Why

Why do you follow Jesus?

On the one hand the above question is simple. There are only five words with a question mark. There are a host of “Sunday School answers” that we can give. However, if we move beyond the quick answer, the one that is almost a knee jerk reaction, then we will begin to see that this is a deep question that is revealing and not easily answered. Many people seem to follow Jesus for what He does for them in their life. The problem with this is that we become the judge and jury of whether Jesus is worthy of us following Him. If He does not answer a prayer like we think He should, well then we are mad at Him and stop following. Other people follow Jesus because they were raised too. They never asked why. They attend church and do all the “Christian things” because they always have. They have never paused and thought about this question. The problem here is that familiarity breeds contempt. Those who follow Jesus because they always have, are robed of the power of Jesus as Savior. Their relationship with Jesus is like muscle memory and the heart is left out. Others follow Jesus out of their intellect without ever involving the spirit.

In Isaiah 6, Isaiah had a vision of God that moved him to see his own sin and to be willing to serve God. In John 1, Jesus revealed that he had seen Nathanial under the fig tree and Nathanial was moved to declare Jesus as the Son of God. In Matthew 16, Peter is moved to declare Jesus as the Christ. The Gospel of John describes the miracles of Jesus as signs. John wanted his readers to not be focused on the miracle but to focus on the one who the miracles pointed to, Jesus the son of God. Finally in the book of Revelation, the apostle John who sees the splendor and glory of Jesus in heaven passes out. This was John’s natural or human response to the greatness of Jesus.

Now comes the question that we all need to wrestle with, “Why do we follow Jesus?” Because of who He is. The Son of God, The Lamb of God, The Savior of the World. We follow Jesus because of who Jesus is, not because of what He does. So, now we come to the personal question. Why do you follow Jesus?