Following Jesus

⁵⁸ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”

⁵⁹ Then He said to another man, “Follow Me.” The man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰ But Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You, however, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹ Still another said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first let me bid farewell to my family.”

⁶² Then Jesus declared, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

²³ But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

²⁴ Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

²⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

³⁴ Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples, and He told them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

³⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it.

²³ Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

²⁴ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

²⁵ What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose or forfeit his very self?

²⁶ If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

²⁰ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”

²¹ Another of His disciples requested, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

²² But Jesus told him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

³⁷ Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;

³⁸ and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.

³⁹ Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

¹ “I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard.

² He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.

³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

⁴ Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.

⁵ I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.

⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.

²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.

²⁷ And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.

²⁸ Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it?

²⁹ Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him,

³⁰ saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’

³¹ Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

²¹ For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps:

²² “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”

⁶ By pointing out these things to the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of faith and sound instruction that you have followed.

⁷ But reject irreverent, silly myths. Instead, train yourself for godliness.

⁸ For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the one to come.

⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

¹⁰ so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully

⁶ Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him,

⁷ rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

¹ As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:

² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

¹ Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,

² and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

¹¹ We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing.

¹² Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!

¹³ For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness.

¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.

So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples.

And when they had brought their boats ashore, they left everything and followed Him.

²⁰ And at once they left their nets and followed Him.

²¹ Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them,

²² and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.

As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.

¹⁸ And at once they left their nets and followed Him.

¹⁹ Going on a little farther, He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat, mending their nets.

²⁰ Immediately Jesus called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him.

²⁵ Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,

²⁶ and when he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. So for a full year they met together with the church and taught large numbers of people. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.

⁴² Andrew brought him to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated as Peter).

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to set out for Galilee. Finding Philip, He told him, “Follow Me.”

²⁷ After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him,

²⁸ and Levi got up, left everything, and followed Him.

As He was walking along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Levi got up and followed Him.

¹⁹ So Elijah departed and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve teams of oxen, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah passed by him and threw his cloak around him.

²⁰ So Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will follow you.” “Go on back,” Elijah replied, “for what have I done to you?”

But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

³⁷ And when the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.

³⁸ Jesus turned and saw them following. “What do you want?” He asked. They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are You staying?”

³⁹ “Come and see,” He replied. So they went and saw where He was staying, and spent that day with Him. It was about the tenth hour.

¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs.”

¹⁶ Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd My sheep.”

¹⁷ Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was deeply hurt that Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” “Lord, You know all things,” he replied. “You know I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.

She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His message.

⁶ And you became imitators of us and of the Lord when you welcomed the message with the joy of the Holy Spirit, in spite of your great suffering.

⁷ As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

²¹ They preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,

²² strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, glorifying God. And all the people who saw this gave praise to God.

¹³ Then Jesus went up on the mountain and called for those He wanted, and they came to Him.

¹⁴ He appointed twelve of them, whom He designated as apostles, to accompany Him, to be sent out to preach,

¹⁵ and to have authority to drive out demons.

¹⁰ You, however, have observed my teaching, my conduct, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my perseverance,

¹¹ my persecutions, and the sufferings that came upon me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

⁶⁶ From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.

⁶⁷ So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?”