Following Jesus

FOLLOWING JESUS IS NOT A ONE-TIME EVENT. IT IS AN EVENT OF A LIFETIME. HALLELUJAH! So, it is critical that you have a personal understanding of who Jesus is! And that you understand that HE IS NOT ONLY YOUR SAVIOUR, PROVIDER, HEALER, MIRACLE-WORKER. MOST IMPORTANTLY, JESUS IS YOUR LORD. AND FOLLOWING JESUS MEANS, JESUS takes priority in your life.

So, to follow Christ is a matter of DECISION! Choose you this day whom you will serve.

FOLLOWING JESUS IS A WAY OF LIFE. THE BIBLE TEACHES THIS. And the goal is beyond receiving sound biblical teachings but that we are being shaped and conformed into the teachings of Christ. We truly are becoming his disciple. We train our body, soul, and spirit to be conformed to the image of our Lord Jesus. The Scripture says that students become like their teachers when they have been taught. A live out a "city on a hill philosophy," meaning a single disciple carries the light of Jesus. We, a community of disciples/followers, shine like a city on a hill that the public wants to copy. It is a core ministry that involves the whole church (all of us).

57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” – This man volunteered!

58 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.” – Jesus did not reject the man not to follow him, but He did give the man the facts to consider his statement carefully. Will this man still follow Jesus even if he would not have the comfort of life as basic as a pillow on his head?

What made this man offer himself to follow Jesus? Amazement? Did Jesus' charisma magnetize him? Matthew gave us more information in Matthew 8 – Jesus healed so many plus performed great signs and wonders. His activities attracted a significant following, as typical in celebrities these days stalked by followers and fans. A parallel passage of Luke 9:57-62 is Matthew 8:18-22.

These scriptures are sandwiched between Jesus healing a man with leprosy (vs. 1-4), the centurion's faith, i.e., Jesus told the centurion to go because his sick servant was healed as he spoke (5-13). Verses 14-16 says that Jesus healed so many and people crowded at Him because of the signs and wonders they have witnessed.

– Jesus caught the world around him by surprise. And they did not know how to respond to Jesus. This man responded in amazement. He just wants to be with Jesus. And Jesus knew that his life would not always be a life of highs and success, popularity. But will this man keep up with the pace of following Christ when the glitz and glamour of His grandeur fade to the rejection, betrayal, mockery, and eventual crucifixion?

WHEN LIFE IS NOT ROSY? JESUS wants this man to mean what he says and decide early on not to look back.

59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” – here, Jesus summoned the man - ORDERED THE MAN TO DO SO. But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” – the man did not decline outright except that he would have to attend to an important unfinished business back home. It may take some time before he can follow Jesus. -----JESUS HAD TO WAIT. SO, THE ANSWER BY THis MAN WAS WAIT.

60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” JESUS ANSWERED, NO, YOU MUST DO IT NOW, AND SOMEONE CAN ATTEND TO YOUR CONCERN.

Would you put God on a waiting game? If you only know who Jesus is, you will not dare Him to wait for you? DO YOU KNOW WHO is giving you the direct order to follow? In the military, OBEY BEFORE YOU COMPLAIN IS THE RULE. IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THE RULE, YOUR terminated! But, God, who is rich in mercy, doesn't do that to us.

61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” THIS MAN IS LIKE THE SECOND GUY, Who wants Jesus to wait for him. He would go home to say goodbye. He didn't want just to leave his family without a proper goodbye. But who knows, his family might get in the way, and he would have a second thought of going or not going at all?

62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Family is important but what is being established is the strength of the connection between what we hold dear and how much we hold Jesus dear in our hearts. Who IS FIRST PLACE IN YOUR HEART? WHO has your heart?