How to Make Disciples: Matthew 28:16-20 Explained
Short answer: Making disciples is not primarily a program, a class, or a mass event. It is the ordinary work of helping specific people follow Jesus. In Matthew 28:16-20 Jesus sends his disciples to baptize and to teach obedience, attaching a promise that he remains with them. 2 Timothy 2:2 adds a second generation: what you received, pass on to faithful people who can teach others. Acts 2:42-47 shows the early church doing this through teaching, fellowship, meals, and prayer. Colossians 1:28-29 describes the aim as maturity in Christ, pursued with labor and prayer. 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 shows the manner: gentle, personal, like a parent. Making disciples is therefore both a command to obey and a relationship to nurture, done in the strength God supplies.
The commission in its own words
Matthew places the great commission in a setting of doubt as well as worship. The risen Jesus meets the eleven on a mountain in Galilee, and Matthew records that some worshiped and some doubted. He does not remove the doubters or shame them. He simply comes and speaks. This matters for anyone learning how to make disciples, because the command is not given to an elite or to a perfectly confident few. It is given to ordinary, mixed discipleship, to people who are still figuring things out. The church has never had a clean roster of experts. It has had followers who heard and obeyed, and often obeyed while still unsure.
Jesus begins with a declaration before he gives an instruction. He says that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. The commission does not rest on the personal charisma of the disciple maker or the receptiveness of the listener. It rests on the authority of the one who sends. That is a deep relief. Anyone who has tried to help another person follow Jesus knows how quickly energy and ideas run out. The work does not depend on our resources; it depends on his reign. We are not building a kingdom of our own reputation or influence.
The verb that carries the sentence is to make disciples. Baptizing and teaching describe how that is done. Some translations turn it into a string of commands, but in Greek the central command is singular, and the participles explain the practice. That means disciple making simply is baptizing people and teaching them. It is not an abstract spiritual atmosphere or a feeling of mentorship. It has concrete pieces. A person who comes to faith is baptized, and a person who is baptized is taught. Anyone who wants to know how to make disciples can start with those two plain activities and find plenty to do.
Notice the scope of the command. Jesus sends them to make disciples of all nations. The message is not the property of one ethnic or cultural group. It crosses borders and languages and social classes. This means disciple making is not reserved for people like us or people in our neighborhood. It aims at the world. The first-century disciples could not have imagined the reach, but they began where they were, with the people in front of them. The global scope and the local obedience belong together. We start with those near us and trust the message to travel farther than we can.
Baptizing: the doorway into a shared life
Baptism is not a private milestone; it is a public entrance into the visible community of Jesus. When Jesus tells the disciples to baptize, he is telling them to bring people into a body of people, not into an isolated personal spirituality. That is why Acts 2 connects baptism and the ongoing life of the church so tightly. The verses describe a community devoted to apostolic teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Baptizing is not the finish line of disciple making. It is the threshold. After someone is baptized, the real work of learning to follow Jesus begins among other followers.
This matters because many people imagine that making disciples means getting someone to pray a prayer or make a profession, and then the task is done. The New Testament never treats it that way. Baptism marks a beginning of a new life that needs teaching, correction, encouragement, and provision. If we read the great commission carefully, we see that the baptizing and teaching are both ongoing parts of the same obedience. A healthy church does not merely collect converts; it receives them as family. If you want to make disciples, be part of a church where new believers are welcomed and where they are not left to figure everything out alone.
Baptism also names the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is a striking detail. The disciple belongs not to a teacher or a movement but to God himself. That shapes how we treat people. No disciple is our possession or our project. A person being taught is not being recruited to our personal following. They are being baptized into the name of the triune God, and our role is to serve them toward him. This is a guardrail against control and possessiveness. We are not building loyalty to ourselves. We are helping a person come under the care and authority of the living God.
There is also a corporate dimension that many overlook. Baptism is normally done in the presence of a congregation. It is a public act of identification with Christ and with his people. That means making disciples assumes a community that is willing to be seen and to be joined. If our churches are not ready to receive new believers, if they do not have room for people who are still learning the basics, our practice will quietly undermine our commission. Making disciples always includes making room. A local church that wants to obey Jesus must be a church where outsiders can come in and be baptized into a real, patient, and honest community.
