One On One: 100 Days With Jesus--Ministry YearsSample

Dusty: The One to follow 

You want to follow Jesus? Well, you’re in good company. In first century Israel, true disciples also wanted to be like their rabbis and it started young.

From 5-years old, a Jewish boy begins to read and memorize Scripture. By 10, he has memorized entire books of the Bible. By 13, if he shows interest in studying, he can go to Torah school at the local synagogue. 

While most young men in Jesus’ day married between 15 and 18 years old and began their life’s work, the more gifted Bible students went deeper in their studies with an internship with an ordained rabbi, often traveling with him in a traveling teaching ministry. 

These gifted students are called the rabbi’s talmidims—his disciples. More than a student who wants to learn what a teacher knows, a talmidim wants to be like his   teacher. He watches and listens and imitates his rabbi. He lives with him, picks up his mannerisms, and asks questions. Every rabbi had his own “yoke,” his own way of following God. A disciple adopts his rabbi’s yoke. (He would wear a WWJD bracelet if he could.) 

In Jesus’ day, to follow a rabbi as a disciple meant to walk so closely in his footsteps that you are "covered with the dust of his feet." This teaching and training model worked. 

Usually the disciple sought out the rabbi and asked to follow him; Jesus did it the other way around. He chose specific disciples to be with Him—so they could be like Him. He found them while they were fishing, or collecting taxes, or praying and invited them, “Follow Me.” They knew what that meant but maybe not yet what it would cost. John was probably the youngest (around 15)—Peter, who was married, and Matthew, already in a career, among the oldest. 

So, for three years, Jesus’ disciples followed Him without knowing where He was taking them. You don’t ask, ‘where are you taking us, Rabbi?’ because following was part of the lesson. He would lead them to the right place for the lesson He wanted them to learn. One time, Jesus took them 40 miles to ask them one specific question. 

To follow Jesus today takes no less faith and maybe a little more. To follow means you know His yoke, you live by the rules of life that He models and tells you about in His Word. You follow even when you’re not sure where He’s taking you. You count the cost and want nothing more than to get your feet dusty, walking in His steps. 

When Jesus says to you, “Follow Me,” He opens a door and your whole life waits on the other side. Come and see, He says. 

Tomorrow: One on one with Jesus and His disciples