"For if I preach the Gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity
is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!" (1 Cor 9: 16)
My direct contact with peoples who do not know Christ has convinced me even more of the urgency of missionary activity.
My direct contact with peoples who do not know Christ has convinced me even more of the urgency of missionary activity.
The
words of our Lord are crucial for understanding the missionary task of the
Church. Specifically, the words “make disciples of all nations” must be closely
examined. They contain the very important phrase “all nations” which is often
referred to in the Greek form panta
ta ethne (panta = all, ta = the, ethne = nations). The
reason this is such an important phrase is that ethne, when translated as
“nations,” sounds like a political or geographic grouping. That is its most
common English usage. But we will see that this is not what the Greek means.
Nor does the English always mean this. For example, we say the Cherokee Nation or
the Sioux Nation. This means something like: people with a unifying ethnic
identity. In fact, the word “ethnic” comes from the Greek word ethnos (singular of ethne). Our inclination then
might be to take panta ta ethne as a reference to “all the ethnic groups.” “Go and disciple all
the ethnic groups.”
Our immediate
concern is with the meaning of panta ta ethne in Matthew 28:19, “Go and make
disciples of all nations.”
Out of the 18 uses of panta ta ethne (or its variant)
only the one in Matthew 25:32 would seem to demand the meaning “Gentile
individuals.” Three others demand the people group meaning on the basis of the
context (Acts 2:5; 10:35; 17:26). Six others require the people group meaning
on the basis of the Old Testament connection (Mark 11:17; Luke 21:24; Acts 15:17;
Gal 3:8; Rev 12:5; 15:4). The remaining eight uses (Matt 24:9; 24:14; 28:19;
Luke 12:30; 24:47; Acts 14:16; 2 Tim 4:17; Rom 1:5) could go either way.
What can we
conclude so far concerning the meaning of panta ta ethne in Matthew 28:19 and
its wider missionary significance?
The singular use
of ethnos in the New Testament always refers to a people group. The plural use
of ethnos sometimes must be a people group and sometimes must refer to Gentile
individuals, but usually can go either way. The phrase panta ta ethne must
refer to Gentile individuals only once, but must refer to people groups nine
times. The remaining eight uses may refer to people groups. The combination of
these results suggests that the meaning of panta ta ethne leans heavily in the direction
of “all the nations (people groups).”
