Follow Me
“Follow Me!” These words ring out from any tour guide, our GPS as it leads us out into the blue yonder, and as the parade Marshall guides us in the route through the downtown area. Probably the most important occurrence of this phrase was heard while were instructed to follow the line leader in elementary school. Even more importantly, Jesus said, “Follow Me.” It was important then, and it is important now.
Incidentally, the phrase, “Follow Me,” must be an important phrase to Jesus. How do we know this? This phrase book-ended Jesus’ ministry. In Mark 1:17 and John 21:22, we read of Jesus using these words as instructions for life. In both cases, it was a call of complete commitment and radical obedience.
Initially, the phrase, “Follow Me,” was used by Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. After enduring three temptations of Satan in the wilderness, Jesus emerged with His mission in mind. Mark 1:12 describes the ordeal. He was, “in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts.” Sounds like an ideal vacation. Yet, Jesus emerged from this season with renewed strength and focus upon His mission. Mark 1:14 describes it as, “preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’ ” Repent, believe, follow. After calling His first disciples, Simon and Andrew, Jesus turns to them and announces, as noted in Mark 1:17, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” We look at the phrase, “Follow Me,” with almost a numbness. Those who have been in the church all of their lives may even think nothing about it at all. They are words, which invoke a “ho-hum, nonchalant” way of living. Its calling does not seem to be revolutionary or replete with counter cultural truths.
But it is.
In Genesis 3:24, as a result of the fall of man, we read of man’s penalty - a loss of communication between God and man. God “drove out the man” from God’s perfection in the Garden of Eden, thus, making it impossible at this point to have this unbroken relationship with God. When man’s hope seemed all but lost, God intervened. By Exodus, we read of God, once again, intervening in the affairs of men. This time, He’s working behind the scenes, leading His people out of Egypt. Exodus 13:21 describes the journey: “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in the pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.” God said, “Follow Me” (and I’ll even throw in a “night light” for you scaredy cats” - Jeff version).
The second bookend to this thought is found in the passage of John 15:25. In some of the final words we hear Jesus speak on earth, we hear the phase, “Follow Me,” again. This time the phrase is directed at “bone-headed” Peter. After the resurrection (and after Peter’s three-fold denial of Christ) Jesus has just reinstated Him as a follower of Christ by telling Peter to, “Feed my sheep,” three times. Pure Symmetry. Jesus puts Peter’s failures behind him, and outright states, “Follow Me.” After Peter, again trying to deflect the blame of the denial of Christ and pawning his craving for attention on to someone else, cries out, “But, Lord, what about this man?” Jesus, astute and aware of what was going on, responds, “You follow Me.” In Revelation 19:14, we have a glimpse into our glorious future, and our actions following the King are described, “And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.”
This phrase, “Follow Me,” covers Genesis through Revelation. It walks down the paths of the calling of the disciples, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:18). Through Paul’s writings, in 1 Corinthians 11:11, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (NIV). Then, onto Revelation as the final chapter of mankind is written. Two little words with great, eternal significance.