1. Obedience. Obedience is an unpopular concept today, which we betray by our frequent use of a phrase like “blind obedience,” meaning mindless adherence to authority. We think of it as enemy soldiers blindly carrying out the inhuman orders of an evil commander. So when we come to a phrase like “follow me” we naturally think of it as an invitation and conform our evangelism to that pattern. We invite people to follow Jesus, promising that He will receive them and make them happy if they do come. Well, there may be an element of invitation in Christ’s call to sinners, but it can hardly escape any thoughtful student that the words “follow me” are in the imperative voice and are therefore essentially a command—which is why those commanded to follow Jesus did in fact immediately leave their nets, boats, counting tables, or whatever else was occupying them before this and followed Jesus.

So we come to the end, to the very last word of the very last verse of the very last book of the Bible. It is “Amen.” It means “firm,” “faithful,” or “true.” When uttered as a response to some declaration it means “so let it be.” In the New Testament “amen” is found in 127 verses, but in many of these it occurs twice because Jesus frequently prefaced his teaching with the repeated words, “Amen, amen, I say to you.” The King James Version translates this as “Verily, verily.” Other versions say, “Truly, truly” (NASB) or “I tell you the truth” (NIV). In any case, it is a declaration by Jesus that what he is about to utter is the very truth of God.