Will Varner's magnificent book on Matthew continues to bless me.
Here's what he writes about Jesus' Great Commission in Matt. 28:19-20 (p. 354):
The "go" that begins these clauses is not a standalone imperative, but a supporting participle. It is better, therefore, to regard "make disciples" not as the second of two commands or the first in a series of four but as the general imperative which is filled out by the previous and following participles. In other words, it is assumed that we should "go" before we make disciples. It is best then to regard "make disciples" not as the first in a series but as the general imperative which is explained by what follows. In other words, baptism and instruction in obedience belong to discipleship. "This commission is not so much fulfilled in going but in the disciple-making" (Evans, 484).
Please don't listen to those who insist that the Greek HAS to be rendered as "Go" (imperativally) in English. True, we can't make disciples if we're not going. But as a matter of fact, we can go and still not make disciples! Also, please stop telling me that if we translate the Greek as "As you go" you are reducing Jesus' Great Commission to "The Great Suggestion." That's silly. Jesus is not suggesting that we're going. He's assuming that we're going somewhere. And wherever that "somewhere is," we had better be about the business of disciple-making above everything else!
Here, by the way, is how I paraphrased Matt. 28:19-20 in my book Seven Marks of a New Testament Church:
So wherever you go, train everyone you meet -- the people in every nation -- how to be my followers. Mark them publicly by baptism in the triune name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them not just in knowledge but in the practice of everything I've commanded you. And as you do this, remember: I will be with you, day after day after day, until the very end of the age.
Jesus' words "day after day after day" is literally "all the days" in both the Greek and the Hebrew.
If disciple-making is to be daily (and it is), the fabulous news is that Christ's presence is with us daily to enable us for the task.
Amen and amen!