When Jesus gave the great commission, although He addressed the disciples then, He didn’t speak to them only but He was speaking to all of those, from all ages, who would come to believe in Him also. The goal was for those who were already disciples to make disciples, and those disciples to make other disciples, and so on and so forth; thus, in doing so, this command was applicable to all disciples.

The verses above became known throughout church history as the great commission, and the reason being is because it was larger in scope compared to the lesser commission first given by Jesus in Matthew 10 and Luke 10. While the lesser affected only the disciples then and the local Jewish community, this commission is the very final Jesus gave to the disciples then present and to all the disciples throughout all ages and its scope is all the nations. Hence, it is called great.