Follow Me
January 25, 2026. Mathew 4:12-25. Erin Lussier
The Gospel reading begins with the start of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus has just undergone temptation in the wilderness and then withdrew into Galilee, and went and lived in Capernaum. And this is so fascinating - it fulfills the prophecy written in Isaiah 9. Something that’s really important to remember is that the Jews are very familiar with the Tanakh, the Old Testament and they know the prophecies. Matthew was writing to a Jewish audience, whom he knew would also be very familiar with these prophecies.
So when he quotes one section of the Scripture, we are expected to be familiar with the rest as well.
The following verses of Isaiah 9 read: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” And it continues on.
Christ is the fulfillment of this prophecy. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. And what is this great light? Christ! To us a child is born, to us a son is given. This is Jesus. And where will it happen? In the land beyond the Jordan, the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, which are the region that is Nazareth by Jesus’ time.
Matthew is spelling it out for us. This Jesus is the Messiah. He is the one spoken about by the prophets, by Isaiah. Here Jesus is, living in the very place prophesied by Isaiah some 700 years prior. Here is Jesus, the son, the child, whose birth we recently celebrated, and now His ministry has begun, and Matthew writes that “from that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
Jesus then saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately, they left their nets and followed Him. And going on from there, Jesus saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
How did they know? How could they trust a man they had never met? How could they trust someone that many might see as a wacko, a lunatic? “Follow me?” What does that mean? How could they leave behind their families, their livelihoods, to follow this man, just by hearing Him speak? And immediately, too! Without consideration or hesitation. They dropped everything to follow this man, this Jesus of Nazareth.
The Word of God. This Jesus, fully human and fully God. The God-man. The Son. Two words, “Follow me.” And it was so. Without Christ, these are two ordinary words. But spoken by Christ, these are the words of God, and God’s words have power. Paul understood this. We heard this morning, “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” God’s Word does stuff. The Word of the Cross is the power of God, given for us, for you and for me, for salvation, for the forgiveness of our sins.
“Follow me.” These are the words that Christ spoke to the disciples, and these are the Words that He speaks to us. Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, the Son, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. This is the Jesus who has called us to follow Him. This is the Jesus who took His place on the throne of the cross for the forgiveness of sins and rose from the dead on the third day. The Father has washed us with the blood of this Lamb, has dipped us and sealed us in the waters of Baptism. Christ feeds us with Himself each and every time we dine at the table.
“Follow me!” And like the disciples, the Word of God, powerful and saving, speaks life into us and lights a fire within our hearts! Our God has called us. And we respond with praise and thanksgiving and rejoicing.
This grace is freely given. And that is an incredible blessing. But, where the Word of God is proclaimed, Satan is at work, and one of the greatest threats to faith that trusts in the promise of free grace, poured out for you, is apathy. Apathy. Lutherans in particular are accused of this. We rejoice in Christ crucified, in free grace, in faith alone–and Selah! I am so thankful that we do, for this is what the Scriptures proclaim. But do we focus on justification and forget about sanctification?
Do we grow apathetic, becoming accustomed to the Word of the Cross which is the power of God? Do we get used to the idea that the Creator of the Universe knows our names? Cares about us as individuals? Knows our hearts and minds and personalities and joys and struggles?
Apathy threatens to attack us at every turn: in prayer, in works, in worship, in our faith.
The God of the Universe hears our prayers. Meh. God promises that He hears our prayers and shows us in the Scriptures that He acts in response to prayer. Cool. On top of all this, our Heavently Father has also commanded us to pray. Whatever.
Do we become accustomed to the Father being the recipient of our prayers, to the Son being our mediator and the Holy Spirit interceding on our behalf? When I paused and remembered what prayer truly is, I felt incredibly convicted. So often I forget how incredible God’s gift of prayer is to us! I become apathetic, unimpressed, meh, to this incredible gift that God has given me.
What about in the way we serve others, in our good works? Scripture says “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph. 2:10) Scripture says “The righteous will say, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[c] you were doing it to me!’” (Mt. 25:37-40) Jesus saids, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)
We are called to care for one another, to serve one another, to love one another, to pour out ourselves for the sake of another. We are called to set aside ourselves and look outward to the needs of those around us. We are called to be giving, generous, to be servants, to be humble. What is our response? Meh. Justification by faith. I’m good with God. We’re Lutherans - we don’t believe in good works.
