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The Church and Its Mission Part 1 By Klass Runia

 I have been asked to speak at this conference on the subject, the Church and its mission.
Now, we can approach our subject from different angles.
We can do it, for example, in the form of systematic theology.
Then we discuss the doctrine of the Church, its nature and its mission, in the light of Scripture and in the light of the history of doctrine.
And we try to give a systematic exposition. That's a very good way.
I'm a systematic theologian, so of course I have to defend it.
But for the purpose of this conference I would prefer to do it in another way, namely in the way of biblical theology.
Let us take our minds and study how the doctrine of the Church and its mission is presented in the Bible.
And let us do it by simply following the historical development.
Well, this provides a natural division of my subject.
We first turn to the Old Testament.
Then we will for a very short time discuss the intertestamental period, that's a kind of interlude.
Then we move on to the Gospels, that is Jesus himself.
Then to the Book of Acts, that is the so-called primitive Church, or perhaps I should say the Holy Spirit.
Then we move on to the Epistles, in particular those of Paul, and then hardly a few words about mission and eschatology.
So we start with the Old Testament.
Now at first glance it may seem strange that we start with the Old Testament.
For isn't our subject the Church and its mission?
Doesn't the Church start with Pentecost?
Well, in a sense this is true.
But then I must emphasise in a sense this.
Indeed the Church as we know it started with Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out
and the disciples of Jesus Christ were brought together in a new way, the way of the Spirit.
Yet the Church itself is much older.
We immediately realise this when we remember that the most fundamental, at the same time the broadest definition of the Church is the people of God.
This is increasingly recognised in our days.
Even Roman Catholic theology puts a strong emphasis on this aspect, the Church as the people of God.
If you for example would read the constitution of the Church issued by the Second Vatican Council,
then you would find that chapter 2 carries the title, the people of God.
And then chapter 3 says the Church is hierarchical, so the emphasis is on the Church as the people of God.
Now seen as the people of God, the Church is as old as humanity itself.
Chapter 21 of the Heidelberg Catechism, one of the Catechisms of the Reformation time,
says that the Son of God out of the whole human race from the beginning to the end of the world gathers a Church chosen to everlasting life.
The Church starts in paradise.
In that promise of Genesis 3 verse 15, I will put enmity between you and the woman, your seed and her seed.
Now the first period of the Church, up till Abraham, can be called universal.
That doesn't mean that all people living in that period belong to the Church, that's certainly not true.
Cain and his descendants did not serve the Lord.
Now the term universal is meant in this way.
The Church at that time is not restricted to one particular family or one particular nation.
There is no indication of a separate organization either.
The Church as a separate unity entity begins with the calling of Abraham in Genesis 12.
Genesis 12 verses 1 to 3.
Now the Lord said to Abraham, go from your country and your kindred and your founders house to the land that I will show you.
And I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you and him who curses you I will curse.
And by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves or as you can also translate and I would prefer that, shall be blessed.
In a later chapter, chapter 15, and again it is repeated in chapter 17, we read that God established a special covenant with Abraham.
A covenant of grace. Now that's a very important concept.
It's one of the most decisive categories for our understanding of the Church.
I cannot deal with the covenant at great lengths now.
It must suffice to mention just some important implications.
In the first place it means that the Church in its origin is the work of God.
The covenant which God established with Abraham was a covenant of grace, not a treaty.
In other words it was a matter of divine election.
In the second place membership in the Church or in the covenant and therefore in the Church is based upon a divine promise and not upon human merit.
In the third place the covenant is essentially messianic and eschatological.
The promise of a son given to Abraham points far beyond Isaac to the coming Messiah.
Then fourthly from the beginning the covenant has a collective corporate structure.
You and your seed.
The covenant community is not an aggregate of elected or converted individuals but it consists of the believers with their families.
At the same time this you and your seed strongly emphasizes the separateness of the community.
It is restricted to Abraham and his seed.
Yet this is not the only aspect.
From the very start there is also a universal aspect.
Abraham is not set apart for his own sake.
On the contrary it is God's intention to reach the whole world through Abraham.
