Wherever Jesus went when He was on this earth He always had people following Him. Jesus never forced anyone to follow Him; He never paid anyone to follow Him; and Jesus never said to anyone “follow me or I will kill you.” Jesus was a man of peace who walked upon this earth doing good to people. Jesus would walk from town to town in Israel healing people and doing good things for them; He would cast out demons from their bodies; or provide food for the hungry; or heal them from many bad diseases. Jesus would also teach the people the truth about God; He would teach them about the Kingdom of God and how we as human beings could live on this earth and have a friendship with God.
Here is what the Bible says about Jesus:
“From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him.
A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too.
They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.
Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—he healed them all. Large crowds followed him wherever he went—people from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River.” – Matthew 4:17-25
“Markaas dabadeed Ciise wuxuu bilaabay inuu wax ku wacdiyo oo yidhaahdo, Toobadkeena, waayo, boqortooyadii jannadu waa dhow dahay.
Markuu badda Galili ag marayay wuxuu arkay laba walaalo ah, Simoon kii Butros la odhan jiray iyo Andaros oo ahaa walaalkiis, iyagoo shabag badda ku tuuraya, waayo, waxay ahaayeen kalluumaystayaal. Oo wuxuu ku yidhi, I soo raaca, waxaan idinka dhigayaa kuwa dadka jillaabta. Markiiba intay shabagyadii ka tageen, ayay raaceen isagii. Markuu meeshaas hore uga socday wuxuu arkay laba kale oo walaalo ah, Yacquub ina Sebedi iyo walaalkiis Yooxanaa, iyagoo aabbahood doonnida kula jira oo shabagyadoodii hagaajinaya, wuuna u yeedhay. Markiiba doonnidii iyo aabbahood way ka soo tageen oo way raaceen.
Ciise ayaa Galili oo dhan ku wareegay, isagoo sunagogyadooda wax ku baraya oo injiilka boqortooyadii ku wacdiyaya oo bukaan oo dhan iyo cudur oo dhan bogsiinaya dadka dhexdiisa. Warkiisuna waa gaadhay Suuriya oo dhan, oo waxay u keeneen kuwii bukay oo dhan, oo cudurro kala cayncayn ah iyo silic qabay, iyo kuwo jinni qaba, iyo kuwo suuxdin qaba, iyo kuwa curyaan ah, wuuna bogsiiyey. Waxaana raacay dad badan oo ka yimid Galili iyo Dekabolis iyo Yeruusaalem iyo Yahuudiya iyo Webi Urdun shishadiisa.”
When Jesus asked the people to follow Him the people had to give up their old life and follow Jesus; the people had to leave the things they had in their life and follow Jesus; the people had to give up what they had and give everything up for Jesus Christ. This is what Jesus called paying the price or counting the cost to become a follower of Jesus. There is always something you have to give up in order to get something else; you cannot go to the store to buy something unless you give up some money for the food that you want to buy; and when you decide in your heart to follow Jesus there will be a cost to you; you will not be able to follow Jesus without paying a price.
Jesus said:
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”
Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.
But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”
Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.” – Matthew 16:13-28
“Ciise goortuu dhinacyada Kaysariya Filibos yimid ayuu xertiisii weyddiiyey, oo wuxuu ku yidhi, Dadku yay ku sheegaan Wiilka Aadanaha? Waxay yidhaahdeen, Qaar waxay yidhaahdaan, Yooxanaa Baabtiisaha, qaarna Eliyaas, qaar kalena waxay yidhaahdaan, Yeremyaah, ama nebiyada midkood. Markaasuu wuxuu ku yidhi, Idinkuse yaad igu sheegtaan? Simoon Butros ayaa u jawaabay oo wuxuu ku yidhi, Waxaad tahay Masiixa ah Wiilka Ilaaha nool. Ciise ayaa u jawaabay oo ku yidhi, Waad barakaysan tahay Simoon ina Yoonis, waayo, bini-aadmi tan kuuma muujin, laakiin Aabbahayga jannada ku jira ayaa kuu muujiyey. Anigu waxaan kugu leeyahay, Butros baad tahay, oo dhagaxan ayaan ka dul dhisan doonaa kiniisaddayda, oo albaabbadii Haadees kama adkaan doonaan. Waxaan ku siin doonaa furayaasha boqortooyada jannada, oo wax alla wixii aad dhulka ku xidho ayaa jannada ku xidhnaan doona, oo wax alla wixii aad dhulka ku furto ayaa jannada ku furnaan doona. Markaasuu xertii ku amray inaanay cidna u sheegin inuu Masiixa yahay.
