A Command: Follow Me

An Invitation: Come Follow Me is a post I wrote some time ago.  It seems Jesus said that a lot, and here in John 21 after the resurrection he says it to Peter twice.  First, he took Peter's admission of love for him as agreement and indicated that Peter's life would go in a painful direction.  Peter did not question or argue, but then he saw John.


"What about him?"  he asked.  I wonder what his tone was.  Was he just curious about John's assignment?  Did he fear that John would be left out?  Did he think John was being favored?


Jesus dismissed the question.  "What is that to you?"  John had a different assignment than Peter.  Jesus did not treat everyone the same.  He loved everyone, but the invitation to come and follow meant different things for different people.  


Then he shares with Peter that his future holds some distressing  events, and he continues with indications of a different path for John.  He doesn't indicate that either one will be more or less favored; they will just be different.


Jesus says "What is it to you if he stays till I come.  You follow me."


We have he same sort of questions Peter had.  What about my sister or husband or child?  I have friends who need to be here; what about them?  Jesus looks at us with the same questions he asked of Peter:  What is that to you?  It won't change your mission to check out the mission of others.  You must be obedient to your own call.  You don't get see if they have a better deal than you.  Jesus calls you to serve in the place chosen for you. 

We each have a place of service in obedience to the call of Jesus.  The greatest joy and ultimate fulfillment of our lives comes in obeying the call.  It really doesn't matter what others have or do or what their call is.  Like Peter, we are called to follow him.

The Lamb of God

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What does it mean to be the Lamb of God?  We use that phrase a lot, and it means different things to different people.  What did it mean to the Pharisees, the Disciples, the little kid in Sunday school, the sinner afraid to come to church.  What does it mean to me?  What does it mean to God?


The Lamb of God: John's View
John the Baptist was preaching and teaching on the banks of the River Jordan, and there he baptized Jesus.  The next day he was standing with some of his disciples and Jesus was there.  John said,  “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)  There were other people there too.  The Pharisees came out to see John, and they heard his proclamation.  They were very well versed in the Law and they knew the scriptures  concerning the Passover well.  John did not know all the details, but he knew this one thing:  Jesus was the one he came to proclaim as the Lamb of God.


The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law knew the lamb of the Passover to be the one who took away the sin of a year, but it had to be repeated every year.  Was he saying Jesus was more than that?  Moses had given them the Passover so that they could come before God sinless for one day, but the day after the sacrifice they began to rebuild the store of sins and trespasses.  It only lasted for a day.  A man as the Lamb of God--how could that be? 


The Lamb of God: The Disciples' View


The Twelve came to believe in Jesus as the Son of God. After Peter's confession in John 6:68 and in Matthew 16:16 Jesus began to emphasize that he would go to Jerusalem and die.  It disturbed them when he talked about his own death.  In Matthew 16:22 Peter chastised him and counseled him not to say things like that.  But Jesus returned the rebuke.  He knew his destiny:  He would go to Jerusalem.  That meant pain, rejection, suffering, death.  The Disciples could not look beyond the death or even understand resurrection.  He spoke about his death to them more after this,but their understanding was still faulty.  They could accept he was the Son of God, but being the Lamb took longer.  The Son could be kind or gracious or majestic.  The Lamb meant pain and suffering and crucifixion.  


In John 6 and Matthew 16 Jesus went to great lengths to explain the meaning of feeding on his flesh.  He had blessed bread and they sought more.  Now he tells the crowds he was the bread of life.  That was sort of hard to take, but when he said "eat my flesh and drink my blood," they couldn't take it.  Many of them followed him no more. (John 6:66 )  These words bring the Lamb of God into sharp focus.  

Lamb of God: Spiritually Immature View

Little children in Sunday school are not ready for the very mature reality of Jesus as the Lamb of God, so we effectively inoculate them with Jesus as docile and defenseless.  It is true that he came before Pilate without defense.  He did not call a legion of Angels to defend him.  He was meek and mild.  When adults who can approach this concepts still have the picture of Jesus as a victim without power, we have failed to teach the reality of who Jesus is.

Lamb of God: Sinners' View,  in or out of the Church

Sinners, the lost, and the worldly who hear the words of Jesus, the Lamb of God, may know there is something more to this than they understand.  Like the crowds that turned back and the Pharisees that sought the law, they are seeking something more concrete.  Jesus has only himself to offer, and the sinner has a load of guilt he doesn't know what to do with.  He feels he has to clean it up and make it look better before he can stand before God.  He misses the point:  Jesus will take care of it.  Name the sins and leave that baggage beside the door.  Jesus will take you and love you and redeem you, when you go in to dinner with him.

The Lamb of God:  My View

Jesus is the Lamb of God who has done for me what I could not do for myself.  He reveals places in me that I didn't know were there; places of sin and darkness and places of joy and light are revealed as he shows me myself through his eyes.  He feeds me on his own presence as I abide in him.

