Have you ever been in the situation where you needed
directions and someone said to you, "Follow me" If you know, or think
you know, the person is trustworthy you will follow them. You may be in the situation where you need to
follow a friend or a relative to a location you have never been to before.
Since you know the person well you will follow them happily.
These are passing incidents and hardly life changing. What
would you do if someone came up to you and said, "Follow me", and it
meant a complete change in your lifestyle? It also meant a change in your job
and your whole outlook on life. In other words a life changing decision!
How would you respond?
Let's look at some instances in the New Testament of people
who responded to Jesus of Nazareth.
Matthew
4:18-22
"(18) And
Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and
Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. (19) Then
He said to them, "Follow Me,
and I will make you fishers of men." (20) They immediately left their nets and followed Him. (21) Going
on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with
Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, (22) and
immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him."
The background to this incident in chapter 4 is that Jesus returns from
His temptations in the wilderness by the Devil; and goes back to Galilee.
Initially, He goes to Nazareth and then we learn He moves to Capernaum.
Capernaum is by the Sea of Galilee [Lake Gennesaret]. He then begins a
preaching ministry to the people in that region.
From the narrative in John's Gospel in the latter part of chapter 1, we learn that Andrew and Simon Peter were in the vicinity
of the Jordan River when Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist. We also learn
that Philip and Nathaniel were also there. This is their first meeting with
Jesus of Nazareth.
It is interesting to note that Jesus goes off to be
tempted by the Devil before He begins His public ministry. In Matthew's Gospel, after His return from the wilderness, He
begins to select the disciples who will accompany Him on His preaching ministry
to the Jewish people.
So Simon Peter and Andrew already knew Jesus when Jesus walked up to them. They knew that He was Jesus of Nazareth and they knew
that John the Baptist had declared Him to be "The Lamb of God". When
Jesus said to them, "Follow Me" they had an instant decision to make.
It was the call of God in their lives. "They
immediately left their nets and
followed Him." The Son of God gave them a commandment to follow Him.
To disobey would be to disobey God! Their response is instantaneous!
Then Jesus went to James and John and called them
to follow Him. They got out of their father's boat, left him in it and followed
Jesus. They were probably aware of Simon Peter and Andrew's meeting with Jesus
at the Jordan River. At least two families had an instant upheaval! This was
indeed a life changing moment! They forsook all to follow Jesus.
In Matthew
9:9 we read about a tax collector whom Jesus called to follow Him. "As Jesus passed on from there, He saw
a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow
Me." So he arose and followed Him." Matthew, also known as Levi
in the Gospels of Mark and Luke, got up and followed Jesus. Matthew was one of
the despised tax collectors who got rich by charging more than the legal amount
of tax and pocketing the difference. He forsook his lucrative career and
followed Jesus.
In John
1:43-44 we learn of Philip's calling by Jesus. "(43) The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He
found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me." (44) Now Philip was from
Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter."
What was it about Jesus of Nazareth that attracted
these men to forsake their manner of life and follow Him? He was not a rich
man. He was not dressed in expensive clothing. He did not promise riches and a
luxurious life. He did not give them a smooth talking spiel to trick them into
following Him. He did not flatter them or offer them inducements.
What did they see in this man? They saw a Man who
was truly honest. They saw a Man who spoke about the kingdom of heaven and the
kingdom of God. They saw a Man who offered them hope. They saw a Man who spoke
with authority and not with the dead religion of the Scribes and Pharisees.
Their personal inter action with Jesus convinced
them that He was worthy to follow!
Not everyone whom Jesus called to follow Him took
up the challenge. It's easy to find excuses. Let's look at a couple of instances
in Matthew 8:19-22 "(19) Then a certain scribe came and
said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go." (20) And
Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has
nowhere to lay His head." (21) Then
another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my
father." (22) But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead
bury their own dead."
The scribe was sincere in his declaration that he
would follow Jesus wherever He went. However, Jesus pointed out that He had no
home to go to; His would be an itinerant ministry. We do not learn that the
scribe then followed Jesus. Then another disciple answered Jesus' call this
way, "Lord, let me first go and bury
my father." On the surface this seems to be a legitimate reason.
However, this saying could also mean, "Wait until I receive my
inheritance." This seems to be the case as Jesus says to him, Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own
dead." Jesus put the man on the spot by telling him to "Follow
Me". He told him to let the [spiritually] dead people bury their own [spiritually]
dead people. We do not read that this man followed Jesus.
Then there is the case of the rich young ruler.
Matthew
19:20-22
"(20) The
young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What
do I still lack?" (21) Jesus said to him, "If you want to be
perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."(22) But when the young man
heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."
This young man had asked Jesus what he needed to do to
inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to keep God's commandments. The young man
told Jesus that he already did that. Then he asked Jesus, "What do I still lack?" He was shocked by Jesus' reply
to him, "If you want to be perfect,
go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven; and come, follow Me." He went away sorrowful because he had
great possessions and did not want to let them go.
In John 6:64-69 we learn that there were
those who followed Jesus but were not real disciples. "(64) But there are some of you who do not believe." For
Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would
betray Him. (65) And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no
one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father." (66) From
that time many of His disciples
went back and walked with Him no more. (67) Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?" (68)
But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord,
to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (69) Also we have come to believe and know
that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus of Nazareth - the Christ - the Son of the
living God is still calling people like you and I to "Follow Me". Do you want eternal life? Only Jesus Christ
can give it to you!
Jon Peasey
Words of Life blog www.jrpeasey.blogspot.com
Ebooks
author page https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JRPeasey
[All
Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted.
Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted
for clarity. Words in bold type
emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or
elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse, that relate
directly to the current subject matter is quoted.]
[If
you have any questions or comments you are invited to contact me via the
comments section below.]
