I toured the Holy Land a few years ago with my friend Mike. One day he said, “Let’s start our day with a six-mile run up and down a mountain. It’ll be worth it; I promise.” He also promised one other thing about our trip. He said that I would return home and find that reading the Bible would be different—3D, full-color different. It wasn’t long after returning that I was reading the Great Commission in Matthew 28. One word shocked me that I had missed countless times before: “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’” (verses 16-18).
Did Mike run me up that mountain? It’s possible. We ran up Mount Arbel. From there we could see all of Galilee and perhaps farther. There were huge caves that could have hosted 11 disciples easily. I’m not sure if the mountain in this passage is the same one I was on, nor do I know if you’ll ever make it to Galilee. But I would challenge you to meditate on every word you read in the Bible. Slow down and draw it all in. Every word has been placed by the Holy Spirit and made to connect you to the ancient Scriptures that promise a Messiah and to your role of sharing the gospel with others.