Teaching obedience, not just information
Jesus says to teach people to observe all things he commanded. The phrase is not merely about information transfer. It is about observance; that is, practice. This means disciple making is not complete when someone can pass a knowledge test. The goal is a life that does what Jesus said. That is a much slower and more personal work. It takes time to see where a person struggles, what they believe about God, how they handle money, how they speak to their family, and what they do with their Sundays. Teaching obedience involves asking honest questions and offering patient correction. It is more like apprenticeship than a lecture.
Paul describes the same aim in Colossians 1:28-29, where he says that he proclaims Christ and labors to present every person mature in Christ. The language is intense: warning, teaching with all wisdom, toiling and struggling with all his energy. That tells us that making disciples is not passive or accidental. It requires effort and prayer. Paul does not say that every person he met grew to maturity; he says that this is the goal he worked for. The outcome belongs to God. Our part is faithfulness in the work. This keeps us from both laziness and despair. We labor, and we leave the growth to the Lord who gives it.
If teaching obedience is the goal, then our own obedience matters. We cannot teach what we do not practice. This is not a call to be perfect before we can help anyone. It is a call to honesty. A disciple maker who admits failure, asks forgiveness, and keeps following Jesus teaches more than one who pretends to have no struggles. People learn more from watching how we handle our sin and our weakness than from our confident speeches. This is one reason 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 uses the image of a nursing mother and a father. The teaching is embodied. It is not only what we say but how we live among people who are watching.
Teaching all things that Jesus commanded sounds overwhelming because we never finish learning them ourselves. That is the point. Disciple making is not a course with a graduation. It is a shared walk. We learn alongside those we teach, and often they ask questions that drive us back to Scripture. We should expect to be changed by the people we are helping. This protects us from pride and keeps the process honest. If someone is a disciple, they are a learner. The teacher is included in that. The command to teach is not a command to know everything. It is a command to keep pointing people to Jesus and to keep learning with them.
The second generation: passing on what you received
Second Timothy 2:2 gives the method in a single sentence: the things you heard from me among many witnesses, commit to faithful people who will be able to teach others also. Here we see four generations in one verse: Paul, Timothy, faithful people, and others. Disciple making is meant to multiply. If everything depends on one gifted leader, the work dies when the leader moves or ages. The goal is to build people who can build people. That may sound ambitious, but it is simply the logic of the great commission applied to time. Teach someone with the expectation that they will teach someone else, and the work continues beyond your own reach.
Notice the kind of people Paul names. He does not say to find the most impressive or the most talented. He says to find faithful people. Reliability, humility, and a willingness to learn matter more than natural ability. This is encouraging for those who feel ordinary. The kingdom does not run on celebrity. It runs on faithful men and women who show up, keep their word, and love Jesus. If you are wondering whom to invest in, start by looking for faithfulness, not charisma. A quiet person who keeps commitments may be a far better choice than a dazzling person who cannot be counted on.
The phrase among many witnesses reminds us that this teaching was not private or secret. It was public and shared. That means discipleship is not a hidden clique with special knowledge. It is the open truth of the gospel passed on in ordinary community life. The early church devoted itself to the apostles’ teaching together, not in isolated pairs only. Small personal relationships matter deeply, but they are not a replacement for the shared teaching of the church. The healthiest disciple making happens when personal mentoring and public teaching reinforce each other. A one-to-one relationship that is disconnected from the church will eventually drift or starve.
Committing truth to others also requires patience with the process. Paul wrote this near the end of his life, knowing that his own work was nearly finished. He was handing off the message deliberately. That is an older believer’s calling. If you have walked with Jesus for decades, your most valuable work may be the people you quietly invest in now. You do not need a platform. You need a few faithful people who will listen, ask questions, and then carry what they learned to someone else. This is how the faith continues from one generation to the next, not by accident but by intentional commitment.
