For many people, social media is a way to obtain followers. Celebrities vie for the top spot in the “most followed” lists. Perhaps you follow some of them yourself. Does it give you an insight into their lives and personalities? Does it improve your own life? The trouble with social media is that people present themselves as they want to be seen, which is not necessarily the true picture.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ said ‘Follow me’ to people he chose (Matthew 4:19). What did he mean by that? He wasn’t collecting “likes” or trying to compete with celebrities. He wanted to change their lives for the better. He was not interested in gaining power and status. In fact, there were times when he deliberately avoided the adulating crowds (John 6:15).
Jesus was doing what his Father had sent him to do. He spent three and a half years teaching people about the Kingdom of God (Matthew 4:23), then he was cruelly killed. If that was the end of it, there would be no followers of Jesus now. But eyewitnesses were willing to risk their lives by telling others that Jesus had risen from the dead (Acts 3:15), and the people who believed their message were just as committed.
The four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, give accounts of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. But that isn’t where they stop. Jesus had been telling people that one day he would return as King (Matthew 16:28). At the end of Luke’s gospel, Jesus explained to his disciples that the Old Testament prophets had foretold the work he would do, hundreds of years before he was born in Bethlehem: ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem’ (Luke 24:46-47). It was the start of something that is still in existence today.
People still follow Jesus, and they are still looking towards the day when he will return to the earth as King. The world is in turmoil, and as Jesus warned, people are full of foreboding about what is coming on the world (Luke 21:26). No wonder!
Thankfully it doesn’t end there either. The Kingdom of God is near and, in the time we have left, we need to follow Jesus even more closely. The distress of nations we are seeing is a sign that he will soon be back on earth, not this time to suffer, but to bring justice and peace. It won’t happen instantly, because not everybody will welcome him. But for those who are looking for his return, there will be great joy. Following Jesus and watching for his return is the best thing we can do in these dark days. It will lead to a life filled with purpose as the world is finally put to rights.
Rachel Leah