“Jesus left that place, and as he walked along, he saw a tax collector, named Matthew, sitting in his office. He said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Matthew got up and followed him.” Matthew 9:9
I challenge you today, as you walk in the street, stop and tell people, “Follow me”. Chances are that not many will obey you and follow you.
How come then the 12 disciples were so blinded as to follow Jesus?
After all they didn’t know Him. They didn’t know that He was the Messiah. He was just a random man, walking along the way. I guess when Jesus spoke these two words, “Follow me”, there was something divine in the way He said these words. After all, they are two simple words that we use in everyday life. For instance, “Hey man, come, follow me, let’s grab a bite”.
It is the same voice that commanded Lazarus out of the tomb, “Lazarus, come out!” John 11:43; the same voice that healed people, “‘Be clean!’ At once, the man was healed of his disease,” Matthew 8:3; and the same voice that calmed the raging storm, “Then he got up and ordered the winds and the waves to stop, and there was a great calm” Matthew 8:26.
It was something that grabbed Matthew’s attention. He even left his job as a tax collector and came after Jesus. The same happened with Simon and his brother Andrew. Jesus said to them, “Come with me, and I will teach you to catch people,” Matthew 4:19. The Bible says that both brothers immediately stopped what they were doing and followed Him. How much authority did Jesus have? People left their families, jobs and possessions to join Christ in His mission.
In order to follow Christ, we must leave everything behind. We must Love Christ more than anything in the world. The Bible says, “Those who come to me cannot be my disciples unless they love me more than they love father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and themselves as well.” Luke 14:26. Jesus is very clear about this, mostly in Matthew 8:21-22, “Another man, who was a disciple, said, ‘Sir, first let me go back and bury my father.’ ‘Follow me,’ Jesus answered, ‘and let the dead bury their own dead.’” Thus, saying, yes, earthly things matter, but not now, not at the moment, when there is work to be done, there are lives to be saved.
For instance, recall the story of the rich young man Nicodemus. He had obeyed all the commandments and knew the Scriptures very well, but when Jesus challenged him in Luke 18:22, “’There is still one more thing you need to do. Sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.’ But when the man heard this, he became very sad, because he was very rich.” Following Jesus needs all our commitment and devotion.
Finally, in order to preach and to teach, we must know Him so we can present Him to others. We must not only be actors of the Truth but lovers of the Truth.
Vahé Jebejian
I challenge you today, as you walk in the street, stop and tell people, “Follow me”. Chances are that not many will obey you and follow you.
How come then the 12 disciples were so blinded as to follow Jesus?
After all they didn’t know Him. They didn’t know that He was the Messiah. He was just a random man, walking along the way. I guess when Jesus spoke these two words, “Follow me”, there was something divine in the way He said these words. After all, they are two simple words that we use in everyday life. For instance, “Hey man, come, follow me, let’s grab a bite”.
It is the same voice that commanded Lazarus out of the tomb, “Lazarus, come out!” John 11:43; the same voice that healed people, “‘Be clean!’ At once, the man was healed of his disease,” Matthew 8:3; and the same voice that calmed the raging storm, “Then he got up and ordered the winds and the waves to stop, and there was a great calm” Matthew 8:26.
It was something that grabbed Matthew’s attention. He even left his job as a tax collector and came after Jesus. The same happened with Simon and his brother Andrew. Jesus said to them, “Come with me, and I will teach you to catch people,” Matthew 4:19. The Bible says that both brothers immediately stopped what they were doing and followed Him. How much authority did Jesus have? People left their families, jobs and possessions to join Christ in His mission.
In order to follow Christ, we must leave everything behind. We must Love Christ more than anything in the world. The Bible says, “Those who come to me cannot be my disciples unless they love me more than they love father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and themselves as well.” Luke 14:26. Jesus is very clear about this, mostly in Matthew 8:21-22, “Another man, who was a disciple, said, ‘Sir, first let me go back and bury my father.’ ‘Follow me,’ Jesus answered, ‘and let the dead bury their own dead.’” Thus, saying, yes, earthly things matter, but not now, not at the moment, when there is work to be done, there are lives to be saved.
For instance, recall the story of the rich young man Nicodemus. He had obeyed all the commandments and knew the Scriptures very well, but when Jesus challenged him in Luke 18:22, “’There is still one more thing you need to do. Sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.’ But when the man heard this, he became very sad, because he was very rich.” Following Jesus needs all our commitment and devotion.
Finally, in order to preach and to teach, we must know Him so we can present Him to others. We must not only be actors of the Truth but lovers of the Truth.
Vahé Jebejian