At Home With Jesus: Simply Follow
Notes
Transcript
I Love digging through the gospels and watching Jesus meet with real people in real settings… demonstrating real love… real power… reflecting the heart of the Father… dealing with real conflict, rejection, disappointment… Jesus was present in moments of celebration, moments of loss, and sorrow.
Jesus is at home with us.
When we just take the time and see how Jesus is at home with real people, we cannot help but be so amazed.
When we remind ourself that Jesus came to earth, with ALL HIS power… glory… majesty… with ALL HIS knowledge… knowing the heart of man… put on flesh and became God with us… took on the position of a slave and served humanity to live out for us what the Kingdom of God is truly all about.
Jesus came to be at home with us not because HE needed us but because we were sinners in desperate need of a savior.
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
PRAY
It’s so common for people think that if they had more money… more stuff… more power and authority they will be fulfilled…
Matthew (Levi) had all the appearance of finding success… money, a great place to live, appreciated by his boss, his employer… the Roman Government. He had all the benefits as a government worker, the covering, the blessing of Rome.
Matthew had 2 names Matthew and Levi. Looking at Mark and Luke’s account, Levi is referenced but in Matthew’s Gospel, he is Matthew.
Matthew was his Roman and possibly his Greek name and Levi was his Jewish name. That was common.
Matthew being a tax collector was rich but hated by the people. He collected taxes (or customs) from the citizens as well as from merchants passing through town. (Capernaum was a customs post on the caravan route between Damascus to the northeast and the Mediterranean Sea to the west.) Tax collectors took a commission on the taxes they collected, so most of them overcharged and kept the profits. Thus, most Jews hated tax collectors because of their reputation for cheating, their support of Rome, and their constant contact with “unclean” Gentiles. A Jew who accepted such an office shamed his family and friends and was excommunicated from the synagogue.
Matthew was a hopeless outcast and everyone knew who Matthew was. Tax booths were elevated, easy to find, and being near the Sea of Galilee he would tax those commercial goods from sea to land routes.
The Sea of Galilee was also where Jesus was ministering to the people, drawing big crowds. Certainly Matthew had seen Jesus before and, with the crowds, probably had been impressed and intrigued with this man.
But Matthew was lost, an outcast, only friends he had were fellow tax collectors and sinners.
Then Jesus showed up and called him out, and included him in a group of other outcasts who followed Jesus.
Matthew found his purpose for living because Jesus found Matthew and called him to simply follow.
We are ALL called to simply follow Jesus
Just like Matthew… We all have a choice to accept or reject Jesus’ calling to simply follow.
Jesus walked right up to Matthew’s booth and said two simple words: “Follow me.”
The words are in the imperative mood, meaning this was a command, a call to discipleship, not an invitation.
Jesus called Matthew to “follow”—that is, to walk the same road as Jesus.
When Jesus said follow me, there were many people throughout the gospels who rejected Jesus’ call.
In Matthew 8:21, when Jesus was talking about the cost of discipleship, Jesus said to a young man.
Matthew 8:21–22 (NIV)
21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus wasn’t being insensitive to a grieving son, Jesus was showing him that when going through the grieving process following Jesus on that journey gives us Kingdom purpose even in death and loss here on earth.
Here’s another person who turned down Jesus call to discipleship. This was a Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19. Jesus gave him the same command, “follow me”.
Matthew 19:21–22 (NIV)
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
This young man rejected Jesus’ call to discipleship because he was unwilling to give up everything to follow Jesus.
Is Jesus against people having great wealth?
No, Jesus is fine with us having money but when money keeps us from completely following Jesus, HE will call us to give it up something big so that we can be truly free.
It’s not money, it’s the love of money that’s the root of all kinds of evil.
In Matthew’s encounter with Jesus, HE shows up to Matthew’s tax booth, commanded him to simply FOLLOW ME and then Matthew got up and followed JESUS.
Matthew 9:9 (NIV)
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
In Luke’s gospel, it says that Levi got up, left everything and followed Jesus.
Matthew accepted the fact that this calling will cost him everything.
Matthew accepted Jesus’ calling but in Matthew 4 we see Peter and Andrew responded the same. Peter and Andrew were at the lake fishing...
Matthew 4:19 (NIV)
19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
They gave up everything initially to follow Jesus but the disciples didn’t give up everything right away. They were hung up on a lot of things, they didn’t understand everything right away but as they continued to follow Jesus, they learned and they accepted Jesus’ plan. The longer they followed Jesus the more they got to know Jesus and then trusted Jesus with everything.
But… they had to give up what initially kept them from following Jesus.
Peter and Andrew had to leave the boat… Matthew had to in the booth in order to start that journey with Jesus.
What’s keeping you from following Jesus?
Embrace the cost of discipleship because it’s worth everything to just simply follow Jesus.
