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How to Follow Jesus – by Father Andrew Bahhi

May 13, 2020
in Feature Articles, The Word
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As Jesus passed, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. He said to him, “Follow me.” So, he arose and followed Him. Maybe one of the most beautiful words that we always hear in the Bible from the very beginning, in the book of Genesis is also “Follow me.” And follow me means, walk after me, come behind me. And if we want to go deeper, if somebody tells you follow me, that means they want to show you something.

And it does not mean, “come and I will give you whatever you want and go away.” It means more that “Be with me, trust me and you will see.”

John the Baptist had a lot of disciples. In the first chapter of John, we learn about two of the disciples of John the Baptist. One named Andrew, the other one John the beloved one. These two disciples wanted to follow Jesus. Jesus saw them following him and asked them “What do you seek?”

Imagine now for a second that Jesus is in front of you and He asks you “What do you want? Maybe for John and Andrew it was a golden opportunity. Every single person in the Old Testament were waiting for the salvation that the King of Israel will come. So, I think maybe they would ask the King of Israel to come. To make us reign all over the world. Or maybe they were thinking to ask him for salvation for themselves. Or, they remember some sick people they know, maybe from the family and asking Him for healing. Or blessing for their job, their home, and their family.

I ask you now to close your eyes, imagine Jesus is in front of you and asking “What do you want from me? “

But Andrew and John did not ask anything that I’ve mentioned. But they asked Him “Where do you stay?” In other words, “Where do you live?” They didn’t ask for any gift, rather they were asking for fellowship.

Following is not easy, especially when we don’t see any single light in front of us. Especially if I have been following Jesus all my life but I still have pain, I still have problems, I still have crisis, I still struggle in my life. The question I then ask, “Lord I am following you, why don’t you show me anything?”

So, following means you trust even if you don’t see, but know that Jesus will always take you to the perfect and to the right direction and to the right distance.

Then Jesus told them, “You want to follow me, then come and see.” So, another meaning of following is “When you follow Jesus, you will see, but in His time and not in our time.”

Then Bible tells us, they came and see where Jesus was staying, and they remained with Him all day. What a beautiful and blessed time. They spent one full day with Jesus.

They didn’t look for anything, they didn’t desire or ask for anything. They asked to spend time with Him. In other words, following Jesus means continuously following Him and staying with Him — even we don’t see any single sign of the future but trusting Him that He is leading us to the best direction.

I will give you an example. One time, Jesus was talking to the multitude and His disciples as well and kept repeating: “You should eat my body and drink my blood.” The crowd was amazed and surprised wondering how this can happen. And He asked the “Do you think this is hard. What do you think if I go to Heaven?” So, some of the disciples were a little bit in doubt and scared. Then Jesus told them “Do you want to leave me and not follow me anymore?” Then Simon Peter answered Him saying: “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. You are the only one who can take us to the right direction.”

So following Jesus means trusting Him 100%. He is the only one who will lead us.

The question finally I want to ask, “Should we really follow Jesus? Is it necessary, is it essential? Why should we follow Him?

While I was thinking of the answer to this question, I heard Jesus answering and saying “For a little while longer the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light. Lest darkness overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going”. (John 12:35)

Following Jesus means one thing. It means you have the light that will lead you and will take you in the right path. Because Jesus said I am the way. So, if you follow Jesus, He is the way and He is also the light that will make this way clear for you.

May God be with all of us, especially in these days trusting that being faithful and following Jesus is the only good decision we ever make in our life.

May God bless all of us, Amen.

Learn more in Father Andrew’s sermon video here.

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