Follow Me
As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. Matthew 9:9
In this series, we will consider five “follow me” invitations from Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. In four of these, some additional details are provided along with the command to follow. In this instance, however, Jesus simply says, “Follow me.”
We know from the rest of the Gospel accounts that Matthew was being called to follow Jesus in a special way as one of His chosen apostles. What is striking about this is that Matthew was a tax collector. At that time, tax collectors were hated by the Jews, seen as traitors. As a group, they had the reputation of being dishonest thieves and extortioners in the way they performed their work for the Roman government. Matthew was a highly unlikely candidate for apostleship in Jesus’ inner circle.
In the same way, aren’t we the most unlikely and unworthy candidates to be called disciples (followers) of Jesus? We were born sinful and continue to exhibit this sinful condition every day. We know what following Jesus involves, but we continually stray from the path on which He has directed us.
Clearly, it cannot be anything in us that has prompted Jesus' invitation to be one of His chosen people. As with Matthew, Jesus selected us to be His own not because of who we are but in spite of who we are. “But God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Thanks be to God!
Lord, 'tis not that I did choose Thee;
That, I know, could never be;
For this heart would still refuse Thee
Had Thy grace not chosen me.
Thou hast from the sin that stained me
Washed and cleansed and set me free
And unto this end ordained me,
That I ever live to Thee.
The Lutheran Hymnal 37:1