“Go ye therefore into all the world,” He said. “Does He really mean that”? Is this a command or a request? There is a difference, you know. It is a big, cruel world out there. Rome does not deal kindly with new movements. Surely Judaism will not tolerate competition for her converts. Our half-pagan world does not understand a religion of love, grace, and purity. Is it possible for this good news to be absorbed by crude and cruel minds? “All the world” would mean telling Gentile folk about Jesus. I think we should keep His gospel for our Jewish people. After all, we are the chosen ones. He was birthed and nurtured by our kind. It was our scriptures that predicted His coming. It was our prophets who anticipated a Messiah. Why should we share this good news with anyone but our own? There are a lot of Gentile pigs out there who would trample the pearls of His marvelous story. Did not our fathers teach us that such people were unclean?
“All the world” could mean going to dangerous areas of foreign countries. It would be risky going to places where human life is cheap. Barbarians do not understand “turning the other cheek” and dying on a cross, crying “Father, forgive them.” People could get killed trying to convince such pagans that God intended us to live with love instead of hate. The remote areas of our world are not advanced enough to grasp this gospel. The only savior they know is whoever can help them get what they want. Loving one’s adversary and treating the enemy with kindness are not principles by which they wish to live.
“All the world” means going to those close to me who have thought my actions strange since Jesus came into my life. It means loving my neighbor as myself. What I know and have experienced with Jesus can be shared with my nearest critic and my best friend.
Perhaps this is harder than going to the barbarians because these are people who know me, warts and all. I’m not sure I am good enough nor know enough to be effective in my own community. After all, Jesus said, ” A prophet is not without honor except in his own town.” There is a Samaritan family next door. How could I ever step foot into their house with the gospel when I did not even take food when their child died?
Surely He did not meant “all the world.” My, my that would include Gentile pigs, barbarian tribes-people, Samaritan half-breeds and the neighborhood riffraff. He must have meant it, however, because He whispered strongly into my ear, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” I know Him well enough to know He would not send me somewhere without His companionship. I must confess. It is into “all the world.” I have been challenged to go. Will you go with me?