We see that in the very works of the call that comes to Abraham.
In Genesis 3 verse ... cover for three God says in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.
Perhaps we could use an illustration.
A person who wants to throw a stone first brings his arm back but he does it in order to gain more momentum.
Well that's what God does when he calls Abraham and sets him apart.
His intention is to reach the whole world through Abraham.
In fact this same promise is repeated three times.
First when Abraham is called in Genesis 12.
Then when Abraham intercedes for Sodom and Gomorrah, so when he intercedes for the world.
And the third time after the sacrifice of Isaac.
In Genesis 22 when Abraham brings the supreme sacrifice of his life.
So the missionary aspect is quite prominent in this covenant with Abraham.
God sets Abraham and his seed that is Israel apart.
In order to make it his means by which he will one day reach all nations.
At first however little is seen of all this.
For centuries the church is as it were enclosed in the descendants of Abraham.
At Sinai the covenant becomes wider.
The covenant and consequently also the church obtains a national structure.
Israel as a whole is to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Yet the separateness remains.
All the ceremonial laws strongly emphasize this separateness.
They affirmed and preserved it.
And this was very necessary too.
For as we see in Israel's history they were constantly tempted to join in the idolatry of the other nations.
Especially the purely naturalistic fertility cult of the Baals was a permanent temptation.
Yet in fact Israel so often forgets its separateness that it becomes increasingly clear not all Israel is the true Israel.
The pre-exilic prophets say it quite openly.
Then Israel's disobedience is perished by the exile.
During this period the prophets begin to see that not Israel as a nation but the remnant is the true people of Israel.
You find this in particular in Isaiah and in Hosea.
In a similar way other prophets speak of a new covenant, Jeremiah in chapter 31.
And Daniel speaks of the Son of Man with the saints of the Most High, the eschatological people of God.
Now in all these prophecies the idea of the church as a separate entity, not apart from Israel but within Israel, gradually takes place.
In the prophets all this is inseparably connected with the eschatological expectation of the Messiah, to be sent by God.
He is the one who shall gather, save and lead the true Israel.
Yet the attention is not exclusively focused on Israel.
Throughout there is the universal aspect too.
Separation in the Old Testament does not mean absolute exclusivism.
God's plan is different.
His final goal is not Israel apart from the rest of the world, but in keeping with his promise to Abram, the whole world by means of Israel.
Occasionally we see this even in the early history of Israel.
At the time of the conquest, for example, Re'at, the harlot, is incorporated into Israel.
Likewise later on, Ruth, the mole by Tress.
Both these women have a place in the genealogy of David, and therefore also in the genealogy of the Messiah.
You can read it in Matthew 1.
Much later, in Elijah's time, there is the case of Naaman, the Syrian general, who comes to Elijah for healing, following the witness of a young slave girl.
There are also glimpses in early teaching.
For example, the institution of the Passover, and of the Feast of Booth.
In both cases, the sojourner may also partake, only he must be circumcised first.
In other words, at that time there is only one possibility, you have to join Israel in its separateness.
Still it means there is an open door.
But you find it in particular in the writings of Israel's psalmists and prophets.
As an example from the prophets, I would like to take Ezekiel 5, verse 5.
There we read, thus says the Lord God, this is Jerusalem.
I have set her in the centre of the nations, with countries round about her.
God called Israel to separation, but it didn't mean that God put Israel in some far away corner of the world.
No, God put Israel right in between the great political powers of that time, Egypt and Mesopotamia.
With many small nations around it, Syria, Moab, Ammon, Edom.
And God did this with a special intention.
Israel should be the spiritual centre of the world.
Israel should be like a city on a mountain, like a light on a candlestick.
Isaiah has described this in prophetic vision in chapter 2, verses 2 and 3.
It shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to it.
And many people shall come and say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his path.
For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Now these are only a few examples.
The whole book of the Psalms, and nearly all the writings of the prophets are bound with universal references.
As examples from the Psalms, I'm sorry that the outlines are here, you would all find them on the outlines.
As examples from the Psalms, I mentioned Psalm 47.
What do you think of all nations?
