Matthew 8:18-23 “Follow Christ”

When I first met Helen, my wife, I did have a little trouble understanding her when she spoke English. For instance, I would be in the car pulling out of the driveway when she would stop me and ask if she could “follow me.” I somewhat understood what she meant in asking that. I had to assume that she was not going to run behind the car all the way to Lihue. I made a joke of it and replied, “No! You may not follow me; however, you may ride along in the car if you want.”

Yes, I discovered that we had a different understanding of the verb “to follow.” The American and the British Commonwealth usage varies greatly. I looked it up in the OED to see the history of the word. It is quite old and for the most part unchanged from Old English, through Middle English, to today. That is very unusual if you know the development of English. The original meaning is simply “to be in the company of.”

The Greek as we read it here is saying exactly that original meaning as in English. When we note that Jesus is now coming down off the mountain on which he delivered the “Sermon on the Mount” and the people “followed” him, we might have an image in our head that Jesus is out in front, and the disciples and all the rest are thirty paces behind. Okay, this picture of Jesus as Mother Goose and the disciples are a bunch of goslings is quite false. If you read all of the New Testament you would get the understanding that the disciples were often times in front of or surrounding Jesus as they were in company with him. This is what it means to follow Jesus.

The first view we have of people following Jesus comes right after his baptism in the Jordan by his cousin John the Baptist. We can read this in Matthew 4:18-20, “As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea–for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fisher of people.’” As the story goes on, Jesus sees two other fishermen, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and so he calls them to follow as well. Peter and Andrew left their fishing nets behind. James and John actually leave their father in the boat. They go with Jesus.

I need to point out that when the disciples followed Jesus, they started a new path in life. The Greek word for “to follow” ακολουθεώ literally means “walk the same path with another.” The implication is that whatever path you were on before has now turned into the path you walk with Jesus.

Growing up in Los Angeles, one of the scariest things is learning to drive on the freeways. I recall going with my elder sister Karen, she being one year older than me and my brother, out to Pasadena to visit my father in his office. It was fun going out there. We had really no problem because the freeway signs were all marked “Pasadena.” We had a great lunch at the Pasadena cafeteria with my father. Then, it was time to drive back on the freeway to La Habra.

We were coming south bound on the 605 towards the 60 freeway and knew that we had to get on the 60. Of course, there are two directions. One was marked “Pomona,” and the other sign was “Los Angeles.” We had maybe twenty seconds to figure out which was the way we wanted to go. I finally said to my sister, “Well, I really do not want to go downtown Los Angeles”!

“But where is Pomona?” my sister countered back as we ended up taking that offramp. We were so scared as we drove off not knowing exactly where we were or where we were heading. “Just keep driving!” I told my sister. Finally after fifteen minutes we saw “Hacienda Road,” a road we know.

I share this story because following Jesus is like driving and not really being sure where it is that you are going. You know that you are in control of the vehicle; you just do not know for certain where the road is leading to. The only clue you may have is that you really did not want to go the other way! Following Jesus can feel like you took the wrong onramp or you got on the wrong train. Following Jesus can feel incredibly uncertain at times. When those early disciples started following Jesus, they had absolutely no idea where they were headed. They could have ended up in Pomona. They must have been plenty scared, yet they heard the call, and went with Jesus.

Now something happens when you join a group. Everybody in the group starts looking and acting the same. They not only follow each other in the sense of accompanying one another. They follow in the sense of imitating one another as well. It is like that old joke when the one fellow says “Walk this way!” then begins to limp as he walks, The one following begins to limp as well. Yes, to follow Christ means to emulate how Jesus walked in his path while he was with us in this world.

At this time of Lent, we imitate Jesus’ by fasting as he did. When we remember how Jesus spoke at the Sermon of Mount, we also want to speak the Word of God to others. When we remember how He fed the five thousand, then we also want to do miracles of providence. When we see how coming off the mountain he healed so many sick, then we also engage in healing ministries. We try to speak with the same wisdom and love as Christ.

In fact, we emulate Christ to the point that we are seen to be the body of Christ in this world. When one emulates another person, that is very much the same as glorifying that one. I mention this because of Jesus tells Peter just before Jesus ascends to heaven. So, this is after the Resurrection, and Jesus is with his Disciples again. He asks Peter, “Do you love me?” three times. In the end of this time of questioning Jesus states that (John 21:19) “This he said to show by what death he was to glorify God. And after this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’”

Jesus is glorified in this world, through the sacrifice of the Cross, and ultimately glorified in death to the eternal life with the Father in heaven. I want what I do in this world to glorify Jesus whom I follow, More importantly I want to follow Jesus through death to the glory in heaven.

As we have noted throughout this sermon series on the commands of God, we have two commands that seem to come at the same time that are seemingly parallel. Today we see once more this pattern. The first of the pair today is “Follow!” The second one is “Leave!” They go together. If you are going to be in the company of Christ, then you may have to leave the company you are currently keeping.

Jesus describes those whom we are to leave as “the dead.” We are commanded to leave the dead–to bury themselves. This makes perfect sense: If we are following Christ into new life, then we must be leaving old death behind.

If you or I were saying these words, it would be a very harsh statement. Yet, this is Jesus. He is the one who dies and defeats death. He is the one who goes down to Hades for three days to bring back the dead there. He is the one who is glorified after the resurrection. So, if we truly follow Jesus, then indeed we leave death behind. Follow Jesus, leave death!

You all know, this is exactly why Jesus came down to us in the first place. This is the “Good News” that is the Word of God. When we accompany Jesus through this life, we accompany Jesus through death and into the new life. It is the promise we get in Revelation that death shall be no more. Every tear will be wiped away.

I will just say for me personally that the command to follow Jesus is a bit anxiety producing; yet, my greater fear would be not to follow.

Amen.