Sárospataki Füzetek 20. (2016)
2016 / 2. szám - MISCELLANEOUS / SONSTIGES - Rob van Houwelingen: Follow int he Steps of Christ
Rob van Houwelingen unconventional instructional practices became more widely known. With him, disci- pleship is not a passing thing; no, being his disciple is to embark on a lifelong journey. Losing oneself Not everyone had what it took to follow Jesus. For he was on the road to Jerusalem, where death on the cross awaited him. He was prepared to lose his own life to save the lives of others. Sooner or later, each of his followers will come to the same crossroads. Are you prepared, then, to give up everything? As someone who is carrying a cross, on the way to a place of execution? Following Christ means cutting into one’s own flesh: prepared, even, to dare to lose one’s own life. To follow him is to nail your present life to the cross, and to make a completely new start. In one word: to lose yourself. John 6:66 says that, because of his ‘hard teaching,’ many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with Jesus. There, the Greek verb peripatein is used: ‘to walk about,’ suggesting that these disciples did not really follow him. It is not for nothing that all four gospels contain Christ’s solemn warning: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross andfollow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save A” (Matthew 16:25-26; Mark 8:34-35; Luke 9:23-24; cf John 12:15). Gain through loss of self! Inimitable In the gospels, the Greek verb akolouthein is used to denote the following of Jesus Christ: ‘to accompany, to keep company with, to belong to a group’. Sometimes, the word opisoo is added, ‘to follow after, in order to indicate the leader who is being followed. The Lord determines the path, and his way is unique. Others may well follow in his footsteps, that is: accompany him on his way, just as the first disciples did, when Jesus was still on earth and made his way around Israel. Still, we can feel it coming: this path on earth will come to an end. During the last evening before his death on the cross, Jesus had prepared his closest followers for that. I am going away soon, he had said, and where I go you cannot follow. Simon Peter had asked: “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannotfollow me now, but you willfollow afterward. ” Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. ” (John 13:36-37). Peter was prepared to follow Jesus into death, but what Jesus meant was his departure to heaven, his return to the Father who had sent him. For the present, this path is one that people cannot follow. That is also what made the farewell at the lake of Tiberias painful, as the end of the fourth Gospel shows. In veiled terms, Jesus foretold how Peter would glorify God by his death: he too would be crucified. Whereupon Jesus said to him: “Follow me.” When Peter turned, he saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved (John) was following them ... But Jesus said to him: “You, follow me” (John 21:19,20,22). 96 Sárospataki Füzetek 20. évfolyam 2016 - 2
