The First Jesus Followers

I’ve wondered how much they knew of what awaited them when they began following Jesus. At first there were only four of them, these men whom Jesus called, two sets of brothers, all commercial fishermen. Seems maybe a strange choice for men who would change the world! They were Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, then James and John the sons of Zebedee. Jesus called them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Mt. 4:19). Of Peter and Andrew, it is said, “Immediately they left their nets and followed Him” (Mt. 4:20), and of James and John, “Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him” (Mt. 4:22).

Immediately! Did they really know who He was? What He was really asking? Or what He was calling them to do, to be, to become? Did they even know who He was?

The writer of these words I’ve quoted, Matthew, was a former tax collector for the Roman Empire and hated by his fellow citizens. He was also a follower of Jesus but came on the scene sometime later. He wrote this account at least twenty years later, and at that point he knew exactly who Jesus was!

Let’s look at the very first sentence of his “gospel.” By the way, “gospel” is a word that means “good news” and came to refer specifically to the story and the message of Jesus. Matthew 1:1 begins, “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah …” Messiah was the title referring to the person whom God had promised many times throughout the history of the Jewish people, a person who would “save” them, “deliver” them from all that was evil.  The people of that day assumed that when the Messiah came, He would quickly deliver their nation from the oppressing rule of Rome! He didn’t. He wasn’t a political or a military savior. They didn’t know.

At the time of their calling, did they know that Jesus was the Messiah? Probably not, but they must have hoped that He would be the One, the Anointed of the Lord, the promised One, the expected One! I might mention here that the term “Messiah” was of Hebrew origin, but in New Testament days the Greek term used translates as “Christ.” That’s likely the term most of us are familiar with, Jesus the Christ, or simply Jesus Christ.

A second amazing fact that Matthew gives us early in his gospel account is that the conception and birth of Jesus was miraculous; He was conceived and born to a virgin! Let’s follow Matthew’s account a little further here. Matthew 1:16 winds up the genealogy of Jesus which began in verse two. Starting with Abraham and finishing with Joseph, “Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.” Hmm, seems an odd way to say that Jesus was the son of Joseph – because He wasn’t! Keep reading.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 1:18). Then, further down, “And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus” (Mt. 1:24-25). The longer version of the “Christmas story” is given in the gospel of Luke, chapters one and two. Altogether there are four “gospels” in the New Testament, books written to tell the story of Jesus. Two of them were written by original disciples (followers) of Jesus. The first gospel account was written by Matthew, and the fourth one was written by John, the John we’ve already mentioned above. It is Luke’s gospel that gives the account of the angel Gabriel telling Mary that she would be the mother of the Messiah. Mary’s first question was reasonable, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” (Lk. 1:34). The angel’s response? “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God” (Lk. 1:35). Amazing!

Looking ahead in this story, somewhere between three and four years after calling His first disciples to follow Him, Jesus completed His earthly mission, leaving the work to His followers! However, He promised to never leave them alone and sent the Holy Spirit to live through them and carry on the work! By that time they knew Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Man, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! They knew Jesus as God!

I wonder, are you following Jesus? If He hasn’t already, He will call you. Will you follow Him?