FOLLOWING THE LORD
[p. 432] FOLLOWING THE LORD
It should have a great effect upon us to see others following the Lord. The gospel of John begins with the two disciples of John the baptist who followed Jesus, and ends with a devoted follower who could be trusted to continue in the path until the Lord comes. John the baptist was the one who set things in motion; he is not said to have followed Jesus himself, but he inspired others to follow, for “looking at Jesus as he walked, he says, Behold the Lamb of God”; and the two disciples left John and followed Jesus. They were impressed by John’s testimony, which was so different from what could be said of every other man.
John the baptist may be likened to the setting sun, for he recognised that he had been eclipsed by Jesus when he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease”; he also said, “He that has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices in heart”. He left the Sun high in the heavens, gladly going out of sight himself, that Christ might be magnified.
The other gospels also refer to the thought of following, but there it is in connection with things that are left behind. Peter said, for instance, “We have left all things and have followed thee”. The Lord did not say, What have you left? He will give you credit for what you have left; He can afford to do that. But in the gospel of John, nothing is said about anything that has been left; the Lord is presented in this gospel in such a way that nothing could possibly be of any account at all compared with Himself.
Peter was introduced to the Lord by a follower in the person of his brother Andrew. The Lord said, as it were, to Peter, Your brother Andrew is a [p. 433] follower; now you follow! In Luke 5, the Lord came into close contact with Peter, getting into his boat. The Lord loves close quarters, for acquaintance with Him is developed in such conditions. Later on, Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, saying: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord”. When a person says, ‘I am a poor, feeble thing’, there is hope; but when people say disparaging things about others, they are not fit for the congregation of the just. The Lord then said to Peter, “Fear not”. There were others there who heard Him say it, but the word was addressed directly to Peter, for the Lord was bent on making him into a trustworthy follower.
On another occasion we read of a man who said, without counting the cost, “Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest”. How rash he was! The Lord tested him by setting before him what the path involved, and he did not pursue the matter; yet we find in the next chapter, in spite of the difficulties of the path, that Jesus had disciples who were prepared to follow Him.
The apostle Paul, once the Lord had secured him, became the greatest, most devoted follower of Jesus. There are only two people in the New Testament who speak of the Lord as “my Lord” — Mary Magdalene is one, and Paul the other. Paul would be the strongest in upholding Him as “Lord of all”; but his acquaintance with Him personally had gone on until he was able to speak of Him in this intimate way, “my Lord”.
At the end of John’s gospel, it is recorded that Peter, after turning round and seeing John following, enquired, “What shall this man do?”. The Lord said, in effect, There is no need for you to be anxious about a follower: see to it that you follow; a follower can take care of himself! It is a very poor thing if we continually need to be looked after, though caring for one another is a very blessed thing, where would [p. 434] any of us be without it? Nevertheless the word says, “Keep yourselves in the love of God”, Jude 21.
It is to be noted that the one who leaned on Jesus’ breast at supper was the one who is seen following right on to the end. John chose that place, and the Lord signally honoured him, but there is room in that bosom for every one of us! May we all be found following the Lamb “whithersoever he goeth”!