The atmosphere: gentleness, family, and time
First Thessalonians 2:7-12 gives us the tone of disciple making. Paul describes himself as gentle among them, like a nursing mother caring for her children, and also like a father encouraging his own children. These images are striking because they are not efficient. A nursing mother cannot rush a feeding. A father’s encouragement is not a transaction. Disciple making happens at the pace of a family, not a factory. If we want to make disciples, we have to be willing to share our lives, not just our lessons. That means time, meals, interruptions, and patience with people who are slow to change.
Paul says he shared not only the gospel but his own soul, because the people had become dear to him. This is the difference between a lecture and a relationship. You cannot genuinely make disciples without loving people. That does not mean every relationship must be intense or emotional. It does mean that people know you are for them. They can tell whether they are a project or a person. When a disciple maker is only interested in results, people feel used. When a disciple maker is gentle and present, people feel safe enough to admit their struggles and ask real questions.
The family image also shapes our expectations. Children do not learn to walk in a day. They fall, and they are helped up. They ask the same questions repeatedly, and they are answered patiently. New believers often need the same. A person who has just come to faith may need help understanding basic things that seem obvious to those who grew up in the church. That is not a problem; it is normal. If we treat their questions as an inconvenience, we teach them that they do not belong. If we answer with gentleness, we teach them that they are welcome and that growth is possible.
Paul also says he exhorted and encouraged each one, like a father with his children, calling them to walk worthy of God. So gentleness is not the same as vagueness. A good parent both comforts and corrects. Disciple making includes honest encouragement to keep going and, when needed, clear warning and direction. Many people avoid correction out of fear of offending, and many others correct harshly. Both miss the pattern. The aim is to be gentle in manner and honest in content. We tell the truth because we love the person, and we do it in a way that makes the truth possible to hear.
Bearing fruit by remaining in Christ
In John 15:1-8, Jesus uses the image of a vine and branches to explain spiritual fruitfulness. He is the true vine, and his Father is the farmer. The point is unmistakable: fruit comes from remaining connected to Christ, not from self-effort. Anyone who wants to make disciples should take this seriously, because disciple making is a spiritual work, not merely a relational technique. We can organize well and still see nothing lasting if we are not abiding in Jesus. Prayer, Scripture, and dependence on the Spirit are not optional extras. They are the root system. The branch does not strain to produce fruit; it draws life from the vine.
The passage also speaks of pruning and cleansing, which assumes that growth requires removal as well as addition. A person bearing fruit is not left to grow wild in every direction. God, the farmer, prunes so that the branch bears more fruit. In disciple making, this means that we help people see what must be put aside, not just what must be added. A new believer may need to change habits, relationships, or priorities. That work is often uncomfortable. But the purpose is not harshness; it is fruitfulness. We prune because we want the plant to thrive, and God prunes his people because he loves them and wants them to bear much fruit.
Jesus also says that his words must remain in us. This is the practical way to abide. We cannot bear fruit by trying harder in our own strength. We bear fruit by letting the words of Christ shape how we think, speak, and act. This is why a disciple-making relationship should be saturated with Scripture. It is not enough to give advice or share our experiences, though those can be helpful. We need to bring people again and again to what Jesus said. The words of Christ are the food that produces fruit. A disciple maker who does not open the Bible with people will eventually run out of substance.
Finally, the passage connects fruitfulness to the Father’s glory and to answered prayer. This keeps disciple making from being about us. The final goal is not our reputation as mentors or the success of our group. It is that the Father is glorified and that people become true disciples. That frees us from the need to boast and from the need to compare our work with others. If someone we helped grows and bears fruit, the glory belongs to God. If we labor without seeing immediate results, our work is still in the hands of the farmer who gives growth in his own time.
Where to begin this week
Making disciples can sound abstract, so it helps to think in concrete steps. Begin with prayer. Ask God to show you one or two people you can invest in. They may already be believers who need encouragement, or they may not yet know Christ. Commitment to a person, not a program, is the starting point. Then ask whether you are willing to spend regular, unhurried time with them. This does not require a formal curriculum at first. It requires consistency. A weekly meal, a walk, a phone call, or a shared service can become the setting where discipleship actually happens.
