What is the context?
The eleven disciples go to the mountain in Galilee that Jesus designated. They worship Him, yet Matthew also reports that some doubt. Jesus comes to them and speaks of His authority, their mission, and His continuing presence.
The word for doubting is διστάζω, distazō (dis-TAH-zoh). Thayer's lexicon gives the sense of doubting or wavering and also lists Peter's hesitation in Matthew 14:31. Matthew does not say exactly what each disciple was thinking. The commission is addressed to people who still need His reassurance.
Jesus commands them to make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teaching obedience to His commands. Making disciples comes from μαθητεύω, mathēteuō (mah-thay-TYOO-oh), which Thayer explains here as making a disciple, teaching, or instructing. The goal is a people learning to follow Him, with baptism and continued teaching belonging to that work.
The Gospel ends with His promise to be with them until the end of the age. Matthew does not narrate the ascension here. He closes by setting the mission within Jesus' authority and presence.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Catholic, Reformed, Baptist, Wesleyan, and Lutheran readings share the command to make disciples, baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teach obedience to Jesus. They differ over who should receive baptism, what God gives through it, and how it should be administered.
The Reformed Westminster Confession, 28.1–6, includes believers and their children, calls baptism a sign and seal of God's promise of grace, and permits pouring or sprinkling. It does not teach that every baptized person is necessarily born again or that God's grace is confined to the moment of baptism. The 1689 Baptist Confession, 29.1–4, instead limits baptism to people who profess repentance and faith, and requires immersion. It describes baptism as a sign of fellowship with Christ in His death and resurrection and a commitment to new life.
The Catholic Catechism, 1247–1255, describes preparation in faith for adults and baptism of infants, who are to grow in the faith of the Church with help from parents and godparents. It understands baptism as the beginning of new life in Christ. The Lutheran Augsburg Confession, Article IX, likewise affirms infant baptism and emphasizes that God offers His saving grace through baptism.
The Methodist Articles of Religion, Article XVII, call baptism both a mark of Christian profession and a sign of new birth, and retain the baptism of young children. Wesley's note on 28:19 explains that adults are taught before baptism, while children are baptized and then taught. These documents identify particular traditions' teachings; individual congregations and members do not all explain every detail in the same way.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
The mission to all nations belongs to a promise running through Scripture. God tells Abraham that the families of the earth will be blessed through him (Genesis 12:1–3); Galatians 3:6–9 explicitly connects that promise with the good news reaching the Gentiles through faith. The commission carries that worldwide purpose forward.
Jesus' authority also recalls Daniel 7:13–14, where one like the Son of Man receives enduring rule and peoples of every nation serve Him. This is a scriptural parallel, not a quotation introduced by Matthew. The Gospel's closing promise of His presence also recalls its opening description of Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:22–23). The disciples are sent under His authority and with His presence, rather than left to carry the mission alone.
What is our position?
I Am a Disciple and The True Church According to Jesus understand disciple-making as helping people become lifelong learners and followers of Jesus. It includes knowing His teaching, practicing it, loving others, and bearing witness in ordinary life. The mission belongs to Christ's people across generations and reaches beyond a single event or a program run by a few leaders.
Baptism supplies our position on that part of the commission: baptism is commanded and is a meaningful response of faith in Christ, while salvation is received by grace through faith. The study prefers immersion because it pictures burial and new life with Him, while recognizing that Scripture does not explicitly declare every other mode invalid. These points come from those existing studies.