Church, only still failing to understand where our true strength comes from.

Nationalistic centralism failed in Europe, and it has failed here. A large national state will always be the Leviathan seeking to swallow up everything it can. It will always be a safe haven for those with a lust for power without real accountability.

Nationalism will forever be a a bane to local and traditional culture. And the idea that Christian Nationalists argue in the same breath for tradition is ironic. Once nationalism is created and let loose, in the end the only tradition you have left is a Statist one.

In nationalism, corporatism finds its greatest ally. The younger ones among us can’t remember a time when blatant advertising wasn’t emblazoned across every piece of clothing we wore. They don’t know a time when people didn’t define themselves by their devotion to a product or corporation. We buy products. But more than that, we have become the product. A centralized national government will always gladly sell us to the highest bidder. 

In nationalism, fascism is inevitable.

Nationalism will always tend toward atheism.

When Machen protested against a federal board of education, it was for good reason.

Heretic Hunting, Christian Nationalism, and Biblical Dominion

 Related to the ongoing “Christian Nationalism“ push and matters of Biblical Dominion:

“Those who work diligently at their God-ordained tasks will overcome those who grasp for power by force and deception. 

Notice, that throughout Scripture, implements of work are continually shown to destroy implements of war and intrigue.

Shamgar prevailed over an army of 600 Philistine warriors

with only an oxgoad (Judges 3:31).

Jael defeated the commander of the Canaanite army with a

tent peg (Judges 4:17-22).

Gideon led his tiny band of faithful men to victory against the

Midianite army with nothing more than empty pitchers, torches,

and trumpets (Judges 7:13-23).

Wicked Abimelech defeated every army he marched against,

but he was helpless against the millstone hurled upon his head by the woman of Thebez (Judges 9:50-54).

Samson destroyed 1,000 Philistines with nothing but the jawbone

of an ass (Judges 15:14-16).

The swordless, spearless, and spiritless brigade of Saul was

able to deliver Israel from the mighty Philistine army with only a

small, two-man diversion (1 Samuel 13:19-14:23).

And the young David overwhelmed the giant warrior Goliath

without armor, without a sword, and without shield or spear; he

had only his shepherd's staff and sling, along with five smooth

stones from a brook (1 Samuel 17:40-50).

Even Christ used ordinary tools, implements of work, when

He made a spectacle of the powers and the principalities: He nailed them to the cross (Colossians 2:13-15)!

Dominion comes through service. But it comes by work. Work is

the hand that plucks the golden fruit of God's very great and precious promises. Work will ultimately, inevitably overcome force and deception. The plowshare and the pruning hook will overcome the sword and the spear.“ -- George Grant, "In the Shadow of Plenty", pp. 50-51

I would add my own question: how many people promoting Christian Nationalism online or trying to correct the latest person deemed a heretic have visited a shut-in individual or a person in a nursing home in the past year? Internet debates give the illusion of glory; real loving sacrifice, that which follows the path of Christ all the way to the Cross, is often hidden from view, disdained by the World, and taken for granted by the Church.