Psalm 87, Psalm 96, Psalm 170.
And behind them all is the belief that God is the creator of all the nations.
God may have made a special covenant with Israel, but it doesn't mean that he is only the God of Israel.
No, as the creator of heaven and earth, he is the God of all nations.
Psalm 24, a Psalm that calls Israel to worship again, starts with the words,
the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.
Yet there is not yet a missionary awareness in the strict sense of the word.
Baving, in his introduction to the science of mission, says,
there is seldom a word of compassion for those who do not have the privilege of knowing God.
The glory of Yahweh, not the need of the heathen, is the overruling motive.
The many expressions in the Psalms which call upon the nations to glorify the Lord must also be viewed in this light.
For example, Psalm 99, the Lord reigns, let the people crumble.
Or Psalm 47, oh clap your hands all ye people.
Baving says, such expressions are not missionary preaching in the strict sense of the word.
It is quite possible that such utterances were not heard by a single player.
But in such frequently recurring testimonies, Israel reminded itself that it lived before the whole world,
and that God's dealings with Israel also included those who still dwelled in the fatal enchantments of heathenism.
Israel was more deeply impressed by its being a separate nation than by its potential ability to enter the world of its day as a missionary.
It knew that the time for this had not yet come.
Now this awareness becomes much stronger in the time of the prophets.
They begin to speak of Israel's missionary task and calling.
And it is to be noted that this is set against the background of Israel's own sinfulness.
As a matter of fact, at that very time, Israel is in danger of becoming completely paganized.
Take for example what Hosea, one of the earlier prophets, says in chapter 4, verse 12 and 13.
My people inquire of a thing of wood, and their staff gives them oracles.
For the spirit of harlotry has led them astray, and they have left their god to play the harlot.
They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and make offerings upon the hills, under oak, potlar and terevans, because their shade is good.
For this reason the prophets again and again call the people to repentance, holiness and separation.
Yet there is also the growing awareness that a new age is dawning.
In that age Israel will be a light for the nations.
Of course this is possible only through the conversion of Israel itself.
So Ezekiel in chapter 36 speaks of a new spirit, a new heart of flesh that God will give to his people.
Jeremiah in chapter 31 following speaks of the new covenant the Lord will make with his people.
But when that happens, the doors to the world will be opened through.
Take for example Isaiah 19.
You actually find it in the whole passage, verses 18 to 25.
But I just start with verse 23.
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
But in that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth.
Whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my heritage.
Again you find it in chapter 25, verses 6 to 8.
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of fat things.
A feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined.
And he will destroy on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will flow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces.
And the approach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
There are many references also in the second part of the book of Isaiah.
And what is so interesting is that we read of a spontaneous coming of the nations.
They will come of their own accord.
For example in Zechariah 8 verse 23, Thus says the Lord of hosts, In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.
But even in the prophets there is little mention of a direct missionary activity.
As a matter of fact you find it in a few passages only. I can find only two.
In Isaiah 55 verse 5, Behold you shall call nations that you know not, and nations that knew you not shall run to you.
And then in the second place Isaiah 66 verses 18 and 19,
For I know their words and their thoughts, and I am coming together all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see my glory.
And I will set a sign among them, and from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put, and Lugh, who draw the bow to Chubal and Jahang, to the coastlands afar off that have not heard my fame or seen my glory.
And they shall declare my glory among the nations.
Now in the Old Testament this new universal perspective is often connected with the promise of the Messiah who is to come.
For the spiritual renewal of Israel is possible only through him, and it is also through him that God will deal with the nations.
Boring in his introduction to the theology or the science of missions sums it all up in these words.
The Old Testament prophets foresaw the salvation of the nations as an event that will occur in the last days, after their defeat in war by the Messiah.
At such a time the nations shall come meekly to the new, spiritually reborn Israel, and shall then worship upon the mount of the Lord.
Although at heart that salvation shall consist of a renewed relationship to God, that is in the free justification of grace, it shall also take on cosmic proportions.
The whole creation shall take part therein, and it is the Messiah who shall bring it about.
