Come And See

And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called to them, and immediately they left their boat and their father, and followed Him.

Matthew 4: 18-22 NKJV 

What was it about Jesus that would draw four fishermen to drop what they were doing and follow Him?  These four men who made their living on the sea had never met Jesus, although they may have heard whispers of Him in the countryside.  And yet, without even knowing who this Jesus was, these four men dropped everything and followed Him.  All Jesus had to say was, "Follow me."  Of course, these were just four out of the twelve men whom Jesus would gather unto Himself to share life with Him and learn from the Messiah that they might later preach His gospel.  I am of the opinion that the fates of these twelve men were decided long before they were born.  For even before time began, our heavenly Father had carefully orchestrated a great act of redemption for His children.  It is the same invitation which Jesus must have given to those he encountered who were indeed curious about He who had done great things in Gods name, "Come and see."  Indeed, this is the same invitation which Christ Jesus gives to we today who have not taken that all important step to open their hearts to Him, "Come and see."  There are many who are curious about this son of a Jewish carpenter, curious enough to inquire as to just what He is all about.  What will we tell those who ask who this Jesus is?  

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.  When they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Amen.

Matthew 28: 16-20 NKJV 

This "Great commision" which Christ gave unto His disciples after His resurection is often used by those in the church as a example that we are to make diehard modern day disciples of Jesus.  Few realize that one of the definitions of the word disciple is "Follower."  In fact, I would suggest that Jesus would have us make followers of Him through all the nations...the great commision.  Yet we often struggle with just how to do this.  Do we create a multi million dollar ministry empire in order to bring the gospel of Christ to all the nations?  Do we drill into christians that it is our God given duty to create followers of Jesus?  Do we simply approach others around us with the very same invitation which Jesus Himself gave, come and see.  Not that there is anything misguided about traveling the world to preach the truth of Christ Jesus, but what do we tell those who are indeed curious about the Son of God?  I believe it is not a lecture or a sermon, but an invitation.  Come and see.  Come and see Him who calmed the waves.  Come and see Him who, while we were yet sinners, became sin on our behalf that we might be saved.  Come and see the one who loved us despite our sin condition that He would give Himself as a sin offering.  I for one have often struggled when faced with the opportunity of telling others about Jesus.  It seems it is easier for me to write about Him than to talk about Jesus.  Either way, my answer is almost always the same when someone is curious enough to ask me why it is that I follow this Jesus.  Come and see.  

~Scott~ 

~Come and see, Clavius~