Am I Good Enough? Time for Self-Examination

All of Jesus’ disciples were rejects. They failed the test of discipleship long before the Rabbi from Nazareth came on the scene. Yet, Jesus called them to follow Him. It should force us to ask: am I good enough? It’s time for some self-examination. I’ll prove it to you in less than 10 minutes. 

You’re a fifteen year old boy from the Galilee. You’ve excelled in your study of the Hebrew Scriptures. All of your peers have returned to apprenticing in their father’s trade. But you want more. You want to follow a great rabbi. You’ve studied them all. You understand their yoke of Torah. And you’ve chosen the one you want to be like. You’ve humbly approached him and asked, “Rabbi! May I follow you?” What the rabbi really understands, is that you’re asking if he thinks you can be like him.

The Test

It’s time for the rabbi to test the possible disciple. He would often say something like: My son, I’m humbled by your request.  If you would, please quote for me the purity laws from Leviticus.

If the disciple could do this, the rabbi would continue: The prophet, Amos, refers to the Book of Deuteronomy 17 times in order to validate his prophecy.  Please, quote for me each of these 17 passages, and explain how Amos uses these.

And this could continue for hours; the rabbi asking question after question of the disciple.  And almost every time, the discussion resulted in the rabbi saying: My son, you love the LORD with all of your heart, and soul, and strength.  And you know the Scriptures very well.  But, my son, you should return to your father and honor the LORD by working with him.  Be a fisherman (or carpenter; or iron worker; etc) for the LORD.

This was the common response.  To be selected by a Shmeka Rabbi to become a disciple was the highest of honors.  And it rarely happened.  But for a select few, the rabbi would say, “Lech Acharai!”  Come! Follow me!  

And the disciple’s entire life would become consumed with watching everything the rabbi did; listening to everything the rabbi said; interpreting the Scriptures exactly as the rabbi interpreted them.  Being a disciple required total, complete devotion to the rabbi.  The Talmud describes the relationship of disciple and rabbi with this prayer: “May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.”  A disciple would walk so closely behind his rabbi, that the very dust from the rabbi’s footsteps would cover the disciple as he walked.

Jesus and His Disciples

And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.   And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.

Mark 3:12-15 (ESV)

• “…called to him those whom he desired…”
• “…so that they might be with him…”
• “…he might send them out to preach and have authority…”

A Disciple is Not Above His Teacher

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.  It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.

Matthew 10:24-25a (ESV)

• “It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher…”

I Chose You

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this that someone lay down his life for his friends.   You are my friends if you do what I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

John 15:12-16 (ESV)

• “You are my friends if you do what I command you…”
• “You did not choose me, but I chose you…”

Follow Me

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.  And he 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 he 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.

Matthew 4:18-22 (ESV)

• “Lech Acharai” or “Come!  Follow Me!
• “Immediately they left their nets…their boat…their father…”

 Is it any wonder why the disciples dropped their nets and lives and followed Jesus?  The very fact that they were fishing tells us something important: they hadn’t made the cut.  They weren’t following a rabbi.  Maybe they’d wanted to.  Maybe they’d tried to.  But instead, they were fishing.  And Jesus, a rabbi with “semekah” straight from Heaven, who had healed the sick and turned water into wine, was saying to these twelve men: “I believe you can be like me.”

The honor we’ve received is unimaginable. We are all invited by Jesus – the greatest rabbi who ever lived – to follow Him. We are offered the chance to become His disciple. He believes in us.