Now this messianic aspect of the Old Testament in its connection with mission is strongly brought out by Jesus himself.
You read that in Luke 24 verses 44 to 47. It is after the resurrection and Jesus is speaking to his disciples.
And in that discourse he refers to the Old Testament.
He says, these are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms, that is the whole Old Testament, must be fulfilled.
Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and said to them, does it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.
That is the first part, the suffering and victory of the Messiah.
But then it goes on, the missionary aspect, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.
Now this is very important, for it means at least two things.
In the first place, mission is not a new concept which the New Testament adds to the old.
The Great Commission is not a new element which is essentially foreign to the earlier revelation.
No, the missionary aspect belongs to the very fibre of the Old Testament.
And in the second place, mission is not something incidental, that as such has nothing to do with the nature of the church.
No, it belongs to the very essence of the church.
To be church, that is to be the people of God, means at the same time to be a witness to the world,
in order that the whole world may share in the blessings of God's salvation and in the praise and adoration of his holy name.
Now on purpose I have spent so much time on the Old Testament.
Too often people in their missionary thinking immediately move on to the New Testament.
That's not correct.
The message of the New Testament didn't fall from heaven as a novel, which had no relation to the past.
On the contrary, the New Testament is based on the Old, and it cannot be understood without it.
And that's no wonder, for God's plan of salvation is one.
A plan of salvation that goes back to eternity.
God's covenant is one.
Paul makes that very clear in Galatians 3.
Essentially it is one covenant, the covenant of grace.
Therefore, essentially the church is one.
It is all of one piece, and the New Testament is in the full sense of the word, the fulfilment of the Old.
Now the same cannot be said of the inter-testamental period.
That was a period in which no new revelation took place.
But that does not mean that it was a mere vacuum.
No, in this period too God was working at his plan.
In several ways he was preparing the stage for that fulfilment which is described in the New Testament.
In particular also he is preparing for the missionary outreach of the New Testament Church.
I can only mention a few points.
In the first place, after the exile, the separation of Israel continued, when many of the Jews returned to their country.
Yet, as you know, many others did not return.
But they continued to live in the dispersion.
Now even they continued in separation.
But naturally they had much more contact with the Gentiles in the midst of whom they were living.
Gradually we see in the writings of that time, a certain sense of responsibility for the Gentiles developing.
In the second place, in the third century BC, the Old Testament was translated into the Greek, the Septuagint.
Now this translation aroused quite a great deal of interest in Israel's religion.
In the third place, later on in this period, Israel became part of the Roman Empire.
The result of it was that officers and other officials came to Palestine, and some of them showed great interest.
We read in the New Testament of the centurion of Capernaum, who even built a synagogue for the people over there.
In Acts 10 and 11 we read of Cornelius, also a centurion.
Then in the fourth place, the Jewish colonists in the various parts of the empire propagated their faith.
In nearly all places they had their own synagogue.
And they, as it were, collected groups of God-fearing people around them.
People who wanted to learn more about Israel's God.
Now among these people, Paul later on found many who were interested in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and accepted him as their failure.
Yet in this period, the wall of separation, or the wall of partition, remained.
Israel was still the separated people of God.
Something else had to happen to break down this wall.
Now this something else happened in the coming of the Messiah, of which we read in the New Testament.
And so we turn to the Gospels.
In the Gospels we find Jesus' own view concerning the Church and its mission.
What did Jesus teach about the Church?
Well, in the last hundred years it has often been denied that Jesus ever intended to found the Church,
which was to continue after his death, and to carry his message to the ends of the earth.
This denial came mainly from two sides.
On the one hand, there was the old liberal school.
According to the old liberal school, Jesus was only interested in an inner religion.
A religion of the heart.
A religion of a deep moral life.
Of course, this also entailed a community, but it wasn't an organized community, but an ideal, an invisible community.
That is the one side of the critical position.
On the other hand, there was the eschatological school.
It contended that Jesus had expected an imminent coming of the King.
Therefore, in his thinking, there was no place for a phenomenon as the Church.
Jesus was only thinking in terms of the saints of the latter days.