The Lamb of God:  God's View

The Lamb of God is the person of Jesus who participated in our lives in the world.  He knows our needs and our blessings.  God himself saw our need for salvation before he ever created the world.  He knew we would be willful creatures before Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden.  He could have created us sinless and perfect, but he wanted us to have freedom.  He wanted us to love him when we had the option to do otherwise.  Because we would be capable of sin, he wanted a way to remove the sin if we chose to take it.  


Revelations 8:13 says that Jesus was "the Lamb slain from the foundations of the earth."  In the mind of God, if there was going to be a race of men, there must be a sacrifice for sin.  This is a weighty concept:  God knew before man was ever created that sin would be a reality.  In the mind of God the sacrifice for sin was a fact before the creation ever began.  He loved the world and created humans with the remedy for their sin already in place.

Yeast--Good or Bad?

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Have you ever sat amazed and hungry when the odor of bread baking filled your house?  It smells better than the grandest feast--and it's just bread.  The smell of yeast is  almost beyond description--penetrating, consuming, tantalizing.  Could anything be better?  Then why does the Bible make such a big deal about yeast?  In Exodus 12:15 Moses instructions from God about the preparations for the Passover included the prohibition against yeast.  For seven days they were not to eat bread made with yeast.  And it's so good!  Why?  The Israelites were to clean their houses and make sure that they were free of any trace of yeast.


Is yeast poisonous?  Is it toxic?  Not usually, but it is, by God's standards, a contaminant.  Unleavened bread is made without yeast, and that is what God required in the Passover meal and for sacrifices at the Temple.  In Leviticus 6 the grain and meal offerings were made with fine flour and oil but without yeast.  


In the offering, God required purity.  He calls us to be pure, too.  He calls Christians to be righteous.  Jesus restated the Ten Commandments and made reference to our service as being more righteous than that of the Pharisees because he expected it to come from the heart and address the meaning of the Law not just the letter.  There is an obscure indication that God knew that in the Old Testament too.  In Leviticus 7:13 he gave instructions about the fellowship offering.


 Along with his fellowship offering of thanksgiving he is to present an offering with cakes of bread made with yeast.

God never changes his standards, but he accepts our imperfections knowing that Christ's Blood is the remedy.  No amount of sacrifice or unleavened bread or blood of goats and sheep will suffice.  Only Jesus can make us acceptable and he knows that.  He wants us to know that we can't do it without him, and he never wants us to hesitate to come to him because of our sin or failure.  

He loves us even in our natural state, and he accepts offerings of bread made with yeast.   

An Invitation: Abide in Me

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In John 1:39 Jesus invited potential disciples to come see where he lived.  In Matthew 4:18 he invited the first disciples to come follow him.  He continued to issue the invitation to follow, but some people had excuses and distractions.  Some he sent on missions of their own.  


Now Jesus gives them a more urgent call:  Abide in me.(KJV)  In John 15 beginning in verse 4 he describes the invitation as more consuming.  The NIV uses the word remain.  The invitation is also reciprocal: verse 4 says "If you remain(abide) in me, I will remain (abide) in you..."  This is not just checking things out or even just following and observing.  It goes beyond fellowship.  My Websters New World Collegiate Dictionary gives these meanings for the first choice of abide:  stand fast, remain, go on being.  


The second meaning is labeled archaic:  stay, reside.  The King James Version may well be called archaic, however, with explanation, I believe it is justified.  Remain fits comfortably in that definition, especially when you read verse 5.  It is because the branch is attached to, resides in, abides in, remains in the vine that it has life and produces fruit.


Metaphors and analogies break down when you get too specific, and this one does too.  The branch has little choice about where it lives or abides.  We, on the other hand, have that choice.  We have to yield to the vine to have communion with Christ and to read the Word.  Our place in the vine is by choice.  After we choose to be believers, we are under obligation to be obedient.  


It's a little like joining the army.  You may be a volunteer to get in, but after that you do as you are told.  You may resign, but there are no half-way measures:  I'll march in a line, but I won't wash dishes.  
It's like that with Christ, too.  I'll sing in the choir, but I won't serve in obscurity.  When you are a servant of Christ, you don't get to make those choices.  Abiding in him, remaining in him means you go where he goes and do what he does.  


It's a tough invitation not for sightseers or casual dabblers.  Jesus only issued it when he was preparing to die.  It provides a way to carry on his work and message.  Have you heard that invitation?  Are you sure you want to?


Click here to read An Invitation: Come and See
Click here to read An Invitation: Come Follow Me

Give Thanks, Quench Not

Paul wrote two letters to the Thessalonians whom he had ministered to and loved during his missionary journeys.  These letters reveal his confidence in their faith and his hope for their ultimate salvation.


