Following Jesus started friendship with Jesus. Thoughts on John 1:43-51
How do you imagine Jesus and his first followers?
As a kid I
read picture story books in which it was easy to tell Jesus and his followers
apart from everybody else. In so many of
these book Jesus had a halo over his head—and sometimes his followers the disciples
did too. Jesus portrayed on these pages
absolutely glowed.
In some churches I went to as a kid there were pictures of Jesus first followers in the ceilings of the church. They were surrounded by gold and obviously must have been very special. But just read the Gospels and it seems like the drawings in the picture books and the mosaics in the churches might not have been accurate. Read John 1:43-51 and see that Jesus was human and very approachable. He had long conversations and he just got to know people. His first followers were fishermen—hard-working good hearted people. They didn’t have halos—they had calloused hands and big hearts. And Jesus built relationship with his followers.
It’s good to
remember the humanity of Jesus and his first followers as we start this new
year. Right now our humanity and our
fragility is clearer than ever before. We
need to know that Jesus fully knows us and our stories—this year 2021 is the
year we need to know Jesus completely understands the human condition. Martin Luther described Jesus,
He did not behave in an unusual manner; but He was
unpretentious, mingled congenially with the people, and associated freely with
all. Thus one after the other gradually came to Him and rallied about Him,
today one, tomorrow another.[1]
Jesus was
friendly. Right from the first moment he
met someone he already had deep understanding about that unique person. We need to know that the one who worked miracles
knew what it was like to be totally human.
When he started gathering disciples he started relationships with them. They were becoming friends as he invited into
the job of being followers.
John wrote
about the first disciples getting to know Jesus as he called them to come and
follow him. They were building friendship and trust. They were starting to know Jesus as they
travelled with him. But Jesus already
knew them. There’s a danger in forgetting
the love that Jesus and his followers had for eachother. Martin Luther wrote about John’s Gospel,
John’s theme is not the calling of the apostles into office;
it is their congenial association with Christ. He wishes to tell us that they
joined Him because of His friendly attitude toward the people.[2]
People really
liked Jesus and the truth is Jesus liked people. And as he traveled more and more people came
along with him. We need to know the
humanity of Jesus right now. We need to
know that Jesus understands us and relates to us.
Peace and
thanks for reading,
John