People who were caught by his vision and tried to practice his interim ethics in the short time before the coming of the King.
There was no time, there was no place for the Church.
Nowadays, it is generally recognized that these two views are both wrong.
Neither of them does justice to their records as we find them in the Gospels.
The only right approach, the only right interpretation of Jesus and his teaching is a messianic interpretation.
Jesus regarded himself as the messiah and he acted accordingly.
He saw the people he gathered around him as the people of the messiah.
We may even say on the basis of the New Testament, the formation of such a community was one of his main aims.
Of course, there wouldn't be a place for such a community if the eschatological school were right.
But it is generally admitted that this school is terribly one sided.
The kingdom Jesus preached was not a merely eschatological entity.
Surely, it was also eschatological.
It's quite clear from the Gospels themselves that God's redemptive rule in his messiah, for that is what the kingdom means,
God's redemptive rule in the messiah is not yet fully realized in a visible way.
That will happen at the second coming of the messiah.
But at the same time it is very clear in the Gospels that in some sense the Gospels is already a present reality.
The Gospels tell us of Jesus, of his preaching, in which he proclaimed that he himself is the kingdom, the gracious rule of God.
In him, the gracious rule of God has invaded the realm of Satan to deliver man.
That's why again and again in the Gospels we read of Jesus casting out demons.
He has defeated Satan.
That's why Jesus could say to the people, the kingdom of God is in your midst, for I am here.
He could summarize it as follows.
In Jesus Christ the promise of the kingdom has been provisionally fulfilled.
Now you have to emphasize both words.
There is the element of fulfillment.
In Jesus the powers of darkness have been defeated.
In him there is forgiveness of sin.
Yet it is also provisional.
The full revelation of this victory over the powers of evil and of sin will take place at the second coming.
But this means of course that there is ample place for a church in the teaching of Jesus.
In fact there are many clear indications in the Gospels themselves that Jesus did have a community in mind.
Repeatedly he speaks of the people that belong to the Messiah.
He speaks of those who confess him before the Father.
He speaks of his brothers and his sisters.
He speaks of the wedding guests.
He speaks of my church.
And these same people are the people who are called blessed in the Beatitudes.
We can even go a step further and say Jesus as the Messiah is actively gathering these people.
Repeatedly he calls people to follow him.
He warningly says that he has come to bring division on earth.
He speaks of gathering with him and scattering.
From the beginning this gathering with him and for him is included in the calling of the disciples.
It will be their task to dispose of the messianic gifts and to distribute them on his behalf.
In and through them he himself will continue his work of gathering his people and bringing in the harvest.
So at this point already we may conclude that from the beginning Jesus has been gathering a community around himself.
Of course it's not yet a church in any explicit sense of the word.
It's not a church in any organized form.
That couldn't happen before the resurrection and the outpouring of the Spirit.
Yet we may say that this messianic community gathered around Jesus is the latest church in environmental form.
Now what is the relation between this new community and Israel, God's people of old?
This question is part of a broader question. What is the relation between Jesus himself and Israel, the people of God's covenant?
Now it's very striking when you read the New Testament that from the beginning Jesus' appearance is seen within the framework of the covenant.
The stories of his birth, for example, are full of references to the covenant. You find them everywhere.
In the annunciation of his birth to Mary by the angel Gabriel, again and again he refers to the Old Testament, to Jacob, to David.
You find it in the Song of Mary, in the Song of Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, in the message of the angel to the shepherds, in the Song of Simeon.
In all these passages there are references to Israel as the people of God united to him by his covenant.
To this people, God's own people, this child comes as the great son of David, the promised messiah.
John the Baptist, his forerunner and herald, also preaches and acts within that same covenantal framework.
To the Pharisees he says God shall fulfil his promises to Abram, even if he has to raise up children to Abram from the very stones of the desert here.
In Jesus' own preaching the covenant theme is also a dominant motive.
I know the term covenant is recorded only once as spoken by him, but the idea is everywhere present.
In his preaching he addresses the whole of Israel as the people of God.
The people of God, they are the sons of the kingdom, the children whose bread must not be given to the dogs.