As you step out, fully trust in Jesus, learn from HIM, as you daily follow Jesus, receiving HIS love and loving others. Jesus is calling each of us to a deeper relationship with HIM.
Don’t let the things of this world keep you from following Jesus. Give up all your possessions, money, past, our fears, our regrets, our identity, our jobs, our family, our comforts and simply follow. Live out that calling that Jesus presents to us that will change your eternal legacy.
Jesus is telling us… “Follow ME” Trust me, there is no one, nothing, that can give you what I have promised to deliver.
As we Simply Follow JESUS, invite others to know JESUS.
Before we made a decision to follow Jesus we had a circle of influence. We had a group of friends that we had before we started following Jesus.. As we follow Jesus we realize how much better our life is with Jesus leading us. So… you want your old friends to have that same opportunity to follow Jesus.
We have that influence so we can make an eternal impact, it could be our family, friends, coworkers… They just need an invitation to the banquet so they can also meet Jesus.
Matthew held a banquet for Jesus and invited some of his old friends.
Matthew’s circle of influence were a bunch of outcasts, sinners, lost people just like he was. His friends needed to meet Jesus, the one who changed his life, the one who loved him when nobody, not even the “religious” community.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.
To share a meal was a sign of intimacy, and Jesus’ notorious willingness to identify himself with the undesirable is a prominent theme throughout the Gospel.
At Matthew’s house there gathered a crowd that Jesus could not reach in the synagogues.
The tax collectors had been excommunicated.
The term “sinners” referred not only to immoral and pagan people, but also to the common people who were not learned in the law and did not abide by the rigid standards of the Pharisees. The Pharisees regarded these people as wicked and opposed to the will of God because they did not observe the rituals for purity, which enabled them to eat with others.
These people gathered at Levi’s house, where they knew they were welcome, and they ate with [Jesus] and his disciples and listened to the message this marvelous teacher had for them.
11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
According to the Pharisees, contact with these tax collectors and sinners made a Jew unclean; to sit and eat with such people was particularly heinous. Sharing fellowship around a meal indicated close association and identification with that person.
The Pharisees would have nothing to do with such people. They would expect them to change before dealing with them. But not so with Jesus.
The Pharisees were noted for their separatism.
Today, separatism promotes the idea that Christians should show the world the value of the gospel by being “separate” from the world—that is, don’t mix, don’t adopt the world’s bad habits (smoking, drinking, playing cards, going to movies, and dancing have all been on various churches’ lists of no-no’s)
This story teaches us to be very careful of separatism.
True, Christian disciples are called to a different lifestyle.
But it’s wrong to think that we are witnesses to Jesus’ gospel when we refuse to associate with people who don’t believe, or believe in ways not quite up to our preferences.
In fact, the disciple who sits in a tavern with a friend, or goes to the office party, would appear to be more like Jesus than the one who righteously stays away.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to people who sin; let them see the love of Jesus. God’s message can change anyone.
We are all called to follow Jesus.
As we simply follow, Invite other’s to know Jesus
When we ALL follow Jesus, that means we are not on this journey alone.
Never think that you are better then anyone. Never think that associating with certain people would be beneath you. Never forget when you choose to follow Jesus that means we follow Jesus in places that we necessarily don’t really want to go.
When the Pharisees questioned Jesus’ judgement in associating with sinner…
Matthew 9:12–13 (NIV)
12 Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
I love how Jesus emphasizes our need for mercy and healing. Jesus came to seek and save the lost… there is something about lost things that drives Jesus to them.
We are all lost. We are lost people on the same journey that’s why we need to follow Jesus.
Lost people aren’t happy doing their own thing.
When Matthew was called by Jesus to simply follow ME… Matthew was not alone on this journey. Jesus had the 12 disciples, plus those on the fringe.
Some had to give up more then others, some were more committed then others, but all wanted to follow Jesus. They recognized that they are simply lost when they stop following Jesus.
This group of 12 all came from different backgrounds, different families, different occupations, different ideas about life, different priorities… but they had one thing in common… they were all called to simply follow Jesus and were lost when they didn’t.
We are not alone so don’t isolate yourself, don’t wander off like the 1 lost sheep. Stay in community with fellow Jesus followers.
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
We are on the same journey, with the same purpose, heading to the same destination. We were lost people who now have a new purpose, new identity, and a new life.
As we follow Jesus we are awaken to the new reality that we are now alive in Christ to fulfill our purpose: Love, Live, and Declare Jesus TOGETHER.
As we follow Jesus on this wonderful journey together, we can encourage, challenge, spur one another on, celebrate one another, grieve together, pray together, do life together.
Don’t isolate, include others who are on this wonderful journey. Get to know them, include them as we simply follow Jesus together.
Take Away:
We are all called to simply follow Jesus
Bring others to Jesus so they can simply follow Jesus
We are lost without Jesus so stay in community with Jesus followers