Prepare the Way

Author: Joseph

Date: December 8, 2019

Yeshua meets His first disciples at the sea of Galilee and calls them to follow Him. Their response is that they immediately followed Him (Matthew 4:20, 22). But why were they so immediate in their action?

John had been proclaiming repentance as well as the nearness of the kingdom of God. The people, then, were in anticipation that what he was saying was true: that they needed to be ready for the kingdom of God. When Yeshua went to John to be baptized, God made it known to those who were witnessing the event that Yeshua was His Son.

John was proclaiming the kingdom of God was near, so when Yeshua was revealed to be God’s Son when He was baptized, it was reasonable to think that He would be the one to bring it about. Yeshua was also proclaiming the same message as John, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).

Yeshua had a lot about Him to be curious about. The people He encountered – and thereafter became His disciples – had many reasons to follow Him from what was known about Him. They also had good expectations about what they were hearing.

Yeshua approaches these select few men and asks them to follow Him. They were already curious as to who He was, but there must have been great excitement within them now that He Himself was calling them to Him. The disciples could not deny His call to follow Him. They were curious, excited, and knew that following after Him would change their lives, though at the time they did not know exactly how.

"...tell them about who He is and His kingdom..."

When people hear about Yeshua and when they encounter Yeshua are two very different events. As believers in Yeshua, it is our responsibility to tell others about Yeshua and lead them to curiosity about Him. The best way to do this is to tell them about who He is and His kingdom, but we have to know the truth of who He is and what His desire is for mankind. Even if our knowledge is limited, if it is truthful, we can still lead others to Him. If our knowledge of Him and His kingdom plan is limited, however, then we must be eager to know Him more and seek to know His will more intently.

We, similarly to John, are to go ahead of Him and let people know who He is, so that when they meet Him, they are able to rightfully respond and follow after Him just as the disciples did.

Do you think you can prepare people to meet Yeshua through a testimony of who He is? Did you ever consider that this is something all His disciples should be able to do? Once we encounter Yeshua and follow after Him as His disciple, we should be ready to tell others of who He is. When we do this, we prepare the way for Yeshua to meet them personally and change their lives forever. Ensure that you are ready at any time to give a testimony of who He is. You never know if you are speaking to those whom God is seeking to use mightily for His kingdom.

Matthew 4:18-22

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB). www.lockman.org