The “Follow Me”
Comments on Galatians with an ear to Luther’s commentary
Scripture Text: Galatians 1:1-5 and John 14:5-7
Series: Comments on Galatians
Christ’s mission was to bring us back into relationship with his Father, with God. That is why Jesus calls his followers his friends (John 15:15-16): he has reconciled them to God. Jesus is the only way this happens, as he himself says (John 14:6). If one wished to be properly related to the Father, he must go through the Son.
Reasoning and searching for God will never make you a friend of God. As any honest detective will tell you, evidence may lead you down the wrong trail. One may also grow weary in the pursuit of sufficient clues and the search becomes a cold case. Had one of his disciples responded to Jesus’ “follow me” with, Let me think about this and see what I think in a few days, he would have been so consumed by the cares of life that he would have found “reason” to just keep fishing. We would rather choose for ourselves if and when to follow God than to come when God calls.
Choosing to follow God is not an option. It simply does not work that way. This is why people think any old path to God will do. But they cannot choose; nor can they reason. God is beyond this line. He is inscrutable. But when he bids you come, be sure to respond to that befriending.
One becomes rightly related to God by becoming a friend of Jesus. So, when he speaks the “follow me” to your heart, follow.
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Author
Rev. Dr. Mark E. Ryman has served as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC, since 2021. Previously, Pastor Ryman served congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
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