Following Jesus

Matthew 4:20 – ‘And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him.’
Mark 1:18 – ‘And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed Him.’
Luke 5:11 – ‘And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed Him.’
John 1:37 – ‘And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.’

When I read the gospel accounts about the moment Jesus called His first disciples, it’s a bit perplexing for my mind to fathom leaving everything behind to follow an unknown person. It’s a story from four different perspectives of what happened in those moments, all with the same underlying truth.

• An introduction (in some way)
• And then a choice made – to follow.

There weren’t any long dialogues of questioning or getting to know who this Man was, just a total faith to follow Him.

I think about today’s age, and what it might look like to just blindly follow someone I’d just been introduced too. It seems scary to me, if I’m being honest. My mind trills with questions:

• Who is this person?
• Where are they going?
• Will we get into trouble?
• Will we do good things?
• Do they love Jesus?
• Have they ever harmed another person physically?
• Will they harm me?
• Can I trust them?
• What have they done to prove that I can trust them?

The list goes on and on. I feel certain, all those questions would stop me in my tracks. I would think twice, three times, so much in fact that I wouldn’t ever follow at all.

Yet the disciples didn’t question. They followed. They didn’t really know who Jesus was, what He was up to, or where He was going. I believe our faith step to follow Jesus has to be the same. Believe now, ask questions later.

If you are as inquisitive as I am, then you might still wonder what about Jesus really made them trust Him so easily. How did they justify all the answers to those questions that possibly ran through their minds?

The Bible doesn’t actually go into detail about why they chose to follow Him. But I believe we can draw some clues from the context in the gospel of John, chapter 1.

We learn in verse 35, that Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. And we know from verses 6 & 7 that John was the one sent, by God, to bear witness of the Light (Jesus). And John openly declared that Jesus was the Messiah who had been prophesied about. Andrew trusted his mentor, John the Baptist, and then shared with his brother Simon Peter. So they followed. In verse 44, the Bible says Phillip was from the same area as Andrew and Peter – so it’s possible he knew them and trusted that if they were following Jesus, he could also. Nathanael though, he was the one I relate to the most! He was skeptical and he did what I imagine most of us doing in today’s age, question someone based on a stereotype. When Phillip found Nathanael and shared with Him that the Messiah had been found in a man named Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanael immediately said (paraphrasing) “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”. He just stereotyped Jesus based on what ‘side of the tracks He was from’!? Whoa! But Phillip piqued his curiosity simply with, “Come and see!”. After a short Q&A with Jesus, Nathanael believed too.

It’s Jesus’ response to Nathanael which brings me back to that phrase, believe now, ask questions later. Jesus asked Nathanael, (paraphrasing) “Because I told you I saw you under the fig tree, you believed? You will see things much greater than this.” Why do you think Jesus asked him this? This isn’t written in scripture, but my personal opinion is that He wanted Nathanael to believe now, ask questions later – similar to the other disciples. Following Jesus is a choice we have to make, in response to who He is. And I believe, He doesn’t want to tell us who He is, He wants to show us!

He calls us to follow Him. In blind faith. To trust that He is who He says He is. To know that He is the Messiah, the Christ, our Lord and Savior, the Son of God, the One sent to save us from our sins. And it is only after we follow Him, that He begins to reveal who He is, His character at its core. Those revelations solidify our choice to follow in faith, while we are building a relationship.

I know this can still be a very foreign concept, to follow in faith. But join me next week, as I continue to dive into following Jesus. God Bless You!