Jesus was known in ancient times to have many followers. People that were captivated by his sayings, his miracles, and the signs & wonders he performed. People who had at some point or another either experienced or heard of the compassion and kindness He showed; even the power yet gentleness He emanated. The Bible tells us that everywhere He went He was doing good. These followers often tagged along on his journeys from one city to another.
At times large crowds would form from word of mouth of His Presence or arrival. Others followed Him in hopes of healing while others simply loved hearing His words. I am sure that a certain number also followed simply because others were following. However, amidst this large crowd of people were a few that were called his disciples. A group of 12 that Jesus called, chose to follow Him to learn from Him. He wanted to teach them the ways of His father, our father. The very prayer that many of us know as the Lord’s prayer” which is the basic framework of prayer; is literally the example that Jesus gave His disciples when they had asked Him to teach them how to pray.
The prayer that many of us have learned to recite, found in Mathew 6:9-13, was a template and a model that Jesus gave to teach his followers and His chosen few. Meaning His teaching style was hands-on, intimate and by example. He led and taught by example but also through teachings based on understanding the Law through relationship with God the Father.
Many people that encountered JESUS would not have called Him by His name, but rather would have addressed him as “Rabbi” which means “teacher” or Rabonni which means “ master/my great teacher”.
The sermon on the mount, his talks over meals, parables explained from a boat, He at times even stopped His teachings to heal someone in need or integrated healings and deliverances in His teachings.
Everything He did was to teach those around Him and guess what… He was also teaching us.
In Matthew 11:29 He instructs… “Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Though, we may not be able to follow Jesus around from one city to another; we today can learn from Him through His Words that have been eternalized on paper in our Bibles. From the Old Testament to the New Testament and from cover to cover we can learn about Christ. However, let us follow His example.
The apostle Peter encouraged the church in Corinth and encourages us all to be imitators of Christ and to follow Christ by following His way. The way He took time for people even in the middle of a sermon. The way He had compassion on the crowd caring for their wellbeing and safety. In Matthew 15:32 “Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
Very rare to see leaders care about the people to this extent. But this is one of the key principles
Jesus wants us to learn.
He took a stand for God’s righteousness and put the Word of God over tradition when confronted and challenged by some of the e religious leaders of His day. During one encounter, when the religious leaders attempted to trick Him, Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
So for us today, what can we learn from this? Despite our best efforts we need to know the scriptures and understand them. We need to be willing to know the power of God. By the way, God is mighty and powerful indeed and His power whether in creation, in healing, in salvation, in love or deliverance… whichever way, God’s power cannot be denied. In doing so we are in error. Let us follow Jesus and imitate His way.
Blessings, Tynesha
