Follow Me Until the End

Wherever Jesus went during his ministry, he used the same phrase again and again. “Follow me.”

He beckoned to Peter and Andrew. “Follow me.”

He called to James and John. “Follow me.”

To Phillip and Nathanael. “Follow me.”

The word follow in the bible means “behind” or “after”. It can also mean “a road”. Some synonyms to the Greek word for follow are: obey, imitate, and pursue without hostility.

The antonyms shine light on the true definition, though. They are: to lead, fall short, linger behind, standoff, forsake, and abandon.

To follow isn’t a wishy-washy decision. Either we obey, imitate, and pursue or we linger behind, standoff, or forsake.

There’s no fence to straddle. No middle ground or gray area.

We follow or we don’t.

We’re all-in or we’re not.

There were no “Sunday-only” disciples in the New Testament.

Following Jesus

When Jesus walked the earth, he taught like no other teacher before him. He called out the religious leaders for being nitpicky and pious. Sinners and tax collectors were welcome in his presence. No fanfare or attention was sought by him or his followers. He was different. Attractive. Compelling.

Jesus differed from the traditional rabbis too. He called his disciples to, “Follow me,” (Luke 5:27). In Jewish culture, it was the other way around—the students chose their rabbi. Jesus also asked more of his disciples than the other rabbis. He wanted their lives. His disciples were to pledge their full allegiance to Jesus (Vines).

The term, disciple, comes from a Latin root. It means pupil or learner. In the Greek, a disciple belonged to a certain teacher. The disciple’s job was to learn, study, and pass along the teachings of the master. In a way, kind of like a conduit (Vines Bible Dictionary).

In rabbinic Judaism, a disciple refers to one who was “committed to the interpretations of scripture and religious tradition given to him by the master or rabbi.” This process of learning included set meeting times and “pedagogical methods” (ways to learn), like, question and answer, instruction, repetition, and memorization. Once the disciple was well-schooled in the ways of the master, he began passing the instruction on to others (Vines).

 

The Cost of Following

Peter, Andrew, James, and John were fishermen. Nets secured their livelihood. They threw them over the side of the boat. The bottom of the nets held weighted rocks, causing all that was under the nets to become trapped. Once the nets sank, the fishermen pulled them in. The bottoms tightened and sinched together like a sack. Anything caught in the net was pulled into the boat and any fish were taken to the market. Rejects were thrown back into the ocean or lake.

These fishermen depended on these nets. It was how they provided for themselves and their families. How they paid taxes. It’s how they gave their tithe to the temple. Without the nets, they had nothing.

And yet, when Jesus showed up on the scene, he invited them to follow. “Follow me,” he said. IMMEDIATELY they threw the nets down and followed Jesus.

We read that and think, “Wow. They just followed. I wanna be like that.”

But the older I get, the more I realize what leaving those nets really looked like.

It meant leaving the only occupation they’d ever known.

And trusting their teacher would provide for them and their family’s needs.

They gave up the only life they’d ever known—all the routines, comforts, regulars.

And followed someone they’d only just met and barely knew.

It meant forfeiting their reputations.

And having no back up plan.

Jesus became their occupation. Their life. They sacrificed their possessions, families, jobs, livelihood, reputation, and religion. For Jesus.

Ultimately, after Jesus fulfilled all he promised by dying on the cross and raising back to life again, the stakes heightened. Followers of Christ not only dedicated their lives to The Way, but they died for the faith they had in the crucified and risen Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

Following His Example

The Bible doesn’t follow the paths of all the disciples until their death, but as history suggests, most of the disciples died for their vocal faith in Christ.

Matthew: martyred in Ethiopia by sword wound

John: miraculously delivered from presumed death in a vat of boiling oil, died of old age peacefully

Nathanael (Bartholomew): martyred in Armenia, flayed by a whip

Andrew: crucified on an x-shaped cross, hung there for two days preaching until he died

Thomas: stabbed with a spear while in India

Matthias (Judas’ replacement): stoned and beheaded

Simon the Zealot: historians do not agree on his death, some say he was crucified and others that he was sawed in half. Most agree he was martyred

Peter: killed by Nero, crucified upside down

James: executed by the sword

Philip: possibly beheaded, stoned, or crucified upside down, but scholars do not agree on which

James son of Alphaeus: some say crucified, others say stoned

Paul: thought to have been beheaded by Nero

Jude: martyred with Simon the Zealot is the traditional belief

The followers of Jesus followed until death. These early followers died because they refused to stop sharing the Good News. Most were convicted in a court of law having so much evidence for them being followers of The Way it was undeniable.

My questions to you:

Are you a true follower of Christ?

Would there be enough evidence to convict you of living a life for Jesus?

Are you willing to give your life for him?

 

© Christy Bass Adams, June 2024, All images from Canva

(Disciple facts from: www.overviewbible.com, www.gotquestions.org)

Christy Bass Adams

Christy Bass Adams, is the Outreach and Connections Coordinator at Fellowship Baptist Church in Madison, Florida. She is also a writer and had her first devotional book published in summer of 2022 (Big Lessons from Little People) followed by a middle grades novel (Imagination Checkers) in the fall. Her most important role, however, is with her family as a wife of 18 years and mother to two busy boys. She worked in education for over 18 years at both the elementary and collegiate levels. Her favorite pastimes are fishing and sitting around a fire. For more from Christy, visit her blog at christybassadams.com.

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