Could you imagine being one of the original disciples and walking with Jesus for 3 years?
He walks by and says, “Come Follow Me” and you drop your “net’ and follow Him.
You have no idea what you are in for, you just feel something calling you from within to drop everything and follow Him.
Watch Jesus
You watch Jesus Him heal the sick, teach, forgive, and cast out demons:
“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.’ Matthew 4:23-24
You witness Jesus taking authority over a storm and the wind obeys Him:
“He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Matthew 8:26-27
Then, as if that wasn’t enough, you witness Jesus raise people from the dead:
“Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” John 11:43-44
As if that wasn’t awe-inspiring enough, you watch Him die for you and then rise from the dead and instruct you after His resurrection:
“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. ” Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:19-22
Could you imagine?
What would it be like to walk with Jesus and witness all of these amazing things?
Could you imagine it?
Imagine
“The Christian faithful are those who, inasmuch as they have been incorporated in Christ through Baptism, have been constituted as the people of God; for this reason, since they have become sharers in Christ’s priestly, prophetic, and royal office in their own manner, they are called to exercise the mission which God has entrusted to the Church to fulfill in the world, in accord with the condition proper to each one.” Catechism 871
In other words, we are the Disciples of Christ in our day.
Jesus is walking by even now: “Come follow me…”
Will we “drop our nets” and follow Him?
Could you imagine seeing the things that Jesus did?
Imagine No Longer
Jesus called us even higher. Look at what Jesus says to us, recorded in the scripture through Saint John:
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth… you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” John 14:12-21
If you are anything like me, you read right through that and went on autopilot. I have read that for years and missed it every time.
I encourage you to go back and read that again and ask the Holy Spirit what He wants to show you about being His disciple today.
The point of emphasis is found in the first sentence of John 14:12:
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing…”
What?
We will do the works Jesus did
We will do the works Jesus did. That changes everything.
We don’t have to imagine what it would be like to walk with Jesus when He was on the earth. We get to walk with Him now. Not only will we get to see what the original Disciples/Apostles witnessed, but we get to see Jesus do it today, through us, His disciples.
How? Believe in Him. Believe in what He told us. Walk with Him and enjoy the adventure of a lifetime!
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing…” – Jesus.
Do you believe?
