One Lord, Many Followers--by Linden Malki

One of the many amazing things about God is that He deals with people on many levels.  At the earliest records we have of God's relationship with those who became His "Chosen" people, there were those of each generation who rejected this relationship, and those who accepted obedience to God's principles. Even within the tribes and families who claimed the relationship with God, there were those who left the faith, and there were outsiders who were grafted in through obedience. We also find in many of the prophets of the Old Testament that the reason they were "chosen" was to demonstrate God's Word to the rest of the world.

By the period of Roman rule, there were outsiders who were influenced by the Jewish teachings, but they were still outsiders in many ways. The Saducees, the political/priestly leadership, tried to find a balance between a complete Roman cultural takeover and retention of the basic Law. The Pharisees, many of them scholars and leaders in the synagogues (which were primarily teaching centers), were determined to demand general obedience to all of the Law, orally transmitted as well as the writings. There were other religious groupings as well at the time. 

Two remarkable men appear on the scene, both of whom were born with the intervention of God Himself.  John, called "the Baptist", is a reappearance of a traditional earlier prophet, preaching repentance and renewal to gathering crowds in the lower Jordan valley. There were Pharisees and Saducees in the crowds, but as "professional religious men" who believed that their descent from Abraham and nit-picking observance of law was all they needed. John replied that it meant nothing, that God could create children of Abraham from the stones in the riverbed. When Jesus appears and asks for baptism, he is speakiing of his own personal obedience, as well as an example to the crowds. We find these layers throughout Jesus' ministry:  there is his example of the Godly life; there is the teaching to the small dedicated group of fulltime followers, and crowds of varied seriousness (which we still see today).

Carrying this through to the climax of Jesus' ministry, we see his own personal and difficult willingness to stand up in the face of the unfriendly crowds, and much of political and religious leadership, and allow himself to be killed. At that point, there were only his closest family and friends.  On the third day, when he arose to life, the groups began to reappear--the disciples, then the wider circle of close followers which grew to a reported 500 people. On the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit empowered the small group of 120, the wider group grew into thousands, and this has continued until today. The interesting thing about the growing groups is that they quickly became open to anyone, of any ancestry and background; the only requirement being the repentance and committment that mirrored where it started with John the Baptist. This is what we are about today as a church: a group of believers who each have their relationship with God, and all share a committment to His words, His works, and His love.