Jesus Wants us to Follow Him

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

I suspect that every real Christian knows that Jesus wants us to follow Him. It seems however that we sometimes wind us right where we started. In fact, it even happened to the disciples such that Jesus had to come to them after the Crucifixion to get them moving in the right direction. We find this story by looking at the 21st chapter of the Book of John:

Jesus Appears at the Sea of Galilee

1 After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter *said to them, “I am going fishing.” They *said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.

4 But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 So Jesus *said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.” 6 And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish. 7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved *said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.

9 So when they got out on the land, they *saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread. 10 Jesus *said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.” 11 Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.

Jesus is the Light of the Wordl

12 Jesus *said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus *came and *took the bread and *gave it to them, and the fish likewise. 14 This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.

Jesus at the Tomb

So, what we find here is that four of Jesus’ closest disciples had gone back to where they had been when Jesus recruited them many years prior. Peter, Andrew, John and James were all fishermen. The 4th chapter of Matthew tells us this quite clearly:

18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

So based on this we can see that these four disciples started as fishermen and then returned to fishing after the death and Resurrection of Jesus. Jesus singles out Peter because he is the one that is the leader of the group. He gives Peter a message that no Christian would like to hear. This message is recorded in the 21st chapter of John:

The Love Motivation

15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus *said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Tend My lambs.” 16 He *said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” 17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep. 

Jesus the Good Shepherd

18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” 19 Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He *said to him, “Follow Me!”

This is  what Jesus want of all of us. So, if we find ourselves back doing the same things that we did prior to our commitment to Him, then we would do well to heed His words and follow Him. Here are a few messages that He gave to us that support the messages above:

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. (Matt 16:24)

 

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Matt 19:21)

Jesus *said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”  (John 21:22)

Should Christians Worry About Blindness?

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

In our last posting we addressed the following words of Jesus: “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” This in turn led us to look at the definition of Judgment for a better understanding. In doing so we found that there are two distinct components of the term. In the first a decision of guilt or innocence made. In the second, a decision is made about the punishment appropriate for the offences committed. 

In examining the statement of Jesus presented above, we determined that it was the delivery of punishment that Jesus was warning us about. Therefore, the statement of Jesus could be stated as: “Do not punish so that you will not be punished.”

Jesu and the Adulterous Woman

However, as we will soon see, it is often the first component of Judgment that gets us into trouble. The following example will demonstrate this very well and sheds light upon our own frailties.

The example comes from the 9th chapter of John. It tells us about a man who was born blind but then receives his sight through the miraculous actions of Jesus.

Jesus "The light of the World," Heals a Blind Man

This chapter also infers that the scribes and Pharisees must have believed that Jesus was a fraud as they repeatedly interrogated the once blind man and his family, obviously believing that they were less than honest. When the Pharisees discovered that this healing work was done on the Sabbath day, they concluded that Jesus was a sinner and as a result the healing could not have come from God.

In the end, Jesus makes the following statements that communicate their blindness to them:

And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” ⁴⁰ Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

In this passage, Jesus is once again using the word “Judgment,” stating that He came for Judgment. He came so that we could make a judgment about the love of God for His people. Since we were once blind God gave us the opportunity to see His Son the Truth for ourselves. So, now that we have seen the Truth what is our judgment? Do we embrace God and seek Him or do we ignore or deny what happened? 

Jesus is the Light of the Wordl

Therefore, people who knew little about God could to see the nature of God in the works and miracles that Jesus performed. They are the blind who lived in a total darkness and then saw a great light. They are the blind who can now see the Truth and believed in that Truth. Their sins have been forgiven.  

On the other hand we have groups like the Pharisees who have often times devoted their entire lives to the study and understanding of God. They believed that they knew the truth. They believe that their interpretation of Gods commandments was an absolute truth. They would have never even considered that their viewpoint of the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy was flawed. But it was! They proclaimed that they could see because of their work, but in fact they were blind. As a result they were blind to the light of Jesus that stood right before them. Since they did not believe in Him, their sin remained.

The point is that this lesson applies to all of us today. One can support this premise by simply looking at all of the differing doctrines of Christianity today.  The fact is that across the various churches of Christianity we find diametrically opposed views of what the truth. So, lets look at some examples: some believe that the use of modern technology is sinful, others belive that drinking is a sin, others believe that you can not eat meat on Fridays, and still others believe that healing is not for today (not an all-inclusive list.) No, I am not going to pick sides here. The point to be made is that when we have inconsistent doctrines of the faith, then someone has to be wrong about what they belive. 

This means that our understanding of the truth can also be flawed, just like it was for the scribes and the Pharisees who incorrectly judged Jesus to be a sinner. For the Pharisees, this incorrect belief led to the fatal determination of punishment for Jesus.

If we think about this a bit then one has to ask; “Who are we to say that our belief system is the only one that is in line with what God wants?” Quite frankly, I believe that it is quite possible that none of us has it 100% correct. Gods ways are much higher than ours. Suffice it to say that it is because of these potential blind spots of beliefs that it is critical that be abstain for handing out punishment to others.

What did Jesus mean when He Spoke about Judgment?

 

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

 

What did Jesus mean when He Spoke about Judgment?

I read the following scripture this morning that pertained to judgment. The scripture is from Matt 7:

 ¹ “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. ² For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. ³ Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

I have previously written about the subject of “judgment” several times. Quite frankly, much of this writing communicated my personal Judgment Day experiences at a time that I was near death. These experiences were spiritual in nature and are fascinating in that they reveal the truth about what lies on the other side of this life. If you would like to read about these experiences you can follow the following hyperlinks to them:

Judgment-Day

Reliving-my-sins-before-the-Judgment-Seat-of-Christ

Gods-Question-on-Judgment-Day

Opening-the-Books-on-Judgment-Day

Repentance-Brings-Salvation-Even-on-Judgment-Day

I have also written about Judgment from a definitional point of view. In it I stated that there are two components of Judgment. In one we attempt to determine the truth and then determine the guilt or innocence of the accused.  If found guilty then the second component of judgment is invoked, which is the punishment for the offence.

So, when we look to the scripture presented above, we should ask ourselves what component(s) of judgment is Jesus speaking about? It certainly can not be about knowing the truth as the Holy Spirit often gives us discernment about such things. In addition, we could also be an eye-witness to the act and therefore know the truth. Is Jesus asking us not to be such a witness? Certainly not! Therefore Jesus must be talking about the delivery of punishment to others. 

The words of Jesus are quite powerful here. What they reveal is that if we can simply stop punishing others for their offences, then God will refrain from punishing us at the Judgment Day. This is an amazing promise because it directly impacts our eternity. What is even more amazing is what Jesus does not say. So for example, He makes no reference to any sin that may have committed in our lifetime. In fact, He does not communicate any other condition that would prevent anyone from being free from His Judgment. Simply put, punish not and you will not be punished.

In essence, we then become our own judge, in that how we deal with others will determine our fate. The measure we use to determine an offence worthy of punishment is the measure that will be used to determine our own guilt. The severity of our actions will determine how we are treated.

Jesus on the Cross

Why would this be? I believe that it is because it requires an extraordinary kind of love to do something like this, but it is precisely this kind of love that God desires from us. Jesus commanded us to Love one another as He loved us and we know that the love He gave us was His life on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. This is the ultimate love; to give up ones life so that others may live forever with God. This is the love that God wants from us!