Y6. Following Yeshua & Putting Him Before of All Else. [Make a Comment]
We are to follow Yeshua and put him before all else.
This precept is derived from His Word (blessed be He):
Key Scriptures
Mark 8:34
Then Yeshua called the crowd and his talmidim to him and told them, "If
anyone wants to come after me, let him say 'No' to himself, take
up his execution-stake, and keep following me."
Matthew 4:18-22
As Yeshua walked by Lake Kinneret, he saw two brothers who were fishermen -
Shim'on, known as Kefa, and his brother Andrew - throwing their net
into the lake. Yeshua said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you
fishers for men!" At once they left their nets and went with him. Going on
from there, he saw two other brothers - Ya'akov Ben-Zavdai and Yochanan
his brother - in the boat with their father Zavdai, repairing their nets;
and he called them. At once they left the boat and their father and went
with Yeshua.
(see also, Mark 1:16-20)
Matthew 10:37-38
Whoever loves his father or mother more than he loves me is not worthy of
me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than he loves me is not worthy
of me. And anyone who does not take up his execution-stake and follow me is
not worthy of me.
Supportive Scriptures - Eternal Life
Matthew 24:9
(See also Mark 10:17-21; Luke 18:18-23)
A man approached Yeshua and said, "Rabbi, what good thing should I do in
order to have eternal life?" He said to him, "Why are you asking me about
good? There is One who is good! But if you want to obtain eternal life,
observe the mitzvot." The man asked him, "Which ones?" and Yeshua said,
"Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't
give false testimony, honor father and mother and love your neighbor as
yourself." The young man said to him, "I have kept all these; where do I
still fall short?" Yeshua said to him, "If you are serious about reaching
the goal, go and sell your possessions, give to the poor, and you will have
riches in heaven. Then come, follow me!"
Matthew 19:28-29
Yeshua said to them, "Yes. I tell you that in the regenerated world, when
the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will
also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Isra'el.
Everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or
fields for my sake will receive a hundred times more, and he will obtain
eternal life.
Mark 10:28-30
Kefa began saying to him, "Look, we have left everything and followed you."
Yeshua said, "Yes! I tell you that there is no one who has left house,
brothers, sisters, mother, father, children or fields, for my sake and for
the sake of the Good News, who will not receive a hundred times over, now,
in the 'olam hazeh, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and
lands - with persecutions! - and in the 'olam haba, eternal life."
Luke 18:28-30
Kefa said, "Look, we have left our homes and followed you." Yeshua answered
them, "Yes! I tell you that everyone who has left house, wife, brothers,
parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, will receive many
times as much in the 'olam hazeh, and in the 'olam haba eternal
life."
Supportive Scriptures - Other
Matthew 16:24
Then Yeshua told his talmidim, "If anyone wants to come after me, let him
say 'No' to himself, take up his execution-stake, and keep
following me."
Luke 9:57-62
As they were traveling on the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you
wherever you go." Yeshua answered him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds
flying about have nests, but the Son of Man has no home of his own." To
another he said, "Follow me!" but the man replied, "Sir, first let me go
away and bury my father." Yeshua said, "Let the dead bury their own dead;
you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God!" Yet another said, "I will follow
you, sir, but first let me say good-by to the people at home." To him
Yeshua said, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and keeps looking back is
fit to serve in the Kingdom of God."
Luke 14:25-33
Large crowds were traveling along with Yeshua. Turning, he said to them, "If
anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, his mother, his wife, his
children, his brothers and his sisters, yes, and his own life besides, he
cannot be my talmid. Whoever does not carry his own execution-stake and
come after me cannot be my talmid. "Suppose one of you wants to build a
tower. Don't you sit down and estimate the cost, to see if you have
enough capital to complete it? If you don't, then when you have laid
the foundation but can't finish, all the onlookers start making fun of
you and say, 'This is the man who began to build, but couldn't
finish!' Or again, suppose one king is going out to wage war with
another king. Doesn't he first sit down and consider whether he, with
his ten thousand troops, has enough strength to meet the other one, who is
coming against him with twenty thousand? If he hasn't, then while the
other is still far away, he sends a delegation to inquire about terms for
peace. So every one of you who doesn't renounce all that he has
cannot be my talmid."
Commentary
For Yeshua to say that to follow him we must leave our homes and members of our family seems unreasonably extreme until we understand what he means. It is disclosed in Luke 18:22 in which Yeshua tells the young leader:
There is one thing you still lack. Sell whatever you have, distribute the proceeds to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me!
Verse 23 that follows tells the story:
But when the man heard this, he became very sad, because he was very rich.
For him giving up wealth was a requirement because he was enamored of his holdings to the extent that he gave it precedence over following Yeshua. For many of us, money may not be the hindrance; what each of us must give up or walk away from will be according to our own idolatries and excessive affections.
What Yeshua is calling us to do, is to divest ourselves of everything and everyone that we care about more than we care about him. Were Yeshua a mere mortal, his insistence on this would be akin to human slavery and sinful. But Yeshua is not a mere mortal; "in him, bodily, lives the fullness of all that God is" (Colossians 2:9), and he is God's son.
Although pursuing eternal life (salvation) is not commanded, it is the clear benefit and result of following Yeshua.
Classical Commentators
This Mitzvah is not addressed by any of the Jewish classical commentators.
NCLA: JMm JFm KMm KFm GMm GFm