Following Jesus means . . .

READ Matthew 9-12

Sometimes the idea of following Jesus means having His attitudes, thinking His thoughts. Sometimes it means doing what He did. Matthew seems to be an example.

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples . . . (Jesus said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:9–13)

Jesus called Matthew and it seems Matthew called his friends to be with Jesus. I can do that too.

There are some things Jesus did that I cannot do (unless by some miracle from the Lord). For instance, He restored to life the daughter of a ruler, healed a woman healed, gave sight to two blind men, set a demon-oppressed mute man free and restored his speech. But I can share Jesus compassion for the “harassed and helpless” crowds.

How I follow Jesus is up to Him. Just as He gave His disciples “authority over unclean spirits” and the ability “to heal every disease and every affliction” He must do the same for me. His directions are always specific:

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. (Matthew 10:5–8)

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. (Matthew 10:16–23)

Just because Jesus tells me what to do does not mean it will be easy. He warned His followers: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.”

He also reminds us of our priorities: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:34–39)

Jesus says I will know who is receptive to Him by how they respond to me: “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.” Yet just as their generation was never satisfied, so is ours:

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, “ ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ” (Matthew 11:16–19)

Following Jesus can be easy. He does the hard part: “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” My job is trusting Him and pulling my share of the load. It might seem difficult but He says: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:27–30)

Jesus, grant me wisdom to follow You in whatever way You lead, listening, thinking, talking, and acting in obedience!

 

Can I lose my salvation?

Those who profess faith in Jesus Christ have varying interpretations of biblical teaching. While we agree that Jesus is the Savior who died for our sin and rose from the dead, one area of fog is the matter of eternal security. Does the Lord keep us in faith after He grants it? Or can we refuse to believe and throw away that gift?

Both cannot be true. However, confusion arises in trying to reconcile verses that support either position. For instance, those who think we can toss it all will point to passages like this one:

And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” (John 6:65–67)

Interpretation is not an easy task. One important part of it is trying to understand how the original readers would have understood it. In this instance, it seems important to figure out what it means to walk with Jesus. In today’s church, this refers to people who have given their lives to Him in faith and are following His teaching as best they can. 

But in that world, it could have meant something more like groupies. Jesus was a fascinating figure, but when He told them “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:56) and followed it with, “No one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father,” some of them didn’t want any part of it so they quit following Him. No doubt they started looking for another ‘hero’ to chase after, one that would not be quite so weird.

Chambers thinks that those who turned back refers to those who didn’t walk into sin but “relapsed” and therefore applies to those who are involved in Christian work but are doing it apart from Christ, not walking with Him, but I’ve a problem with that approach. Jesus said that apart from Him I can do nothing. Refusing to rely on Him and follow His direction IS sin. Anything else I rely on, including my own ideas, becomes an idol that replaces God.

Jesus also asked the twelve disciples if they wanted to go away. Chambers says this means we know Jesus but have to “maintain a venturing attitude toward Him all the time.” That is, I’m to always be seeking Him and His will for my life, in absolute dependence on Him. For him, this is what it means to walk with Jesus.

When I step back and take a look at the bigger picture, these twelve were not yet filled with the Holy Spirit. They literally walked with Jesus like the groupies, and their devotion to Him was tenuous. They swore allegiance, yet abandoned Him at the crucifixion. Their loyalty was not secured until He rose from the dead and until their lives were transformed. While I can learn from their mistakes and their best attitudes, I’m not sure that I can form my theology based on this period of time before Jesus’ death and resurrection, or before the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It was these later events that cemented the reality of oneness with Christ.

While I don’t want to get into a debate with Chambers, his thoughts do make me consider my own beliefs about living the Christian life. Some of these ‘followers’ walked away because they didn’t like what Jesus said to them. I’ve been in that place of not liking His words to me, but His hold on me is much stronger than my emotions.

However, Judas did more than walk away. Jesus said, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” This Judas was one of the Twelve, yet he was going to betray Jesus. (John 6:70–71) He was a ‘disciple’ but never united with Christ. Every reference to him points to his greed, not his faith. It is the same with the other ‘disciples’ who walked away. They wanted the free bread and were not willing to give up their own way to walk the way of Jesus.

To me, there is a vast difference between those who are religious and those who know and walk with Jesus. The former walk wherever they want at any given moment and can walk away. While those whose lives are united with Christ might try it, because He lives in them, their feet have trouble cooperating. Eventually the “relapse” gives way to repentance and the stumbling believer is pulled to his feet by Jesus’ saving grace.

