26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
One command, two promises – how like Jesus: “Follow me” – “where I am, my servant also will be” – “My Father will honor the one who serves me.” In taking a servant it was customary in the beginning to settle both the work and the wages and Christ here sets forth both.
Just as the scholar follows the teacher; just as the sheep follows the Shepherd; just as the soldier follows the commanding officer, so too, the professing believer in Christ follows the Lord Jesus. There is a constant command in Scripture - given by Jesus to His disciples – both then and now - for believers to follow Him. Matthew tells us:
19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Matt 4:19 (NIV)
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Matt 16:24 (NIV)
“Obedience to Jesus’ command, Follow Me, is the key issue in every Christian’s life. As Jesus followed the Father’s will, so His disciples should follow their Lord whether the path leads to a cross or to some other difficult experience.” Bible Knowledge Commentary
Interestingly, the word “follow” carries with it a rich meaning. It is from the Greek word “Akoloutheo” meaning: “To be an attendant, accompany, go with or follow; distinguished from the occasional and temporary following of Jesus by the crowds or individuals in general; the individual calling to follow Jesus involved abiding fellowship with Him, not only for the sake of learning as a student from his teacher but also for the sake of the salvation known or looked for, which presented itself in this fellowship; the first thing involved in following Jesus is a cleaving to Him in believing trust and obedience, those cleaving to Him also following His leading and acting according to His example.” Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible - New Testament Lexical Aids.
Believing what Christ says and striving to do what He commands – even with the smallest amounts of knowledge and perhaps great infirmities; with little grace and dim hope – weak as we may be - Jesus declares these followers are His. It begins in the heart and fleshes out to the hands. To serve Christ in name alone is rather easy work – the woods are full of those proclaiming faith while all the while living debased and depraved lives with no remorse. Costing little and satisfying most people, this claim to faith lacks power because it is not grounded in Truth. Jesus shunned those who spoke of tritely following Him in name alone – those who were unwilling to follow when the cost became great. It is Jesus’ desire to wean us from this world by setting before us another world. Our world deems those who follow Jesus with whole-hearted devotion and a willing mind foolish and often rewards them with ridicule, laughter or opposition. Yet as believers we are not to seek the praise of man, rather God. Jesus tells us earlier in John:
44 How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God? John 5:44 (NIV)
As believers we are called to do the things that Christ has said, walk as He walked, go where He leads and in the way that He leads. The recompense promised the servant far exceeds the services and suffering. Those who follow Him are with Him now, those who follow Him will be with Him throughout eternity. Secondly, God honors the servant who serves His Son. God will make amends for worldly pain and loss by conferring an honor on them far beyond we should expect to receive.
“The reward is honour, true lasting honour, the highest honour; it is the honour that comes from God. Those who wait on Christ, God will honour. Those who serve Christ must humble themselves, and are commonly vilified by the world, in recompense of both which they shall be exalted in due time.” Matthew Henry
Christ and His servants shall never be parted – they shall be with Christ wherever He is – in paradise, and in His glorious kingdom. Whatever the Master has, the servant shall have also. This is why the apostle Paul could so boldly state:
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18 (NIV)
Remember, Paul was not carried to heaven on a bed of down. Indeed, it is hard to even read what this servant endured as he walked on this earth. A quick read of 2 Corinthians 11 confirms that. He also tells us earlier in that same book that he desires for us not to be uninformed regarding his sufferings rather to be informed on Whom he relied and on Whom he set his hope. This sets forth for us a wonderful example of a follower of Jesus:
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope 2 Cor 1:8-10 (NIV)
“If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.” C. T. Studd
"Barbara, the world needs to see Jesus...As long as all they can see is you, they will never see Me." Barbara Barker
"We are changed by beholding." Hudson Taylor
6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. 1 John 2:6 (NIV)