Kolkaa dabadeed Ciise Masiix ayaa bilaabay inuu xertiisii u sheego inay waajib ugu tahay inuu Yeruusaalem tago, oo xanuun badan ka helo waayeellada iyo wadaaddada sare iyo culimmada, oo la dilo, oo maalinta saddexaad la sara kiciyo. Markaasaa Butros gees u waday oo bilaabay inuu canaanto, oo wuxuu ku yidhi, Ilaah ha kaa hayo, Sayidow, taasu weligaa kuuma noqon doonto. Laakiin Butros ayuu u soo jeestay oo ku yidhi, Gadaal iga mar, Shayddaan yahow. Waad i xumaynaysaaye, waayo, waxyaalaha Ilaah kama fikirtid, waxaadse ka fikirtaa waxyaalaha dadka.
Markaasaa Ciise wuxuu xertiisii ku yidhi, Mid uun hadduu doonayo inuu iga daba yimaado, ha dayriyo doonistiisa, iskutallaabtiisana ha soo qaato oo ha i soo raaco. Kan doonaya inuu naftiisa badbaadiyo, waa lumin doonaa, oo kan naftiisa u lumiya aawaday wuu heli doonaa. Waayo, nin maxay u taraysaa hadduu dunida oo dhan helo oo uu naftiisa lumiyo? Ama nin muxuu u bixiyaa naftiisa beddelkeeda? Waayo, Wiilka Aadanahu wuxuu ammaanta Aabbihiis kula iman doonaa malaa’igihiisa, markaasuu nin kasta ugu abaalgudi doonaa siduu falay. Runtii waxaan idinku leeyahay, Kuwa halkan taagan qaarkood sinaba dhimasho uma dhadhamin doonaan ilaa ay arkaan Wiilka Aadanaha oo boqortooyadiisa ku imanaya.”
There is no escaping paying the price to follow Jesus; for you my dear Somali friend this will mean giving up your belief in your clan; you must be ready to lose you clan to follow Jesus Christ. Following Jesus Christ means that you will have to go against what the clan believes and tells you to do; following Jesus Christ means that you will have a new Lord in your life; and the new Lord will not be your clan, or the clan elders, but your new Lord will be your older brother Jesus Christ.
There is a cost to following Jesus; but the rewards for following Jesus are much greater than the cost; the good things that you receive by following Jesus are much better than what you pay to follow Him; there is nothing better on this earth or in the next life than to be known as a follower of Jesus Christ.
It is hard for us Somalis to leave everything we have to follow Christ; it is not easy for us Somalis to pay the price to follow Jesus because we have so much to give up; we have to give up our clan and our family and our way of life to follow Jesus Christ and His teachings. Jesus tells us to love the people around us from every clan and every nation; Jesus tells us to be kind and to feed and help our enemies; Jesus tells us to forgive those who do evil things to us; Jesus tells us to love Him more than to love our clan.
In China some Christians started to tell their brothers and sisters about the Lord Jesus Christ and how they could go to heaven by putting their faith in the Lord Jesus. The people telling other about Jesus did so with tears in their eyes because they wanted their brothers and sisters to understand what God had done for them through Jesus Christ. Many people started to believe in Jesus Christ and stayed there listening to those people telling them about Jesus. They didn’t want to go home and eat but they wanted to stay there and listen to the teachings from Jesus Christ. Finally the government soldiers came and started to beat the torture those people talking to the other about Jesus; their were tied with ropes and beaten. But the Christian missionaries just prayed and smiled. They were so happy to tell the other people about Jesus that they did not care if they were beaten or what happened to them because of their love for Jesus Christ. They had decided they would pay any price to follow their Master and Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the Lord and Saviour of the world. God sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins so that anyone who puts their faith in Jesus Christ will be saved and receive eternal life. If you want to have your sins forgiven and want to know that you have eternal life; if you want to feel the presence of God in your life all the time; if you want to have the joy of following Jesus Christ then put your faith in Him and He will give you eternal life and He will make you one of His followers and lead you and take care of you in this world and the next.
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you. Amen.
Let us pray…