Following and obeying Jesus!

Reflecting on Matthew 28:16-20 (one more time)

“Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:20)
As a Jesus follower, I am committed to obeying Jesus.
I spend my time in the Jesus stories to discern what He commanded.
Going through these stories again and again, I still learn things.
I also unlearn things, where I realize I was mistaken in the past.

I am a Jesus follower.
This claim sounds normal, but for me it is controversial.
Because this also means that I am not a bible follower.
I use the bible as a useful tool to know and obey Jesus.
But there are many things in the bible that do not reflect Jesus.
Just because a verse is in the bible, does not mean it is a Jesus teaching.

“Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.” (Leviticus 19:27)
“Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.” (Psalm 137:9)
“Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head.” (1 Corinthians 11:5)

These ones may seem obvious, but other ones may be less obvious.
Christians have disagreed for centuries which bible words to obey or not.

As a Jesus follower, I believe Jesus is the key to reading the bible.
He is the Living Word of God, the Word made human, the full revelation of God.
I compare bible stories to Jesus and the Jesus Way, to better understand Jesus.
If something does not sound like Jesus, I hold off in obeying it.
Somehow it points to Jesus, and may point to the way of love.
But Jesus is my final authority, not Moses and not Paul.
I read Moses and Paul through Jesus, not the other way around.
The more we know Jesus and the Jesus Way, the clearer His (and God’s) will is.
I am not under the Moses Law, I am under Christ’s Law, which is God’s Law.

“To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.” (1 Corinthians 9:20-21)

Jesus explains that there are two Laws we are called to obey:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

As I see it, God’s Law consists of two commands: love God and love your neighbour.
All of the other writings are examples of what love may or may not look like.
What love looks like in ancient Israel, or in Corinth, will be different.
How we apply love in 1200 BC or AD 1 or AD 2025 will be different.
But Jesus has shown us that however we apply it, our ways should reflect His love.
His self-denying, other-serving, God- and kingdom- prioritizing love.
Love embraces and serves all people as children of God in need of grace.
Love takes the role of a servant, and lets go of its own rights.
Paul knows, this, and unpacks the meaning of love for all times and places:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

The word “love” in this paragraph could be exchanged for “God” and “Jesus”.
“Love” is what God and Jesus are, and what Jesus commanded us to do.
Our task as Jesus followers is to discern what love applied looks like.
I am thankful the inspired bible has many examples of what it does, and doesn’t look, like.
I am thankful for other Jesus followers who help me discern what love does, and doesn’t, look like.
But in the end, I am not a bible follower, and I am not a church follower.
I am a Jesus follower, and I invite you to be a Jesus follower too.
Don’t follow me, or the bible, or the church – follow Jesus!

PRAYER 
Lord Jesus, You have taught and modelled what love looks like. It is because of God's love through You that I am accepted, forgiven, restored. And You have given me Your Spirit so that I would grow more and more like You and Your love.

Guide me by Your Spirit to use the bible and the support of other Jesus followers to discern and apply God's will, what You have commanded me, in the daily details of my life. Help me to do whatever I do as an expression of my following and obeying You!