Toward the end of 1 Thessalonians 5 there are several verses that seem like last minute reminders I used to give my kids:  Be careful, don't forget your coat, get home at a decent hour.


Paul's reminders go like this: ¹⁴ And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. ¹⁵ Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

 ¹⁶ Be joyful always; ¹⁷ pray continually; ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

 ¹⁹ Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; ²⁰ do not treat prophecies with contempt. ²¹ Test everything. Hold on to the good. ²² Avoid every kind of evil. (NIV)  


Tucked away in the middle of this voluminous collection of last minute reminders is a verse that bares closer examination.  Verse 18 is more than just the injunction to give thanks.  It also gives the reason:  this is God's will for you.  More than that, it is God's will in Christ Jesus for you.


Try it from another translation:  ...in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.(KJV)  This is counter-intuitive if not absolutely absurd.  In the myriad painful and evil events that befall us, we are supposed to give thanks?  Be real.  I'm not happy about some of this stuff!  


That's O.K.  Paul doesn't say you have to be happy about the event, but still you must give thanks to God when it happens.  I found I could give thanks when James wasn't killed when the tractor ran over him.  He wasn't even hurt.  I could give thanks Nicki was tough and determined when her leg was broken.  I could give thanks when my niece was killed and we could support her father.  Life plays hardball, and we must be up for the game.


Once I was reading that verse, verse 19 was bold on the page.  It quivered and I thought my mind and my eyes were playing tricks.  I read it again.  It said:  Quench not the Spirit. (KJV)  I was giving thanks in some disaster through clenched teeth, and it made me mad.  But then the light shone.  It was the yielded and obedient giving of thanks that released the Spirit to bring about comfort and resolution in my difficulty.  Giving thanks and looking to the Lord were not denying the very real difficulty.  Realizing the power of the Holy Spirit to act on my behalf and ridding myself of  bitterness and fear gave God entry into my situation.  Then the thanks flowed like water and I was refreshed in it.


I pursued this line of thought and found that all the reminders could be paired with these two verses. Try it yourself.


Give thanks and quench not--reminders to live by.

An Invitation: Come Follow Me

Jesus came to prominence after he was baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan.  He had apparently been ignored in the town of Nazareth where he grew up, but after his baptism by John the Holy Spirit influenced him in such a way that he could no longer remain silent.  The Spirit sent him, or led him into the desert where he was tested by Satan, and when he returned, he began to preach and assemble disciples he would teach in a more intense manner.  He first wanted to see who listened to him preach.  John the Baptist had disciples, too, and he told John, the son of Zebedee, and Andrew that Jesus was the one they should be looking for.  


Andrew and John went home with Jesus and visited and listened for a whole afternoon.  Later Jesus was preaching by the seashore, and he called these four to come and follow him:  John and his brother James, Andrew and his brother Peter.  Jesus said to them and to Nathaniel, and Philip, "Come follow me."  He also called Matthew who was a tax collector with the same message.


This was a more intense call.  It was no longer just an invitation to see where he lived or what he ate, but an invitation of involvement:  Come see what I preach, and who I touch, and where I go.  Now it became "Come do what I do."


That is the invitation he wanted those disciples to accept, and it is still the invitation he extends to his listeners today.  To those who hear his call, the invitation is not just one of investigation or casual interest, but participation in the mission of spreading the word and love of God.


Read Matthew 4, Mark 1, John 1, and Luke 4 and 5 for a fuller explanation of the call of the disciples.

Jesus Called Disciples

Jesus called the men who became his disciples very deliberately.  It is true that when he was preaching, the call was given to all, but the invitation to follow closely came face to face.  Some came to him and asked to follow that he sent home.  He reminded one man that he did not have a place to live.  He told one to go home to take care of his father and the family.  Matthew 8:18-22 lists some of the costs of discipleship.  

Everyone was called, but some were called to stay home.  They had heard the teaching and received the blessing, and that was enough.  Read the passages again.  Not everyone was called to follow, but all were called to believe.

Mark 5:1-20 tells the story of a man who was tormented by demons and lived isolated among the tombs in the land of the Gadarenes.  Jesus delivered him of the demons, and he regained his senses.  He was grateful and asked Jesus if he could follow him, but the Lord sent him as a messenger to his friends and family in the country of Decapolis.  He was a disciple who did not follow, but was sent.

John 4 tells how Jesus met a Samaritan woman at a well whose obedience became an example for us in telling people about him. She went to people who knew her history and her sins.  She proclaimed him to them even though they might discount her testimony.  After they met Jesus and heard him speak, they were convinced by his words that he was the savior they sought.  Then they testified to the woman that they indeed believed her witness.

Some are called to preach or teach God’s Word, and some are called to drive a bus or sell fruit, but all are called to live his Gospel in the world and share his love in righteousness daily.