He speaks of the lost sheep of the house of Israel to whom he is sent.
He calls Zacchaeus a son of Abram, finally shortly before his death.
During the institution of the Lord's Supper he speaks of his own blood as the blood of the covenant.
But then the tragic thing happens, Israel as the people of God rejects him and his gospel.
It becomes increasingly clear.
At the end of his ministry Jesus himself openly mentions it in the parable of the wicked canons of the vineyard.
And he also says that the vineyard will be taken away from them and be given to a nation producing the fruits of it.
So Jesus gathers a new people.
To be true he never speaks of them as the new Israel, but again the idea is everywhere present.
You see that in his preaching and in his actions, especially in the calling of the throne,
they are what you could say the representatives and the nucleus of the new theocracy,
the true Israel, the messianic community, the church of Jesus Christ.
Twelve apostles, there were twelve patriarchs, they were the basis of the old Israel,
the twelve apostles, the basis of the new Israel.
Now what is the relation of this messianic, covenantal, eschatological community to missions?
Well it's very close.
Dr. Hermann Ritterbos in his book The Coming of the Kingdom describes the community in these words.
He says the church is the gathering of those who as the instruments of the kingdom
are called upon to make profession of Jesus as the Christ,
to obey his commandments, to perform the missionary task of the preaching of the gospel throughout the world.
And indeed when you read the gospels you find the universal aspect there from the beginning.
You find it for example in the birth stories.
There are several indications in the synoptic gospels, the first three gospels.
For example in the Song of the Angels in Luke 2, glory be to God in the highest, peace to man.
Where? On earth, not just in Israel, on earth to all man chosen by God.
Matthew tells us of the wise men of the east who come to worship the Messiah.
There you find the fulfilment of this spontaneous coming in the Old Testament.
Luke tells us of Simeon who in the temple speaks of thy salvation,
which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples alike for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to thy people Israel.
You also find it in the Gospel of John.
In chapter 1 verse 9 John speaks of the true light that enlightens every man who was coming into the world.
In chapter 1 verse 14 he says the Word became flesh, not just a Jew.
Of course he also became a Jew, Jesus was a Jew, a particular man too.
But John says nevertheless he became flesh, he shared what we all have, Israel and the Gentiles.
Now John in particular emphasises this aspect of universality.
He records the words of John the Baptist.
Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.
John himself says God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
In chapter 4 we read that Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman and later on he stays with the people there and many more believed because of his word.
In chapter 6 Jesus is called the bread of God which comes down from heaven and which gives life to the world.
And Jesus himself says the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.
In chapter 8 Jesus calls himself the light of the world.
Now you may say, if you know your New Testament, but does this really tally with Jesus own attitude and his own words especially as they are described in the Synoptic Gospels?
And I must admit that when we read the Gospels there is a paradoxical tension at this very point.
There are as it were two lines in Jesus' teaching.
On the one hand Jesus himself performs no direct missionary work.
Yet according to John 4 he does speak to the Samaritans but this was not a real purpose of his journey through Samaria.
It was rather incidental. It was only at their special request. Jesus was almost forced to stay there.
But even in this story there is the tension for he says to the woman we worship what we know for salvation is from the Jews.
In Matthew 10 we read about the mission of the Apostles and of the Seventy who are sent out and then they are expressly forbidden to go to the Gentiles and the Samaritans.
In Matthew 15 we read the story of the Syrophoenician woman who comes to Jesus and asks him to heal her daughter.
And then Jesus first refuses saying I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Well that's the one line of teaching and the one attitude of Jesus.
And then there is also the other line. Not only in John who speaks of Jesus as the light of the world but also in the synoptics.
In Matthew 5 the disciples are told you are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.
In Matthew 8 Jesus says many will come from the east and the west and sit at table with Abram, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
And especially at the end of his ministry the universal aspect comes out very strongly.
In Matthew 24 he says this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations.
In Matthew 26 where we read the story of Mary who empties her costly bottle with ointments on Jesus feet,
then Jesus says wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world what she has done will be told in memory of her.
Now how do we explain this paradoxical tension?
