Jesus Led, The Disciples Followed

St. Matthew 4:18-20 "And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

And they straightway left their nets, and followed him."

Jesus was a leader who knew where he was going and had the confidence to call others to join in the train and become followers. There were leaders in the time of Jesus like the sadducees and Pharisees who did not know where they were going to and only took advantage of the religious Institution of their day to lead the people. A leader must be clear as to where he is going to before he has the confidence to call others to follow him. We have a lot to learn from Jesus in this regard.

Any one can follow Jesus. He is far ahead of anyone of us. No amount of educational qualification, wealth, status or age can make a man to be ahead of Jesus. As the heaven is higher above the earth, so is the gap and advancement of Jesus from us yet he is ready to come down to our level and lead us to our land of promise. It is easy for a man who is directionless in life to follow any other man who promises heaven and Earth. Men like Peter and his brother who were Fisher men cannot be said to be directionless. They had the fishing business going for them. For them to follow Jesus, there is more to it to learn from.

"And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers..."

The meeting point of Jesus and the fishermen was their duty post. The divine interruption to their business came without any fore warning. 

"... he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men..."

Here we are, Jesus meeting these men busy fishing (normal daily routine) and he asked them to follow him. He saw lots of work to be done and the only way to achieve success was to invite men to join him. For him to say 'FOLLOW ME', it was not to go on a walk down the road, it was not a day's contract job. It was for life. Their reactions there after was remarkable.

"... they straightway left their nets, and followed him."

What was the implication of Jesus saying 'FOLLOW ME' and the men straightway following? This was an example of leadership Jesus was showing. This could mean any of many things. It could mean: (a) I am going somewhere, follow me and let us go together, (b) I want to take responsibility for everything about you from today, (c) I have seen something better for you, if you follow me, I will show you, (d) What you are currently doing will is not the best, I will show you something better.

The subsequent statements and events revealed so much about Jesus' call of these Fisher men. He made it clear that he will make them another type of fishers. He promised to make them not Fishermen of fish but that of men. When they followed him, they signed up to something great that till today, the fire is still burning. He demonstrated leadership to them and also to us till today.

A leader must be convinced of where he is going before he recruits the services of other men. Jesus was not playing a guess work. He was not playing pranks. He was not looking for men who will make him great. As it turned out, he turned them into great men. How did they get to agree to follow him without them having a previous walk with him? It will interest you note that other men did not follow Jesus when given the invitation. In other cases, the offer to follow Jesus was given by the men and not Jesus.

St. Matthew 8:19 "And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest."

To distract the man that initiated the :following', Jesus told him:

Matthew 8:20 "And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."

So what will attract this man to initiate to follow Jesus? There was no glamour in it yet he requested to follow Jesus. If Jesus "...the Son of man hath not where to lay his head..", then there is a lot going that we need to understand. Jesus was undoubtedly a leader with a difference. It was either he initiates the following or the intending disciple initiates the following. The offer and the acceptance can come in any which way. In any way, God is at work. 

St. Matthew 8:21-23 "And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him."

Excuses made some not to follow him. Some had family issues to attend to while others various other reasons. But those that will follow him ended up following him. Take note when some followed him.

"...And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him."

They followed him when he was on the move. This is important because when the leader is not moving, the followers will not follow. He must be on the move for the followers to follow. Getting followers to follow for no reason is the same as destroying their lives. People will initiate the following if it is clear that the leader is not stagnant. In addition, the followers will gladly follow if they see the leader carrying something they needed.

St. Matthew 8:1 "When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him."

The mountain was one of those places where Jesus goes to pray. When ever he goes to the mountain, he meets with the Father (God) to receive fresh instruction(s) for the work and for the people following. In this case, he came down from the mountain and the people followed him.

"When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him."

From the mountain, he was enabled by God to lead the people. The people willingly followed him. A leader must have a place and a time to be enabled to rekindle the fire of leadership. To be drained of the fire is to keep people from coming near. Leadership and followership is much better and easier when the leader is constantly refreshed. A refreshing for the body, mind and spirit must come before the leadership and the followership can be meaningful and productive. The leader must be ahead of the followers. Being ahead does not necessarily mean that he is more schooled or richer or by some other human measure, being in touch with God is enough ground for the leader to be ahead. There is something for each person with Jesus. Why will they follow if they will waste their time? They were getting something that is why they willingly submitted to his leadership.

The leader may be a common man but when God starts transforming his life, the best starts coming out of him to bless others.

Amos 7:14-15 "Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:

And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel."

A leader who will have time to be refreshed and get more inspiration from God, will get the people on fire and keep them moving forward.

It is not enough for the leader to lead. The followers must be ready to follow and must be in the best position to reach the desired destination.

St. Matthew 16:24-25 "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."

Self denial on the part of the followers makes it easier to be led. Stagnant followers are not moving because of many reasons and one of the reasons is because they focus more on themselves. What they will eat or drink have consumed their attention. Even though eating and drinking is part of the package, it must not be the main thing. They will not be denied what to eat and drink but they must not allow it to be the main thing. The followers also may have concern for family issues and many other things. These can slow down the process.

 "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, ..."

Self denial simply mean not to be consumed in thinking about oneself in thought and action. For Peter to let go of fishing and follow Jesus is an indication of the willingness to follow Jesus.

 "... take up his cross, and follow me..."

"The cross' is the new responsibility the follower must take. Letting go of the former and taking hold of the latter (the cross) will make it much more easier for the leadership and the followership to move in the same direction and achieve success.

That Peter left fishing fish for fishing men is a sign that he was willing to follow Jesus. To follow Jesus is to receive direction for life from him. Peter left fishing by Jesus' instruction for another person, Jesus might give the instruction to start fishing fish to feed men. In any way, so long as the instruction comes from Jesus, the ultimate goal will be achieved.

Pray;

Jesus lead me and whatever leader you want to make of me, show me the way. I will follow you until you make of me what you want me to become.