He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.
Mark 5:37
For most of my life, I’ve wanted to be chosen. In first grade, I wanted to be chosen for kickball. Starting in fourth grade, I wanted to be chosen for Greek Dodge. Starting around 15, I wanted to be chosen for basketball
To be chosen meant that you got to play. Not to be chosen meant that you stood on the sidelines. To be chosen meant that you were wanted. You were valuable. You were useful. You were desirable. Not to be chosen meant that you were worthless. Others were better than you. People didn’t know you or trust you.
Here Jesus chooses Peter, James, and John to stay with him as he goes to Jairus’ broken household. This was no great feast or welcome waiting for them at the end. Just the opposite, there was going to be crying, sadness, tears.
The walk must have been brutal. His daughter, the reason Jairus left home in the first place to seek out Jesus, is dead. What would they talk about on this journey? The answer: nothing. Silence.
His journey must have started out with great energy when Jairus went to find Jesus. Then there were the steps on their way to where the sick girl was laying. But when word reached them about her death, it all must have seemed like a colossal waste of time. There’s no more reason to hurry, or even to bring Jesus for that matter.
But into this tornado of swirling disappointment and emptions, Jesus chooses three of his followers to come along. And who did he choose?
· Peter – the one always opening his mouth and sticking his foot into it. Jesus even called him out as working and speaking for Satan[1].
· James and John – they must have been quite a handful for Jesus to give them a name like Sons of Thunder[2].
Jesus chose them to follow him. Jesus chose them to become fishers of men. Jesus chose them be part of his inner circle. Jesus chose them to personally see and experience his greatest miracles, majesty, and might.
They certainly were not the richest. Nor the most educated. Not the best speakers. Not captains of industry or technology. They weren’t people with a lot of spare time either.
When Jesus chose people to follow him, he used wildly different criteria then when we use for sports. When we chose up sides, we’re looking for talent, speed, strength. These were the people that brought something to the table. They had skills and qualities that would help us win.
But when Jesus’ chooses, he’s looking for a completely different set of skills, talents, abilities. He’s not looking for people who know their strengths and how to use it. Just the opposite, he’s looking for people who know their weakness and depend on God and his power to make them strong.
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:9
When it comes to living life, how do you want to be seen? As someone who’s strong? Intelligent? Funny? Wealthy? Confident? Good looking? We all have two invisible lists in our mind.
· Ourselves – what we think about ourselves. This is how we see ourselves. Our abilities. Our reputations. Our strengths.
· Others – how we think others see us. This is our mental picture about how the people around us think about our abilities. Our reputations. Our strengths.
We spend way too much time moving back and forth between these lists. Instead of wasting time thinking and worrying about these, we should put out time to much better use by thinking about how God sees us.
Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
God is not impressed at all with any of that outside stuff. He’s entirely focused on the inside. Just like he chose those weak disciples, so he chooses us.
And our part is to choose him back.
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