Above the Admirer and the Devotee

Fr. Francis Scaria

Jesus had many admirers and devotees, but what he expected was neither admiration, nor devotion, but discipleship. Lk 11:27 speaks about a woman in the crowd who raised her voice and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!" Many people who heard him said, “No one has ever spoken like this”. The crowds were astonished at his teaching (cf. Mt. 7:28). They marveled and said, "Never was anything like this seen in Israel." (Mt. 9:33). Jesus was not impressed by this, but he was not out on a popularity drive. Although God is worthy of worship, he does not craving for worship; in fact the devil does (cf. Mt. 4:9).

Jesus invited people to become disciples. The disciple follows the master and imitates him. He walks on the path tread by the master. Jesus invited people to ‘follow’ him. He does not look for an admirer at a distance, nor a devotee at his feet. But the mystery of discipleship is that a disciple of Jesus cannot help himself from admiring Him and showing devotion to him. The admiration and devotion are only some aspects of the discipleship, not the core of it.