Yes we do! Scripture does not teach us that our good works do anything for us before God with regard to our salvation, but our neighbour needs our good works. There are people all around us who are struggling, who need a friend to lean on, a listening ear. This is how they shall know we are Christians - by our love. In loving our neighbour, we bear witness to Christ and His love for us.
The last one: worship. Are we excited to come to worship? Do we look forward to Sundays? Maybe sometimes, or even most of the time, but do we also sometimes feel like worship is a chore? Something to check off the box before we can head home and flop on the couch and watch a favourite TV show? Would we rather be at home, finishing getting ready for the week so we can have a chill Sunday afternoon?
Christ is here in our midst. Christ, the Word made flesh, is present in the Word, in the preached Word, in the visible Word, the Sacraments. Meh. It’s nothing new. We’re used to it! Rather than rejoicing that we get commune with Christ Himself at the table of His very body and blood, we drag our feet and wish that we could sleep in. I mean, come on, I see God in creation, so I would much rather be out for a morning walk in the woods than in the church on Sunday. I do my devotion and then hit the golf course. I don’t need to come to worship to hear the Scriptures. I put on my favourite podcast or read a theology book and, you know what, they go deeper than the preacher ever does. I don’t need church on Sunday.
Does any of this sound familiar? It is all too familiar for me. Each and every one of us is a sinner. We are believers who long to follow Jesus, but we fall short each and every day.
In the Gospel this morning, Christ spoke two small, simple, earth shattering words: “Follow me.” And with fish still flopping in the net, Simon Peter and Andrew followed this man. James and John, sons of Zebedee, immediately left their boat and their father to follow this Jesus.
The incredibly good news for us is that the power rests in God’s Word, not in our ability to follow. Each and every one of us falls short in following Jesus. Our Gospel is beautiful, with the incredible examples of Simon Peter and Andrew dropping everything to answer Jesus’ call. But, let us also remember that this is the same Peter who fell asleep in the garden of Gethsemane before the crucifixion, the same Peter who began to sink while walking on water, the Peter whom Jesus calls “Satan”, the Peter who denied knowing Jesus three times.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously said, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Mt. 16:24)
When Christ calls us, He calls us to die. In Baptism, the old Adam is drowned and we are raised to new life, we are new creatures in Christ, Baptized into His death and also into His resurrection. Baptism is so incredibly powerful and such a beautiful gift. Let us rest in the promises God pours out for us in the Holy water of Baptism, where our sin is washed away and we come out pure, righteous, new. Each and every day following, we live as the Baptized. We live a a life of repentance, daily turning away from our sin and trusting in God’s promise of forgiveness and life that lasts forever.
In prayer, God gives us the gift of shelter and protection. Luther wrote, “We are far too weak to deal with the devil and all his power and followers who set themselves against us. They might easily crush us under their feet. Therefore, we must consider and take up those weapons with which Christians must be armed in order to stand against the devil.”
We are under attack, and prayer is protection and a weapon against Satan, who longs to harm us. Believers can pray with full confidence that God hears prayer–and not just long, eloquent prayers, but all prayers of all people. Apathetic prayer is destroyed when God reminds us that He is listening, that He has given us prayer as a gift, and that prayer is powerful.
In service, God has prepared us and equips us to do the good that He has set before us. Christ gave His very life up for our sake, and we get to respond in love by caring for and serving our neighbour, not out of mere obligation, but with joy and love. We don’t have to do good works to please God, rather, we get to do them because of God’s great love for us. Neighbourly love thrives as a result of the Gospel.
In Worship, Christ promises that He is here. So often we long for divine encounters, we seek intimacy with God through our emotions, through some sign, through a feeling or a sense of God being with us. But we forget that Christ has told us where we can find Him. He comes to be with us in Worship, in the Word, both preached and visible. God is not present in a podcast or on a nature walk in the same way that He is present, bodily, in with and under the bread and wine in the Eucharist. How do we know this? Because He tells us. God tells His people where He is. In Scripture. In the forgiveness of sin. In the Sacraments. Given for you.
“Follow me.” To follow Christ is not an easy walk. Many have been martyred or persecuted for their faith. It is not popular, nor is it easy to give of yourself to your neighbour. But to follow Christ is to trust that Christ has laid His life down for you. You have been set free by His blood, and given grace that is free, but not cheap, for it was bought at a very expensive price.
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
Selah. Praise be to God.
Amen.
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