2024 May news-letter article

Dear fellow disciple of Jesus,

Are we disciples, or do we just claim to be disciples?  Better yet, assuming we are one, are we the disciple we claim to be?  Before we can ponder these questions: what is a disciple?  A disciple, put simply, is a follower.  Dare I say, we’re all disciples of someone, or perhaps, something; but disciples of Jesus are those who follow Him.  I’m not talking about the Disciples (note the capital D); there were twelve of those, and that number is fixed in the New Testament.  That Testament calls us to all be [lower-case D] disciples of Jesus.  So, what does it mean to follow Jesus?

Do we follow Jesus across Galilee and through Judea?  In a metaphorical sense, yes.  Let’s read “Matthew”, “Mark”, “Luke”, and “John”.  Let’s see where He went, and what He did.  Let’s appreciate the people with whom Jesus came into contact.  By reading the words of the New Testament, and much of the Old, we have a clearer understanding of where Jesus went and what He did.  As we read and study scripture, we are seeing the steps of Jesus, and through the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit, we super-naturally follow in those steps of His.  Being “conformed into the image of Jesus” is the language the Apostle Paul uses.  As we are, we are more faithfully following Him.
 
Do we follow Jesus in the way we treat others?  Absolutely we do!  The Apostle Paul calls us to practice humility, and to put others’ needs ahead of our own (Philippians 2:3).  As he calls us to this action, this way to treat other people, he grounds this action in the actions of Jesus, claiming that He is the ultimate example/embodiment of humility.

Do we follow Jesus to Calvary’s cross?  Well, no…and yes.  Can we do for ourselves, or anyone else, what Jesus did for us?  Emphatically, NO!  Can we accomplish, or replicate, or extend God’s mercy beyond what Jesus did in about six hours that Friday two millennia ago?  We most certainly canNOT.  Can we follow Jesus’ example of self-less love?  Can we practice sacrifice for the benefit of others?  Yes, we can!  Again, rooting this call in Philippians 2, we know that Jesus’ work is an example for us to follow.  Knowing what we know from the beginning of this paragraph, how then can we do what Jesus did?  By the time we get down to verse 17 of Philippians 2, the Apostle Paul tells the church of Philippi (and us) that he is being poured out as a drink offering.  In other words, Paul’s personal sacrifice wasn’t sufficient for the atonement of sin, but it was a supplement to the atoning sacrifice.  As we see in Leviticus, a drink offering is a supplement to the sin offering.  We too, like Paul, can practice a self-less, loving service to others that is a supplement to Jesus’ work of salvation.

To be clear, not a soul is saved because of anything I have done, or am doing, or will do, or might do; souls are only saved because of what Jesus has done.  I however, can bring more souls to Him.  I can be salt and light, as Jesus calls disciples to be in His sermon upon the mount, as Matthew recorded.  I can be, as the Apostle Paul calls the Church to be, the hands and feet (or spleen) of the Body of Christ.  We, never as well as Jesus did, can give of ourselves.  We can lay down our lives, metaphorically or perhaps literally one day, in service of others.  We can give, and go, and teach, and bless, and pray for, and pray with, and feed, and clothe, and shelter others.  How willing are we to do these things?  How willing are we to practice sacrificial, self-less love?

We’ll pick up on this thought next month, but I send you back to the beginning of this article, and its first two questions.  Are we disciples, or do we just claim to be?  If, in fact, we are followers: are we the followers we claim to be?

Redeemed how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child (& forever) I am!
--A.J.