There had to be something about Jesus. Something that the scriptures are not telling us. Something … maybe that people could not quite put their finger on….but there was something about him.
His person…His looks…His demeanor…His eyes…Something!
Why would so many people have flipped their lives inside out, literally dropped their nets, for a chance and for an opportunity to follow him?
Would people do that if he were really just a good teacher, or perhaps an entertaining speaker? I doubt it!
Why would the religious and political authorities have been so “dead set” on shutting this one man down, and silencing him – if he was merely a good organizer or one-more-wannabeof-a- messiah? There had to be something more.
No, Jesus walked up and down Galilee, and everything about him radiated the fullness of God.
Perhaps it was indescribable. Perhaps it was not a visual.
Perhaps it was something mesmerizing.
Perhaps it was something deep within – that had to be sensed…or felt…or directly encountered.
Maybe it was something that just cannot be easily put into words.
The scriptures and there writers boldly declare that he was the “real deal.”
There was something about HIM.
And when he announced that the kingdom was near, people believed it – because it was unfolding around him with every step that he took.
There was something there…something not written about…something not stated.
Simon Peter saw it – sensed it – felt it. His brother Andrew did, too. When this Jesus turned toward them and said, “Follow me,” they simply replied, “Alright. We’re with you.”
And then, the same situation was repeated again, this time with James and John. And they – even left their father old Zebedee behind – with no farewells, sitting still in the boat.
He walked and walked, teaching like one with wisdom in the synagogue and proclaiming good news on the streets…and people listened.
All the gospel writers agree on this – he spoke with an authority, unlike anything anyone had ever heard of before.
When he spoke, people listened. They seemingly hung on to his every word. They remembered not only his teachings…but also what he did. He left an impression…an imprint…a memory.
But not for all the people… Some people obviously turned a deaf ear to him and his teachings. Some walked away.
Somehow he touched people and brought them to a kind of wholeness.
With every step, every move, the kingdom unfolded in Jesus’ presence and in the presence of those around him…
Wealthy women and uneducated men followed him.
Lonely orphaned children and abandoned elders followed him.
Centurion soldiers and hated despised Samaritans, unloved tax collectors and holy people followed him.
Countless generations of every nation, every race and every tongue have followed him…and still are following him today.
There was and is – something about him.
And when they did, follow that is…something happened.
Folks stepped into Jesus’ footsteps, were literally baptized into his life, death and resurrection, and they became powerful – like him.
They became salt and light in the world, just like him. They rose up in the face of death, just like him. As long as they stayed hooked up with that source, as long as they kept walking the streets and studying his word and falling in love with God and sharing his body and blood and healing all that is broken and proclaiming God’s dream for this world–as long as they followed Jesus’ Way, fear didn’t seem to stand a chance.
It was and is a strange phenomenon. People have gone through all kinds of hardships and faced all kinds of demons and they are not afraid.
They knew and know that he is with them…he has not abandoned them. They felt and feel his presence. There is something about him…and something about people’s relationship with him.
Allow me to suggest that “what we are talking about” is the power of God. In Jesus – was the very power of the most high God.
The power of God was in him. The Kingdom surrounded him…he is the embodiment of God. This is the incarnation, in the flesh. This is Emmanuel, God with us.
This is Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus meaning “he who saves”…or the savior of the world.
And when he said, “Follow me” – as simple as it seems…people followed…not blindly…but with their hearts and minds together.
They “sensed” who it was – that was calling them.