“If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow me, and where I am, my servant will be too. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” —John 12:26
One command, two promises—how like Jesus!
The command: “Follow me.”
The promises: “Where I am, my servant will be too,” and “The Father will honor him.”
Just as the scholar follows the teacher, just as the sheep follows the shepherd, just as the soldier follows the commanding officer, so too, the professing believer in Christ follows the Lord Jesus. There is a consistent command in Scripture—given by Jesus to His disciples—both then and now—for believers to follow Him. Matthew tells us:
“He said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people!’” —Matthew 4:19
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.’” —Matthew 16:24
The word “follow” carries with it a rich meaning. It is from the Greek word akoloutheo meaning: “To be an attendant, accompany, go with or follow; distinguished from the occasional and temporary following of Jesus by the crowds or individuals in general; the individual calling to follow Jesus involved abiding fellowship with Him, not only for the sake of learning as a student from his teacher but also for the sake of the salvation known or looked for, which presented itself in this fellowship; the first thing involved in following Jesus is a cleaving to Him in believing trust and obedience, those cleaving to Him also following His leading and acting according to His example.”
As we believe what Christ says and strive to do what He commands—even with the smallest amount of knowledge and perhaps great difficulty, with little grace and dim hope, weak as we may be—Jesus declares that His followers belong to Him!
However, to serve Christ in name alone is rather easy work—the world is full of those proclaiming faith while all the while living their lives for themselves. Costing little and satisfying most people, this claim to faith lacks power because it is not grounded in truth. Our world deems those who follow Jesus with wholehearted devotion and a willing mind foolish and often rewards them with ridicule, laughter, or opposition. Yet as believers, we are not to seek the praise of man, but of God. Jesus tells us earlier in John:
“How can you believe, if you accept praise from one another and don’t seek the praise that comes from the only God?” — John 5:44
As believers, we are called to do the things that Christ has taught us: walk as He walked, go where He leads. God honors the servant who serves His Son. God will make amends for our worldly pain and loss.
“The reward is honour, true lasting honour, the highest honour; it is the honour that comes from God. Those who wait on Christ, God will honour. Those who serve Christ must humble themselves, and are commonly vilified by the world, in recompense of both which they shall be exalted in due time.” —Matthew Henry
Become More
Christ and His servants shall never be parted—we shall be with Christ wherever He is—in paradise and in His glorious kingdom. Whatever the Master has, the servant shall have also. This is why the apostle Paul could so boldly state:
“For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the coming glory that will be revealed to us.” —Romans 8:18
Further Reflections
“After these things the Lord’s message came to Abram in a vision: ‘Fear not, Abram! I am your shield and the one who will reward you in great abundance.’” —Genesis 15:1
“We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, regarding the affliction that happened to us in the province of Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of living. Indeed we felt as if the sentence of death had been passed against us, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. He delivered us from so great a risk of death, and he will deliver us. We have set our hope on him that he will deliver us yet again.” —2 Corinthians 1:8–10