Poreuomai (πορεύομαι) is a deponent verb meaning to go, travel, proceed, or journey. It appears about 153 times in the NT and covers both literal travel and figurative life-conduct (to "walk" or live in a certain way). It is closely related to poreía (journey, way of life) and its root connects to the idea of crossing over or passing through.
The word frequently introduces commands, commissions, and narratives of mission. It is the verb Jesus uses most often when sending people out on purpose-driven assignments.
Poreuomai is the verb of the Great Commission: "Go [poreuthentes, aorist participle] therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19). The commission is not passive — it assumes movement, crossing cultural and geographic boundaries, actively going where people are. The church's identity is missiological: we are sent, we go.
In Luke's theology, Jesus "set his face to go [poreuesthai] to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51) — a decisive, purposeful journey toward the cross. The entire central section of Luke (9:51–19:27) is a travel narrative shaped by this verb. For Luke, the Christian life itself is a poreia — a journey toward the city of God, shaped by following the one who went ahead. Acts carries the same momentum: the gospel "goes" from Jerusalem to Rome, driven by the same Spirit who drove Jesus.