MATTHEW 4:18-22 “And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 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. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”
Try to imagine this scenario: Jesus passes by Simon Peter as they are fishing. Jesus calls Peter over, sits down with him, and tells him the following:
“Peter, I would like for you to follow Me, and I think it’s only fair that I tell you what’s in store if you do. I’m asking you to forsake your livelihood. I’m asking you to leave the familiar and step into the unknown. I want you to go with Me wherever I go, but I’m not going to tell you where we’re going. On this journey, you’re going to see a lot of amazing things – people being healed, those possessed by demons set free, and many miracles that will be difficult to believe. You’re also going to experience pain, loss, and opposition like you’ve never imagined. Eventually you are going to see Me arrested, abused, and executed. Soon the very kind of people who took my life will seek yours as well – and they will eventually succeed. You are going to be used mightily to touch the lives of untold millions, but in the process, you will have to leave everything else behind, live your life completely by faith, and trust Me. You are going to be sent to many strange places, and when you get there you’ll be beaten, arrested, and eventually killed. So whatcha say, Peter? You ready to go?”
The course of human history has been changed because of Peter’s life and ministry. The question I have today, however, is this: had Jesus told Peter what lay ahead of him while they were still standing by Peter’s nets, would Peter have said “yes” to the call of Jesus? Only God knows the answer to that question. In that moment, Peter had no way of knowing what life was going to be like for him. He was about to go from financial security to soon having to find a coin in a fish’s mouth to pay his taxes. He was about to leave a familiar home life to pour out his life for complete strangers. And that conversation I mentioned? It didn’t happen. All Jesus said was, “Follow Me.”
THAT’S ALL HE WILL SAY TO US AS WELL.
If we are truly going to be a disciple then we are going to have to do it with a bit of uncertainty as to what lies in our futures. The simple truth is that there is no discipleship where there is no trust. I've been thinking a lot lately about the story in Mark 10:17-31 about the rich young ruler who wanted to "inherit eternal life." Jesus told him to keep the commandments. The young man replied, "all these I have kept from my youth." In verse 21 the Bible says that "Jesus looked at him and loved him, and said, 'One thing you lack. Sell everything you have and give it to the poor, take up your cross, and follow Me.'" The Bible then says that the young man walked away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. What I've been thinking about lately is that there are two truths found in that story:
1) Jesus loved him.
2) Jesus let him walk away.
I find it very interesting that Jesus didn't call after the young man as he was leaving and change the demands of discipleship to make it easier for him to follow. Jesus loved him, but Jesus didn't soften the call of discipleship. He will not soften it for us either. Allow me to be blunt: I believe we have a bit of a misunderstanding about what it means to "make disciples." Nowhere in the Bible do we see Jesus saying to anyone "follow Me" and then call or text them every Saturday to make sure they were coming to church every Sunday. He said "follow Me" - and then He kept going. Those who followed were those who decided that the price of following Jesus was a price worth paying. They followed in faith, and they did not look back. You see, when someone takes up a cross, it's a one-way trip; they are not coming back. THAT is the price of discipleship, and the men who turned the world upside down decided that it was a price worth paying.
Can we say the same today?
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