Following the Lord

Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge. One of the questions is: How do you know what you know? This question, for Christians, often goes like this: How do you know God is telling you something? How can I be certain that it is God leading me in a certain direction?

For most Christians, the answer is, “I can’t say exactly, I just know.” This isn’t satisfactory to unbelievers, even to many Christians. Some of us would like something more concrete, similar to what the children of Israel had in their wilderness journey.

“He erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.” (Exodus 40:33–38)

We’ve seen cartoons where a cloud (or some other object) hovered over and gave direction to a character, but this doesn’t happen in real life. Even devout Christians say, as a friend did this week, “I just wish God would give me clarity on what I am supposed to do.”

That OT love poem hints at the perplexity of looking for direction and not finding it. Solomon wrote these words depicting the bride who could not find her beloved. How often I’ve felt like this when seeking the will of God and feeling as if God had departed:  

“I arose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the bolt. I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul failed me when he spoke. I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer. The watchmen found me as they went about in the city; they beat me, they bruised me, they took away my veil, those watchmen of the walls. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love.” (Song of Solomon 5:5–8)

Of course God has never left me, but my subjective feelings sometimes move in and replace what I know of His promises. It is during those times when my “soul fails me” that I am to seek Him even more, not just for answers, but because I love Him.

In the NT, Jesus was talking to the Jews who grumbled about Him. He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53–58)

The disciples heard this too, and also grumbled. He responded to them with: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) (John 6:63–64)

They didn’t understand. At that point, many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:66–69)

Following Jesus Christ was never promised to be a walk in the park. In those early days, God did give a cloud and fire, for they needed it. In the same way, new Christians today are often given special treatment to help them follow. However, we eventually experience that, “where is God?” sinking feeling that maybe He has gone. We call Him, but He gives no answer. We cry out and hear nothing from Him.

Silence happens, but the journey also becomes difficult, even impossible. He tells us to do something (or not do something) that is completely beyond us. He asks for action beyond our skills or persistence that seems beyond our faith. Some say their “faith is getting stretched” and when it happens, that is how it feels!

The comforting thought is that during such an experience, we “just know” we will survive for we “just know” who is doing the stretching. 

“Follow Me”

Those who don’t know much about religions will often say that one is as good as another, or that every religion is valid. Today’s devotional warns against the spiritual danger of being affected by this pluralism.

Since Christ saved me and came into my life, I’ve not been confused by those ideas, for which I am thankful. Yet I know people who think ‘everyone is okay’ and have no idea of the claims of Jesus Christ. If they did, they would need to make some changes in their thinking.

Two major claims come to mind, both from the same passage in Scripture. One is what Jesus said about the way to God and the other is about His identity. Both are unique. Both would startle those who accept pluralism.

Jesus was talking to His disciples about their fears and assured them that even though He was leaving them, He would come back and take them to where He was going. Thomas said, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

Jesus responded, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” (John 14:5–11)

In this dialog, two claims are made: One is that Jesus said He is the only way to the Father. This flies in the face of those who claim that every religion is a way to God, a way of worshiping Him and a way of coming to Him for eternal life. Jesus says otherwise. He does not say, “I am A way” but “I am THE way” and NO MAN can come any other way.

The other claim is that He reveals God the Father. As Hebrews 1:3 says, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature . . .” The same thought is repeated several times in the Bible, including the statement in Colossians 1:15, “He is the image of the invisible God . . .”

Pluralists would struggle with this. I don’t, but I do have a related problem. I’ve been proud that I belong to the ‘only way’ and believe in the ‘only right way’ — and that faith is not wrong in itself, but my pride is sinful. I have no right to being smug because the Gospel negates pride. I did nothing to earn or deserve my salvation. I did nothing to earn or deserve Jesus Christ walking into my life. I am a sinner saved by grace. “God shows His love for me in that while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me.” (Romans 5:8, personalized) That is humbling, not reason for pride.

At the same time, the Gospel lifts me up, just as it is intended to do for all who believe it. In that joy of knowing Jesus, we have a wonderful message to pass on to others. No matter what they claim, no religion can claim salvation by faith in a man who is God in the flesh, who was crucified and rose from the dead, and who promises to return to earth and take His followers to the Father.

In fact, all other religions have a list of what people must do to get to God. Instead of God reaching down to save them, they must try their best to get to Him. If they are able to do everything required by their religion, it would produce pride, but none of us can keep even our own set of ‘rules’ for life. Realizing that is true should put every person on their knees before this Jesus. He replaced all those religious demands with only one: “Follow me!”