Great Expectations (2)

Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Matthew 19.27, 28

Things forsaken
Recall the way Peter qualified his question. The question Peter asked the Lord was not phrased to elicit an answer relative to any human being, or even anyone who might profess to believe in Jesus. Peter’s question related to those who “have left all and followed” Jesus. Peter’s question, in other words, is the question of those who are seeking full faith and who want to know what to expect.

Jesus’ answer is directed specifically to Peter’s question. Thus, before we explore His answer in any detail, we need to make sure that the great expectations He holds out to Peter are the ones we are free to hope for ourselves.

There are two facets to Peter’s question. The first relates to things forsaken. Peter said that he and the other disciples had “left all.” These men had all spent years occupied with making a living, fitting in with their communities, minding their own business, and taking care of all the daily routine activities and responsibilities that went along with this way of life.

But when Jesus called them, everything in their lives changed. In a very real sense, old things had passed away (2 Cor. 5.17). The old occupations and diversions that had filled up their lives were now replaced by a determination to be with Jesus and to learn from Him “the words of eternal life” (Jn. 6.68). Those who had wives still loved and took care of their wives; and certainly not all of those who followed Jesus forsook their vocations to become apostles and preachers.

But for all those, regardless of their station in life, who had “left all” to follow Jesus, everything in their lives was cast into a new framework, everything they did had a new purpose, and they began to pursue everything from a new perspective. Those who had been notorious sinners turned from their wicked ways, while those whose sins were subtler and less public also took seriously Jesus’ calls to repentance. And all of them began to make room in their lives for new disciplines, new practices, and new kinds of activities and relationships.

Things pursued
The second facet of Peter’s question related to things pursued – the new focus he and others had embraced. They were following Jesus. He called them to embrace a new perspective on their lives (Matt. 6.33) and to embrace a new quality of life, mirroring the righteousness of God’s Law (Matt. 5.17-19). He called them to make love for God and their neighbors the defining motif of all their relationships, roles, and responsibilities (Matt. 22. 34-40). Jesus took them to places they had never been before: among the sick and demon-possessed, in confrontations with the power brokers of their day, to feed the poor and destitute, to call sinners to repentance and faith, to love one another as Jesus loved them. And He commissioned them to the task of being witnesses and making disciples, regardless of their place or station in life (Acts 1.8; Matt. 28.18-20).

Jesus called them to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt. 6.33), and this is what they were determined to do.

This one thing…
The Apostle Paul echoed the commitment of Peter and the other disciples. He too counted everything that was precious to him as loss so that he could follow Jesus (Phil. 3.8-14). And he set himself as an example for all who would believe, everyone who intends to practice full faith in Jesus (1 Tim. 1.16).

As disciples of Jesus we are not all called to give up our families, jobs, or places of living in order to follow Jesus, though for some of us, such sacrifices may be necessary. Rather, we are called to forsake old ways of thinking and living – clinging to material things, wasting time in frivolous and self-indulgent diversions, fretting and fussing about this, that, and the other, taking advantage of others, and always looking out only for ourselves. All this we leave behind as we take up the full faith calling to follow Jesus into every area of our lives with a new outlook, new purpose, and new power for seeking and advancing the Kingdom of God.

Like those first believers, we who are called to follow Jesus count everything in our lives as loss; we leave behind everything that hinders our discipleship, and we relegate everything else in our lives to a place of strictly secondary importance compared to the charge of following Jesus, of seeking the high prize of the upward calling of God in Christ (Phil. 3.8-14).

Is this where we are? Can we truly say with Peter that we have left everything – everything – to follow Jesus? To such as these – and only such as these – Jesus holds out great expectations indeed.

For reflection
1.  Things forsaken, things pursued: In what ways does this define your experience of following Jesus?

2.  Meditate on Ephesians 5.15-17. How does following Jesus affect the way you use your time each day?

3.  What evidence do you expect to see in your life that following Jesus is making a difference?

Next steps: The Kingdom of God is the rule of King Jesus, which He is unfolding on earth as it is in heaven. What does it mean to “seek” this Kingdom? Talk with a Christian friend about this question.

T. M. Moore

This week’s study, Great Expectations, is Part 2 of a 10-part series, Full Faith. You can download Great Expectations by clicking here. Your gifts to The Fellowship of Ailbe make this ministry possible. It’s easy to give to The Fellowship of Ailbe, and all gifts are, of course, tax-deductible. You can click here to donate online through credit card or PayPal, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Dr., Essex Junction, VT 05452.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.