Go!
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore…”
(Matthew 28.18-19)
Jesus commands us to go. It seems it was one of His favorite commands. He told His disciples “Let us go to the next town…” (Mk 1.37) He told the Demoniac, “Go home and tell them…” (Mk 5.19) He told the Woman at the Well, “Go and get your husband…” (Jn 4.16) And in His Great Commission, He tells His disciples to “Go into all the earth…” (Mk 16.15) As followers, we are goers! Whether we are going across the ocean or across the street, we are to be a “Going People.” Jesus was sent by the Father and He has sent us (Jn 17.18). But the “Going “ has great purpose. It is to connect the next person with the gospel. It is intentional. I’ve heard it preached that this word in Greek actually means, “As you go.” This could be misunderstood as a laissez-fare approach to sharing the gospel and making disciples. A kind of “catch as catch can” and “I’ll get to it if the opportunity presents itself.” Oh, no, that’s not what the King is commanding. It’s more like, “This is My priority, now get after it!” I love the story about the Centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant. Jesus was “going to go” to him and the Centurion responds; “Just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes…” (Mt 8.8-9) One of Jesus’ highest complements was given to a Gentile soldier with a keen awareness of true authority and to trust and obey the orders of his superior. The first step in obeying any command is to get started. In other words, “Get Going.” Are we a going people? Are we teaching others to go?
ToBeLikeJesus 