Professor Bavin in his introduction to the science of mission points out that the negative statements occur mainly in the first period.
And he suggests that this is connected with the fact that at that time there lay a veil of mystery over the life of Jesus.
At that time it was not yet clear what the cause of his life would be.
Would he soon usher in the end of history and of time or would his life end in defeat?
Now at that time he says Jesus cannot yet fully reveal to his disciples the cause which his life will follow.
Later on it becomes clear that he has to suffer and die first and that the end will come at a later stage.
It is then that the intervening time comes to the fore and with it comes missions.
Missions and the interim are inseparable and the gospel now overflows with words and expressions
which make it plain that Jesus himself views his work as a work of universal significance.
He is the light not only of Israel but of the world.
Now I do believe that there is a great deal of truth in this explanation yet I don't think it is the full picture.
Another element must be added.
During Jesus earthly ministry the wall of petition is still there.
Even though the messiah himself has appeared the period of separation has not yet come to an end.
In his early ministry Jesus himself emphasizes this.
At that stage when everything is still so obscure he cannot speak of any change.
It would have been misunderstood.
Later on however when the whole picture of his life becomes clearer he begins to indicate that in the future this wall will be broken down.
In his own preaching there are little more than indications, hints.
There is no systematic theological description or exposition.
This is done at a later stage by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 2 verses 11 to 23.
Paul shows us there that this wall of petition consisted mainly in the ceremonial aspects of the mosaic law.
But then he says that in the crucifixion of Christ this law that is Ephesians 2 verse 15.
In his flesh he has abolished the law of commandments and ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two.
So making peace.
In other words Jesus' death on the cross is the moment that the wall collapses.
In Matthew the same is indicated when Matthew tells us that at the very moment that Jesus died on the cross the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
The wall is completely demolished.
And we who are standing behind the death of Christ and who are looking back, yes we can also see now the indications in Jesus' own preaching.
In Matthew 21 when he says that the evil tenons of the vineyard will be killed and that the vineyard itself will be given to others.
Or in Luke 14 where we have the parable of the great supper, when the first guests refuse to come then others are invited.
From the highways and the byways, the Gentiles, they are invited.
So we see here that at the cross of Jesus the separation ends.
It started when Abram was called. It lasted throughout the centuries of Israel's history.
It comes to an end when Israel rejects the Messiah.
Then the door to the world, the world of the Gentiles is fully opened again.
The time of separation and particularism appears to be an interlude only.
And the plan of salvation appears to be truly universal.
And therefore it is not surprising that the great commission is proclaimed after Jesus' death and resurrection.
It couldn't be done earlier.
After his death he the Messiah must first complete his sacrificial work.
And after his resurrection the Messiah is now the victor, the Lord who has all authority in heaven and on earth.
We hope to go on with that great commission tomorrow.
But the great commission is the turning point based on the cross of Jesus Christ.
Now that the Messiah has done all the work, now that Israel has rejected the Messiah, now God opens the door.
And the voice of the Messiah himself goes out to his church, to that nucleus, yes, but also to the church of all ages.
Go therefore, proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom to all nations, making them my disciples,
teaching them to keep all my commandments, but also baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
the name of the trial God, the God of salvation.
That is great.
Lord, we will never be able to understand your plan, but we may know it.
And every time again that we study your great plan, as it has been revealed to us in scripture,
as it has been revealed supremely in Jesus Christ, every time we do it we are amazed.
And we bow down in worship and adoration, and we say, O Lord God of our salvation, how great you are.
But at the same time, Lord, we see again that we are part of your plan,
that it does not come to us just to accept it and put it into our own pockets,
but that it is put into our hands, that we may offer it to others.
Lord, make your call ring in our ears, ring in our hearts,
that we all may heed it, that we all may love the Messiah who was willing to die for his people,
that we all obey him who is the King, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.
And now, Lord, we ask you, dismiss us with your blessing.
May the grace of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, the only Messiah,
and the love of God the Father, who gave him as a reconciliation to the world,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the hearts of the people of the Messiah,
and who sets their hearts afire, be and abide with us all, also through this night. Amen.