Come, See, Go, And Tell - Part VII
December 2020 |
“And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead.” —Matthew 28:5-7
This article is continued from the November 2020 issue of The Evangelist.
After the crucifixion, the disciples had struggled with grief (June), fear (July), doubt, (August), and guilt (September). To overcome these, the angel had told them to come (October), see (November), and to go and tell (this article).
Unsaved people go after a lot of things in the world system, which includes the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life (I John 2:16), and the will of Satan (Eph. 2:2-3). They go to the vanity of their minds. They have their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God. There is ignorance of God because of the blindness of their hearts. Being insensitive to the things of God, there is immorality and greediness (Eph. 4:17-19).
Besides that, after getting saved, some Christians are going in the wrong direction by trying to mix the wisdom of man with the wisdom of God (I Cor. 1:18-29), the works of the law with the faith of Christ (Gal. 2:16), and the flesh with the Spirit (Gal. 5:17).
It was important for the women to go as the angel told them so they could accomplish God’s will. The following are examples of similar commands God gave to others to go:
- God told Israel to go through the Red Sea out of Egypt (Ex. 14:15).
- God told the Israelites to go across the Jordan River into the promised land (Josh. 1:2).
- God told Israel to march around Jericho (Josh. 6:3-4).
- God told Paul to go to Macedonia to preach the gospel (Acts 16:10).
- Jesus told a teacher of the law to go and do as the Good Samaritan had done (Luke 10:37).
- Jesus told the disciples to go and preach the gospel and heal the sick (Matt. 10:7; Luke 9:2).
- Jesus told the adulterous woman to go and sin no more (John 8:11).
The angel of the Lord told the disciples to go preach in the temple after he delivered them from prison (Acts 5:20).
- Jesus told the disciples to go and wait in Jerusalem until they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-8).
- Jesus told the disciples to go to the whole world and preach the gospel to every person (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8).
God went to great lengths to give the disciples the message that Jesus had been resurrected: The stone was rolled away so they could see His body was gone, and the angels verified that He was risen; He revealed Himself several times to the disciples; and He talked with them, showed them His wounds, ate food with them, and reminded them of the prophecies of His death and resurrection that He had fulfilled. He did all of this because He wanted them to be persuaded and convinced of everything that had been provided for them by His dying on the cross.
Here are some things God wanted them to tell the world:
All their past, present, and future sins are atoned (John 1:29).
- Jesus is the Son of God (Rom. 1:4).
He provides justification for believers (Rom. 4:25).
- He gives power for victory over sin (Rom. 8:11).
- He proved man is immortal (I Thess. 4:14; II Cor. 4:14).
- Jesus confirmed the hope of believers’ resurrection (I Peter 1:3; Acts 26:6).
- Jesus intercedes for believers (Rom. 8:34).
So, for the last few months, the phrase “come, see, go, and tell” has been explored. It applies to disciples today just as much, if not more, than it did that Easter Sunday morning so long ago. Just as they had to come closer to see better what God was trying to show them, believers need to do the same now so they will have something eternal to go tell others. Years later, John wrote, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (I John 1:3).
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