Notice Jesus’ strategy. He didn’t seek positions of power, or align himself with people of influence. He didn’t attempt to raise a militia, or even establish a local non-profit. No, Jesus’ strategy to change the world with the Gospel was to choose a few men.
He called; they followed, and the rest is history.
We too can get caught up by notions of grandeur, or deluded to think, I am only as valuable as the position I hold, or the people I know. BUT what if God wanted you just to invest in a few people, one or three? No platform needed, or political clout, just the willingness to invite a few to follow you as you follow Jesus.
Who are your few? If you don’t have one or three in mind, ask God to show you who. We could change the world; we are.
I am in a fragile time in my life, trying to close out all the loose ends to put a house on the market for sale: it seems the loose ends never cease! It is disheartening to say the least. For these men to drop everything they were doing and were about to follow Jesus is just amazing.
I do agree with the first part of this week’s lesson where it clarifies that this is not likely the first encounter Jesus had with these men as stated in the other gospels. I wonder if they saw Him baptized by John.
Some years ago, I saw a video of a tour guide in the Middle East who pointed out that in the culture of Jesus’s day, Jewish young men were extremely privileged to be called by a rabbi to follow him. This probably is much more the scenario here, making Zebedee’s loss a little less of a shock. These details make it more plausible for the event altogether. But it is still amazing, since it was usually the top students who were called by rabbis, not just a bunch of fishermen. The calling of the lowly makes this truly amazing.
I have but one person I’ve been influencing this last few years that I know of: a person in the state prison I correspond with by letter, who started out a few years back questioning and challenging the credibility of the Holy Bible. He is now actively pursuing a relationship with Christ and doing what he can to join the activities allowed in state prison to be Christ’s follower, according to his letters. I am so amazed at that, as my life has not been exactly spectacular this past decade.
Amen!