Would You Follow Jesus to the Cross?

How far we follow Jesus is determined by how deep we see His forgiveness in us!

Think about that statement…when we only deal with the superficial forgiveness of Jesus in our lives, we will tend to superficially follow Him. He is a great “feel good” convenience allowing us to wear the t-shirt that says, “follower of Jesus”.

But ask yourself this question…would you have followed Jesus all the way to the cross?

Let me introduce you to the women who did…

At the beginning of Jesus ministry, there were a group of women who chose to follow Jesus. 

“Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases.  Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.”

Luke 8:1-3 NLT

At some point in their lives early in Jesus’ ministry, they had experienced the healing of Jesus. Jesus had cured them of evil spirits that tortured their souls and diseases that caused them to no longer participate in the community festivities. But this healing went much deeper for them. Along with the physical healing came forgiveness.  A forgiveness so deep that they dropped everything to follow Him.

They had experienced life change at such an

epic proportion that their devotion to Jesus was unmatched.

Changed lives results in changed plans!

Prior to the decision of these women to follow Jesus, there was another woman who chose complete devotion. Let’s take a quick look! (I LOVE biblical context!!!! It tells the whole story!) 

“One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume.” Luke 7:36, 37 NLT

One evening Jesus was having dinner in the home of a Pharisee. Now, these Pharisees are typically the men that we don’t like. But this guy was a bit more curious, so he invited Jesus into his home for a little bit of food and fellowship. While Jesus was standing in the living room…we will just imagine here for a bit…a woman stepped into the house, uninvited. As she stepped into the room, she saw Jesus standing on the dirt floor and immediately knelt at His feet. But she didn’t kneel at the His toes, but at His heels (behind Jesus). As she knelt behind Jesus, she began to weep. You see, this was not a woman of good reputation.  She was considered an immoral woman which could only mean the worse in those days.  As she wept, her tears fell on Jesus’s feet causing the dirt to run down his feet becoming wet mud.  This Pharisee had forgotten or chose not to clean the feet of Jesus when He entered his home.  This is considered customary in those days and a sign of respect which makes you wonder how curious this Pharisee really was about the true Jesus. As her tears continued to flow, she took her hair…yes, her hair…and began to wipe his feet. As the men in the room stood around watching, in their opinion, this ridiculous display of devotion, she then began to kiss his feet. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a beautiful alabaster jar and broke it causing the delicate aroma to fill the room. Pouring the perfume on his feet, she continued this display of affection by more kisses and more weeping.

As the Pharisee questioned the intent of this woman, Jesus said…

“I tell you, her sins-and they are many- have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love.

But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Luke 7:47 NLT

What an incredibly powerful statement!

Because the woman knew the depth of her forgiveness, she showed Jesus much love…she followed Him, she devoted herself to Him, she sacrificed for Him!

She was fully devoted because she was fully changed!

The same is true for the other women who followed Jesus.

The lives of Mary…

                            Joanna…

                                         Susanna…

              were fully devoted because they were fully changed!

Throughout the ministry of Jesus, these women chose to follow Him because He had changed their lives.  

As they walked alongside Jesus through the dusty roads, they watched him heal the lame, cause the blind to see, and the dead live again.  With each step in their journey, their devotion reached depths that are unimaginable. But no matter what they saw Him do in the lives of others, they knew that they too had a story of healing and forgiveness.  It was their own story that pushed them to follow…to devote!

Then one day, they stood at the edge of a crowd hearing His name mocked. They saw his body beaten and scorned. This was their Savior…this was their friend!

And many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance.” Matthew 27:55

The man they had devoted their lives to …

who healed their diseases,

cast out their demons and was DEAD!

He had given them a reason to live…

Now, those reasons had just died on a wooden cross.

As they followed the body of Jesus to the tomb, they watched as the stone was placed in front of the tomb as if to symbolize the closing of a book…the ending of a story.

Where do they go now?

Will the sun rise on their tomorrow or would it hide behind the darkness of today?

“Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.

Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lighting, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.

Then the angel spoke to the women. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

He isn’t here!

HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD, just as he said would happen.”

Matthew 28:1-6 NLT

Running from the tomb, their fear turned to laughter then back to fear.

What had just happened?

Was He truly alive?

As they stumbled on the rocky path, they saw Jesus!

Falling at His feet, they worshipped Him. I can imagine that in their elation, they grabbed the feet of Jesus causing Him to stumble a bit.  Just to touch His feet, made this moment real for these women. He really was ALIVE!

Releasing His feet, the women then stood to look into His face.  The women grabbed one another’s hands grasping tightly assuring one another that what they were seeing was real!

Assuring the women that this was real, Jesus told the women to run and tell the other disciples.

In their devotion, they were given a moment that no one else received.  They saw the risen Lord before anyone else.  They had followed from the streets of Galilee to the hill of Golgotha to the empty tomb. And now they get to spread the message of the resurrected Jesus.

Why…why these women?

I think it goes back to what Jesus said about the sinful woman who poured the perfume on His feet…

“I tell you, her sins-and they are many- have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love.”

These women had felt the depth of His forgiveness, the change from His healing therefore they followed Him all the way to the cross!

How far would you follow Him? All the way to the cross?

When we look inside ourselves and experience

 the forgiveness of Jesus to the depth He intended for us to experience,

WE WILL FOLLOW HIM ANYWHERE!

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