Go your way

“Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and let it be done as you have believed.”  Matthew 8:13

Go your way – Have you learned to follow orders?  Most of us are quite good at giving commands and expecting them to be carried out, but we are not so enthusiastic about receiving commands.  Have you ever asked yourself why you have this built-in hesitancy?

This verse comes from Jesus’ encounter with the centurion.  The centurion told Jesus that it was not necessary for Jesus to come to his home to heal his servant.  All he had to do was give the command and it would be done.  The centurion makes this remarkable statement based on his understanding of giving orders.  Those who receive the orders are expected to carry them out without delay and without debate.  That’s the code of a soldier.  Jesus calls this man’s faith greater than anyone he has found in Israel.  But from the centurion’s perspective, it was just what would have been expected.

When the Greek word hupago is used as a command, it implies an emphatic order.  Jesus gives the same kind of command that the centurion would completely understand.  Go!  Don’t just wander off.  Don’t return without purpose.  Take direction.  Go!  Follow my command just as you have given others commands.

Now the question is put to us.  Do we stand ready to take His orders?  Do we understand the code of the soldier and the obligation of the servant?  When Jesus says, “Go!” to us, do we accept His orders without hesitancy or debate?  Or do we balk, letting our pride whisper, “Why should I have to do this?  I know what I’m doing.  It’s my life.”   The reason we flounder is not because we cannot accomplish what God asks.  We flounder because we will not receive His word as an order.   We rebel because we do not see that we are in his service.  Great faith is found in the immediate and unquestioned completion of the command.