Do Not Go Running After Them
Then he said to his disciples, The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. Luke 17: 22 - 23.
On this last day of the week, we are at the fourth and final fact noted in the warning words of Jesus, to His disciples. This must indeed be extremely concerning to Jesus, who knows the severity and dead seriousness of any of His disciples falling into the trap of believing that whether there or here, they begin looking for the Son of Man. Listen again to what Jesus commands us not to do. Do not go running off after them. Jesus knows all about the weaknesses of our human nature. He knows that in our times of longing and seeking, we are prone to be easily deceived. He knows that the carnal mind will see what it wants to see. He knows that the carnal ear will hear what it wants to hear. Therefore, Jesus has made it short and simple for us, with His command of, Do not go running off after them.
Please hear and heed what Jesus has ordered us to not do. He does not give us any leeway or time to question, scrutinize, test, or any such pre-conditioning. This is what I mean.
Jesus never told us to listen and when we hear people telling us ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ we have to look at the people and determine whether they are Christians or not.
Jesus never advised us to hear these words. ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ and test the spirit behind those who are speaking.
Jesus never commanded us to hear what people are advocating, then decide which of the two voices to follow. Quite right, these voices are opposite in their advocating, as some are advocating that the Son of Man is there and others are saying, no, He is here.
All Jesus warns us, is not to go running off after any of them. To go running off after something or someone, is to abandon all, to deny all, to neglect all and to leave all behind, to chase after that which pleases you.
Listen to what Psalm 16: 4 says about running after other gods. Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips. Our Lord is serious, for to deny His voice and run after other voices, is to make them your gods. Indeed! This is serious.
May the Holy Spirit make us to hear and heed, in childlike, obedient faith and trust, so that Jesus will say of you and me, His sheep, His disciples, that we will hear, but we will not run after those voices. Instead, we will run away from every voice that is not His. But they will never follow a stranger, in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice. John 10: 5.
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