How to Follow Jesus Christ?

Statue of Jesus from Christ the King Roman Catholic Church, Koothuparamba, Kannur, Kerala

Christ gives us a simple formula: “Follow me with your cross.” (Matthew 16:24-26) What was the cross in the life of Jesus? It was His way of redeeming the world. The cross is for us a symbol of redemption and therefore a sign of true love, as it shows us how much God loves us that he sent His only begotten son to die for our sins. For Jesus, the cross was doubly painful as an instrument of torture. This Roman tool for execution is designed to give a painful slow death to its victims, the criminals and enemies of the state. However, Jesus was also bearing the sins of mankind. Being a sinless man, an innocent man, he suffered much more than a criminal who would be sent to the cross for death. For Jesus, the sins of mankind weighed on his shoulders with many times the weight of the wooden cross. Thus, the True Cross of Christ becomes a divine tool of redemption. Although painful, Jesus endured the pain and suffering with utmost obedience to His Father’s will, thereby urging us to follow the same path and submit to God's will.

What is, then, the Cross that Jesus wants us to take up as we follow him? It is the Divine Will itself. We must follow Jesus not just in outward show or hidden mental works of imagination, but also truly in following God’s desire for us. This forewarns us of discernment in the procurement of wisdom regarding God’s Will for our life. Discernment is the knowing of the true purpose of our life. Often we have a tendency to follow our ego or pride in deciding what we should do with our life. This often leads us astray from the truth. The true purpose that an individual should fulfil rests with God. We need to uncover it by simply asking God to reveal it to us.

How to ask God to reveal the true purpose of our life? “Ask and it will be given to you,” says Jesus. (Matthew 7:7) So what we need to do is simply ask God in prayer to reveal to us what mission He wants us to take up. This is our mission for life. This is the will of God. We need this to follow Jesus. But if you are wondering what to do before finding the true purpose of life, or God’s Will for your life, here is the truth: you can follow Jesus. Sure, you don’t know what God’s will is for you, for the time being. Your knowledge about your purpose in life is incomplete. Yes, you are not good enough. However, in all this, which is your present state of brokenness, you can call for help from Jesus Christ, just like the blind man in the Bible. He calls, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” and what happens next? Jesus Christ turns to the blind man, listening to his call and responds, “What do you want me to do for you?” Now you can fill in your requests. You can say, “Lord, let me see what God’s Will is for my life.” (Luke 18:38-41)

Will you truly hear Jesus speak in your life? Yes, and No. It depends on the state of grace in which an individual is. So listen carefully or look for His signs everywhere in your life. The month of July is dedicated to the Sacred Blood of Jesus, by the Church. The first day of July is the day of the Precious Blood of Jesus. It is the blood that is spilt of Calvary for the sins of mankind, and during every Holy Mass, every day, for all of humanity. It was the blood that unveiled the eyes of Longinus, the centurion who stood beside the cross and pierced the side of Christ with a spear. Water and blood poured out and washed his eyes, which helped Longinus to see who Jesus truly was. He said, “Truly, this was the Son of God.” (Mt. 27:54) Tradition has it that Longinus became a follower of Jesus and spread the Good News of the arrival of the Messiah throughout the Roman Empire. In the same way, let us also pray, today, to the Precious Blood of Christ, to wash our eyes off of the cataract of unbelief and lack of purpose in life.