EXEGETICAL STUDY OF MATTHEW 28:18-20 AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION By J. OLA. OJO, PhD – Baptist College of Theology, Lagos jonfelojo@yahoo.com ; 08033837772; 08098402224; 08158893790 Introduction The church is mandated by Christ not only to proclaim the gospel but more importantly to make disciples of all nations. This mandate if appropriately heeded would have made the whole world a more secure place to live than it is being experienced today. Yoruba has a common adage that says “ile ti o ntoro omo ale ibe ni o ti dagba.” It means a peaceful home is conditioned on the immaturity of the bastards in such a home. Let’s take the issue of Boko Haram for a sample, suppose the gospel had reached them before fallen into the hands of the deadly, hungry and angry blood suckers, notorious group, the story would have been different today. It then goes that discipleship is the easiest way of curtailing the menace of the bastards. People that are well discipled are well equipped, properly nurtured in the way of the LORD, always God-fearing and well behaved members of the society. Imagine if all people and nations are discipled, the peace that the entire universe would have been experiencing. No wonder why Christ mandated the church to disciple all. He knows the secret behind proper and appropriate discipleship; he thus aptly mandated the church to disciple ALL nations. Therefore, discipleship is the antidote to today’s chaos pervading the entire universe. The work would employ multi-dimensional exegetical, hermeneutical approach as well as historical methodology to unravel the real message and meaning of the passage in consideration. It is necessary to look at the passage exegetically in order to bring out the truth embedded therein. The nuances, syntactical and semantics consideration of biblical passages are necessary to really understand the passage. For instance, a closer look at Genesis 1:1 in the original language (Hebrew and even Septuagint) reveals that there is no article in the original first word of the Bible. In the original language, it translates “in beginning” and not “in the beginning.” The implication of this is that God has no linear time that can be pointed to be his beginning. Therefore, the theological phrase ‘God is timeless eternal.’ God is timeless and the cause of everything that comes into existence. Also, a superficial look at Genesis 1: 26 brings a wrong interpretation of thinking that God is calling on the godhead or heavenly host to effect human creation. However, a syntactical consideration reveals that God is commanding himself (cohortative), which is a command in Hebrew to the first person. The plural ‘let us’ is a matter of the cohortative (command to the first person) which must be in agreement in number, gender and definiteness with the subject Elohim [being plural]. A command to the second person is only known in English and major languages, which is imperative. However, there is also in Hebrew a command to the third person known as jussive. Therefore, proper consideration of Hebrew and Greek syntax and grammar would be highly revealing and bring into fore real teachings of the Bible, which the writer believes would free people from ignorance and superficial level of Christianity. The theological educators thus have an onerous task before them to give adequate attention to the study of the syntactical and grammatical functions of the biblical languages. The issue of discipleship, that is, soul sustainability is more emphasize rather than soul winning in Matthew 28:19-20. The effort of the church today is geared towards soul winning and not soul sustainability. Jesus’ mandate to the church is soul sustainability that can only be