Follow Me

There is something remarkably simple about our Gospel reading from Matthew 9. It’s almost too simple. Jesus walks along. Sees this tax collector named Matthew. Says, “Follow me and be my disciple.” And Matthew drops everything, gets up, and follows Him. He just goes. He doesn’t ask, “Why should I?” He doesn’t get offended and say, “Your disciple. Pshh who do you think you are? What Seminary did you attend?” Definitely didn’t care about that. No. One moment he is doing the job he had been doing for years - working for Rome and harshly taxing his own people (while probably keeping some of the extra proceeds for himself). And all of a sudden, he is leaving all of that behind and following Jesus. It is sudden. It is radical. And begins to give us a picture of what Jesus meant when He said, “Follow me.” To be a follower of Jesus.

In Jesus’ culture, to follow a rabbi - to be their disciple - was an incredibly high calling. You didn’t just “decide” to follow someone. You had to be invited. Starting from 5 years old, Jewish children would begin studying and preparing - memorizing the Torah by the age of 12, memorizing the entire Old Testament by the age of 17 - all so that they could have the chance of being one of the select few that is chosen to spend the rest of their life following a certain rabbi. Leaving their friends and family to be with their rabbi 24/7, to become like him in every way of life, and to eventually become a rabbi yourself. To be a follower of a rabbi was the highest commitment - spending one’s entire life shaping their life after the rabbi they follow. That is what it meant to follow someone.

Now, contrast that with what the word “follow” means in today’s culture. We live in the era of the “follower.” You have all of these social media platforms - Instagram, X, Tik Tok, YouTube - and on each of these, you have people that you follow. And in a way, the people that you follow paint a picture of who you are, right? If someone didn’t know you at all and just looked at the people you follow on social media, what would they think about you? I’m going to guess many of you would be horrified if everyone found out all the people you follow, but I am going to be vulnerable with you for a moment, and share a few and if you know of or follow this person as well, I need you to raise your hand. Ok? First one. Marques Brownlee. MKBHD. I love technology and he has arguably the best tech channel in the world. I follow him. Next one, Jeff Nippard. He is a science-based powerlifter. Has an incredible channel on the science behind the best exercises. Ok, next one. Tom Vassel. He is the top modern board game reviewer in the world. I love playing strategic board games, and I watch lots of his reviews of the latest games. Next one, James Hoffmann. A coffee guru who made me realize the world of coffee is a never ending pursuit. Last one, Carey Nieuwhof. Leads an incredible Christian leadership podcast that I listen to regularly.

Now I enjoy following all of these people and all of these people give you a picture of me, but let’s be honest. I don’t have a personal relationship with any one of them. I just like watching them from afar. They are not making any demands upon my life. If I ever decided I wasn’t interested in them anymore or they became an inconvenience, I could easily unfollow them and follow someone else. Here is my fear. My fear is that many of us followers of Jesus in the 21st Century have applied our modern definition of the word “follow” to Jesus words, “Follow me.” Where we like Jesus. He is another one of the many people we follow in our life. He has good teachings. Good principles. But were not going to radically shape our life around Him. Were not going to surrender everything to Him. And as soon as He starts to be an inconvenience to my life, I can just unfollow Him and move on.

Imagine Matthew responding to Jesus like this. Jesus comes along, sees Matthew, and says, “Matthew, follow me and be my disciple.” Matthew responds, “Yes, Jesus!” But He doesn’t move. Jesus takes a few steps forward and says to him, “Are you coming?” “Yes, Jesus! I am following you.” Jesus walks a little bit further and looks at Matthew with a sad and compassionate look in His eye, for he sees a man who is following Him with his lips, but he is not following him. Jesus walks away, and week after week whenever Jesus would be going along His way and pass by the tax collector booth, Matthew would shout out, “Jesus, it is so great following you! Thank you for inviting me!” And then he would go back to his old way of life where nothing has changed.

We can all see the ridiculousness of that scenario, right? But what are the areas of our own lives where we acknowledge Jesus with our lips but then don’t move. You see, Jesus is not speaking in the abstract, as if following Him is merely something you watch from afar and say, “That’s nice.” No, when Jesus says “Follow me,” He is giving an extremely straight forward, yet radical call to, today, pick up your cross and follow Him. To be His disciple. To be with Him and do as He does and talk as He talks and to let the entirety of your life be shaped by Him. The question is: Will you follow?

Matthew did. Immediately. He dropped everything, leaving it all behind, and followed Jesus. But why? What would lead Matthew to leave behind the life he had worked so hard to get - be a Roman tax collector. What was it? You see, Matthew was a tax collector. And just like today, no one liked taxes which means no one like tax collectors, and every day was a reminder that he was despised. And to make it worse, he was a Jewish tax collector. Not just an enemy, but a traitor. Matthew’s life, though full of power and monetary gain, was empty. Though he was outwardly alive, he was dead on the inside. And then Jesus, this great rabbi and teacher, comes along, looks in his eyes in a way that no one has before - with love and compassion - and simply says, “Follow me.” Can you imagine how that felt? Matthew saw in Jesus not just a teacher, but one who could resurrect him from the emptiness and isolation that had defined his life for so long. In fact, it says, “Matthew got up.” He arose. And that word is the same word used for “resurrection.”

Jesus isn’t just another teacher to observe from afar. He is the resurrection and the life. When He says, “Follow me,” He’s not asking to be an addition to your already full life. No, He’s is saying, “Let me be your life.” It’s as John Mark Comer writes in his book Practicing the Way: “Unfortunately, many of us still view following Jesus as a means to an end—a ticket to heaven, to nice feelings, to a successful, upwardly mobile life, and so on. We still don’t get it: He’s the end.”

So often we stress over the future. What sports team will I make? What school will I get into? What job will I have? How will my kids turn out? Thinking those things will bring satisfy our hearts deepest desires. Hear the words of Psalm 37:3–5 “Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.” Matthew didn’t have all the details. He had no clue the transformation Jesus’ call would bring him. He just followed. The Bonk family didn’t have all the details figured out. They just heard Jesus’ call and they followed. That is the invitation for you. Don’t follow Jesus from afar. Commit everything you do to him. Why? Because He is the resurrection and the life - the only one who can satisfy the desires of your heart. Let us pray.