Open the Bible with them and read it together, preferably a passage in a book rather than scattered verses. Let them ask questions, and be honest when you do not know an answer. Look for opportunities to talk about what they are learning and where they are struggling. Help them take the next step, whether that is baptism, joining a church, learning to pray, or dealing with a particular sin. Keep the aim of maturity in view. The goal is not to create a follower of you, but a follower of Jesus who can eventually help someone else follow him. That is the pattern Paul described.
Do not try to do this in isolation. Connect the people you are helping to a local church. The new believers in Acts 2 were not left on their own; they were added to a community where teaching, fellowship, meals, and prayer continued. Your personal investment is important, but it is not a substitute for the church. If you are helping someone grow, bring them into the life of the congregation. Introduce them to others. Let them be known. This gives them relationships that will outlast your season of influence and protects them from depending too heavily on one person.
Finally, be patient and keep the long view. Disciple making is often slow, and the results are frequently invisible for a long time. Some of the people you invest in will drift away. Others will grow in ways you never expected. Through it all, remember that the one who sends you has all authority and promises to be with you to the end of the age. You are not carrying the work alone. The church has been doing this imperfectly for two thousand years, and God has been faithful. The same is true for you as you begin.
Biblical fidelity check
This article has focused on what Matthew 28:16-20 and the related passages actually say. The passage tells us that the risen Jesus sent his disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them to observe his commands, with the promise of his presence. It does not specify a particular method, curriculum, or organizational structure for doing this. The New Testament shows us a variety of settings: public teaching, household gatherings, personal mentoring, and shared meals. It also does not promise that every person will respond or that fruit will appear quickly. Faithfulness, not measured results, is what the commands require.
A common misreading is to treat the great commission as mainly a call to mass evangelism or to large events, so that disciple making becomes a numbers game. That distorts the passage. Jesus speaks of baptizing and teaching, both of which require ongoing personal involvement, not just a single decision. Another misreading is to treat disciple making as something only professional leaders do. But 2 Timothy 2:2 passes the work to faithful people who can teach others. A third error is to separate evangelism from discipleship, as if one ends when the other begins. Scripture holds them together. Faithful Christians differ on methods and structures, and that is a matter for wisdom rather than a test of orthodoxy. What is not optional is the command itself.
Other passages that speak to Matthew 28:16-20
Several related studies help fill out the picture. What Does 1 John 1:1 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application addresses the eyewitness testimony at the heart of the message disciples pass on. What Does 1 John 1:8 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application explains why honesty about sin belongs in every discipleship relationship. 1 John 1:9 Meaning: Confession, Forgiveness, and Cleansing shows how confession restores the fellowship that disciple making depends on. And What Does 1 John 2:15 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application helps readers think about the loves that shape a disciple’s life.
Frequently asked questions
Is making disciples only for pastors and missionaries?
No. Matthew 28:16-20 is spoken to the eleven, but the pattern continues through all believers. Second Timothy 2:2 tells Timothy to entrust the message to faithful people who can teach others, which includes ordinary members of the church. Every Christian who has received the gospel has something to pass on. Pastors and missionaries may devote more time to it, but the command itself rests on the whole church. If you know Jesus, you are called to help someone else know him, whether in a formal role or in everyday relationships.
What is the difference between evangelism and discipleship?
Evangelism is the telling of the good news so that people may believe. Discipleship is the ongoing work of teaching believers to observe everything Jesus commanded, as Matthew 28:19-20 puts it. They are not competing tasks. Evangelism that does not lead into discipleship leaves new believers without help, and discipleship without evangelism eventually has no new believers to teach. In Acts 2:42-47, the church continued in teaching, fellowship, meals, and prayer after people were added. The two belong together in the life of a healthy church.
How long should I invest in one person?
Scripture does not set a time limit. Paul described his care like that of a nursing mother and a father in 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12, both of which imply a season of patient dependence. Some relationships last for years; others for a few months before the person is ready to help someone else. The goal, as Colossians 1:28-29 puts it, is maturity in Christ. You may release a person when they are established and able to teach others, but the relationship often continues in a different form as peers and friends in the church.
