Fan Club

Have you ever been part of a fan club? Found an entertainer or celebrity that you felt strongly enough about that you would grace them with your presence? Did you think about what it was that made you want to be with them?

I was thinking this morning about Jesus’ fan club:

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: (Matthew 5:1 KJV)

They followed Him:

Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; (Matthew 12:14-15 KJV)

They followed Him because He did things for them. Things they had not seen before:

And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him. (Mark 3:8 KJV)

Yet, He knew them individually:

For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? (Mark 5:28-31 KJV)

Not all wanted Him around when they saw His power and authority:

Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again. (Luke 8:37 KJV)

Still, multitudes surrounded Him:

And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. (Matthew 21:8-9 KJV)

Until all forsook Him, even Peter – the rock, as Jesus called him:

But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak. And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept. (Mark 14:71-72 KJV)

Jesus did not come to build a fan base. He did not come to befriend the world, to be liked and uplifted. He was specific about why He was here:

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:14-17 KJV)

A bit shorter version:

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10 KJV)

Understanding that we are lost allows us to understand our desire for salvation. We are no longer “fans” of an authoritatively awesome orator, we are His for eternity - through the grace of God.