Peter made one of the simplest statements about Jesus that you’ll find in Scripture. But it is also packed with meaning and application. He said that Jesus “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). This understated affirmation deserves our deeper exploration. What were some of these good things that our Lord went about doing? Consider the following list representative, but not exhaustive.
He Rejoiced with Celebrating Friends.
The apostle John tells us of a wedding that took place in the small town of Cana (John 2:1-11). We don’t know the identities of the bride and groom, but they must have had some connection to Jesus’ family. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was there (2:1), and Jesus had also been invited (2:2). Weddings have always been occasions of joyous celebration and fun. It is a mark of Christian virtue to “rejoice with those who rejoice” (Rom. 12:15). Our Lord’s attendance at the Cana wedding is a great example of His “doing good.”
He Wept with Grieving Friends.
The same apostle John later records that Jesus stood by the grave of a friend, Lazarus, and wept with his sisters and other loved ones (John 11:17-36). Jesus loved that family (11:5), and His tears confirmed it (11:36). Some of the most profitable time we will ever spend is the time we devote to holding the hands of grieving brothers and sisters in Christ and offering a warm shoulder on which they may weep. When we do that, we are imitating the Son of God, who “went about doing good.”
He Reached Out to the Lost and Alienated.
“Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them’” (Luke 15:1-2). As Jesus “went about doing good,” He remembered that His purpose for coming to Earth was “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). His atoning sacrifice was for “every man” (Heb. 2:9). He never forgot that the people who need a physician are the ones who are sick (Mark 2:17). If we would follow Jesus “doing good” we will remember that every person we encounter in this life matters to Him.