Lets be unequivocally clear on that point.
Jesus did not demand that they come or force
anyone into anything. Rather, he presented
them with an opportunity, which they were
absolutely free to either accept or reject.
But for those disciples it could never have
really been called an informed decision, as
they could not have known what was in store.
An overused analogy lies in original Matrix
movie, when Morpheus gives Neo a choice between
two pills. One pill lets him live his life
as per usual. The other takes him down the
rabbit hole. And until you jump in with both
feet, you cannot even imagine the alternative
to life-as-you-know-it.
For Jesus’ disciples, this was the essence
of their choice. In many ways, what they would
encounter down the rabbit hole was a very
challenging existence: moving from town to
town; an abdication of normal family responsibilities
and comforts; ridicule, slander, threat, and
for some a violent death. Had they known that
this was on the horizon, would they still
have made the decision they did? What was
it that lead the disciples to respond to Jesus
at such high personal cost?
It’s certainly true that Jesus seemed
to lack a number of attributes that a typical
leader would have. Scripture tells us that
there was nothing about Jesus’ appearance
that would attract people to him. He was not
some Thor, God of Lightning, who was physically
imposing and quite obviously divine. He did
not possess worldly power or wealth, have
famous parents or come from somewhere important
and his only recommendation came from a crazy
man who lived in the desert and ate bugs.
He was only one of any number of teachers
and would-be Messiahs at that particular time
in history, so why did the disciples respond
to Jesus?
The story of Nathanael’s response to
Jesus reveals part of the reason why. Nathanael
found out about Jesus from his friend Philip,
who claimed that Jesus was the fulfilment
of ancient prophecies. Nathanael was very
sceptical, not believing that anything good
(let alone somebody worth following) could
come out of the rundown town of Nazareth.
Yet when Jesus meets Nathanael for the first
time, he says ‘Here is a true Israelite,
in whom there is nothing false.’ When
Nathanael asked Jesus how he knew him, Jesus
said, ‘I saw you while you were still
under the fig tree before Philip called you.’
Instantly, Nathanael believed. Jesus. The
one who knows all and sees all had not just
seen him sitting under a fig tree, but was
actually standing right in front of him, inviting
him into his fellowship.
This is perhaps the essence of following Jesus:
recognising that God sees us, God knows us,
and God wants us to know him. It is that exhilarating
moment that cannot be fully explained in words.
An impossible relationship is opened up to
us, and a mystery becomes, not less mysterious,
but more immediate, more intimate. It is the
birth of hope, the advent of meaning for life,
the realisation that everything you have been
waiting for, whether you knew it or not, is
now coming to pass.
Once you decide to follow, life as you know
it is indeed done. You cannot go back to the
way things were before. And what if the thing
you have always been waiting for turns out
to be quite different from how you imagined
it? Following is a huge risk. But it is also
a huge reward.
Why did the disciples choose to come and follow
Jesus? It is impossible to know the individual
reasons for each one. We just know that they
did respond to Jesus’ call for relationship,
and their lives were forever altered as a
result. If Jesus approached you and said he
had seen you under a fig tree, how would you
respond? Would you follow?
