<< Matthew 28:20

Matt 28:20
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
KJV

Matt 28:20
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and remember I will be with you always, even to the end of the world.
(from "The Everlasting Gospel", Copyright © 2000 by Freed-Hardeman University. All rights reserved.)

"Teaching them" 
is the same group of people mentioned in the previous verse.  "all nations" Nobody on earth was or is excluded. 

"to observe"  To hold fast, to keep, to serve, to watch, to obey. 

"all things whatsoever"  Jesus excluded nothing from this.  He has all authority, leaving none for us.  The only choice we are given here is to comply. 

"I have commanded you"  Jesus was speaking to His disciples.  His use of the word "you" demonstrates to whom He was speaking.  The apostles were commanded to baptize and teach everybody on earth to obey everything whatsoever He commanded.  We can do no less.  Jesus set the bar so high that no one on earth could ever hope to achieve it.  Anyone who could keep all of the commandments of Jesus would live a perfect life after their conversion to Christianity.  The genius of Jesus shines through in this simple command.  By setting a goal for which no human could ever achieve Jesus assures that there is only one direction in which every human on earth can reach.  All goals, all hopes, all efforts, all eyes are hereby directed upwards at all times toward Christ.

Matt 5:48
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

2 Cor 10:5
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Our duty as a Christian is to seek out God's will and do it. 

Luke 8:21
And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.

If any doctrine or theology allows for anything less than the Biblical standard of perfection, then that which is commanded by God has been removed from His authority and falls into man’s perception of what is acceptable to God.

Mark 7:7
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Instead of adhering to what God finds acceptable, man will settle for something more comfortable and easier to achieve.  When this happens, anyone who would try to develop their spirituality to a higher standard than that which is established by the group will be discouraged from within.

Christians are hereby given a lifelong commitment to spiritual growth.  No Christian can ever reach a spiritual plateau here on earth from where he may look down upon others. 

"I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Jesus knew his physical presence here on earth was finished until the end.  He had spent the last few years teaching and instructing his disciples for this very moment.  They had forsaken everything in order to follow Him and He knew it.  These men were given the daunting task of evangelizing earth.  Everything Jesus taught them came into focus at this point.  This was their final instruction all summed up in three sentences that spoke volumes for ages.  Jesus had taught them and now He gave the instructions by which they were to follow.  Everybody, with no exceptions, from that point on till the end of earth were to be evangelized and He told them how to do it.  Baptize them and teach them to obey everything I commanded.

What a wonderfully simple concept; How beautifully stated; the sum total of everything Jesus ever taught was all wrapped up in this simple farewell statement to His followers.  He knew it was going to be hard. He knew what persecutions were ahead for these men and all others who would follow.  He wanted them to be reassured and to know that though he was not there in the flesh, nevertheless, he was there, and would continue to be so, for them and for us, for as long as the earth stands. 

"Amen."

So Be it

Some sources say this word was added by the translators.  Whether true or not, it in no way detracts one iota from the instructions given.  If the Amen was indeed not given by the lips of our saviour, or the inspired writer, then let me now add my own heartfelt thought to these beautiful words of eternal life which have come to be known as the Great Commission.

Matt 28:18-20
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,  "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world"

Amen
 

KJV with Strong's Numbers

Other Translations

(ALT) teaching them to be observing all [things], as many as I commanded you*. And listen! _I_ am with you* all the days, until the conclusion of the age! So be it!" [Gr. amen, and throughout NT].

(ASV) teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

(BBE) Teaching them to keep all the rules which I have given you: and see, I am ever with you, even to the end of the world.

(CEV) and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.

(Darby) teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have enjoined you. And behold, *I* am with you all the days, until the completion of the age.

(DRB) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.

(EMTV) teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

(ESV) teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

(GB) Teaching them to obserue all things, whatsoeuer I haue commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, vntill the ende of the worlde, Amen.

(GNB) and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age."

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