Introduction: The song, “Where He Leads Me”, is often sung as an invitation song. Take a closer look at the lyrics, though, and every verse could be an illustration or picture of the Easter season!
Here are the verses for “Where He Leads Me” with outline material to follow:
1 I can hear my Savior calling/I can hear my Savior calling,
I can hear my Savior calling,/Take thy cross and follow, follow Me.
Refrain:
Where He leads me I will follow,/Where He leads me I will follow,
Where He leads me I will follow;/I’ll go with Him, with Him, all the way.
--One of the first things Jesus did, after His baptism and 40-day testing in the wilderness, was to find disciples. He approached several men directly, saying “Follow Me.’ James, John, Andrew, and Simon Peter all heard this appeal (Mark 1:16-20).
--During His earthly ministry, Jesus also asked several others to follow Him.
-Matthew/Levi was one of these (Matthew 9:9-13).
-Others heard but did not follow Him (the unknown man in Luke 9:59-60 and the rich young ruler of Luke 18:18-27 are just two of these)
-The Greeks (Greek-speaking Jews?) of John 12 heard Jesus say, “If any man serve Me, let him follow Me (John 12:26)”. No record any of them did anything about what Jesus said. That was the last appeal for anyone to physically join the group or follow Jesus before He was crucified.
Even now, Jesus is still seeking those to follow Him! Are you following Him? Am I?
Sometimes when we follow Jesus, He leads us into places we may not expect. The second verse explains this briefly:
2 I’ll go with Him through the garden/I’ll go with Him through the garden,
I’ll go with Him through the garden/I’ll go with Him, with Him all the way.
Refrain
--“Garden” here doesn’t mean a place where vegetables grew; rather, where a grove of trees or small forest was planted. He and the other disciples visited this place often (John 18:1-2)
--This garden was called “Gethsemane. Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him and asked them to keep alert of “keep watch (Matthew 26:36-46).” They didn’t—they all fell asleep.
--The other Eight Apostles were left as, perhaps, a guard or lookouts. Jesus and the other three went a little farther before He prayed. Could He count on any of us to do anything less, than simply stay in place and be on the alert?
--Even though Jesus and the disciples went to the garden of Gethsemane, they didn’t stay there for very long. Judas had betrayed the Lord, and he was leading a group of soldiers to arrest Jesus. The first step in their plan was to make sure Jesus was arrested. Verse 3 explains:
3 I’ll go with Him through the judgment/I’ll go with Him through the judgment,
I’ll go with Him through the judgment/I’ll go with Him, with Him all the way.
Refrain
--Judas led a group of soldiers to Jesus, and they took Him to several places, all seemingly within a very short period of time: to Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate, Herod, and back to Herod.
--All of this was illegal, as documented in Wingo’s book, “The Illegal Trial of Jesus.” Note how the accusers “convicted” Jesus of one “crime” but changed it to get Roman approval to crucify Him. Dr. A. W. Pink’s “Exposition of the Gospel of John” gives additional information (available online at https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/awp/john-18.html )
--Peter followed Jesus into the judgment hall (John 18) and so did another (unknown) disciple. No record that any of the others did so. He stayed too long and wound up denying the Lord at least three times. One radio Bible teacher expressed it well: “If you feel you have to warm your feet by the Devil’s fire, then it’s better to freeze for Jesus (paraphrased from a radio message from many years ago).”
--After the shuffling from place to place, and the physical abuse He endured, Jesus was expected to carry His own cross to Calvary or Golgotha, where He would be crucified.
--We believers know the rest of the story: He absolutely died on the Cross. His body was placed in a tomb; but He came back from the dead on the first day of the week!
WHAT A SAVIOR!
And now that He is alive again, and forevermore, He has promised us many things. Among these promised gifts are grace and glory. The song concludes with verse 4:
4 He will give me grace and glory/He will give me grace and glory,
He will give me grace and glory/And go with me, with me all the way.
Refrain:
--So much could be written and spoken about God’s grace:
-Salvation is by grace, not works (Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:5)
-Grace is always given, not earned (Noah found grace, Genesis 6:8; “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ”, John 1:17)
-Believers are commanded to “grow in grace (2 Peter 3:18). Can’t grow in something we don’t have in our possession!
--Then there is the promise of glory. The believers sharing in the glory of Jesus Christ is not mentioned specifically in the Gospels but is declared in the Epistles (Romans 8:18)
-This stanza could well speak of Christ Himself, receiving again the glory He had once shared with the Father (John 17:5). Jesus Himself then shared that glory with the Eleven (17:22) and we too can experience this glory.
-Other verses speak of glory: God’s glory, the believers themselves being Paul’s glory, etc. The main thread is that this glory is not for anyone to keep for themselves but rather to bring glory back to God Who gave it in the first place.
Conclusion: Each verse of this song has a picture of a disciple following Jesus during the last few days of His life on this earth before He died on Calvary. No matter what pathway our Lord chooses for us, may we too be willing to say, “Where He leads, I will follow”.
Scriptures from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
