GREAT MULTITUDES FOLLOWED

"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan." – Matthew 4:23-25

Jesus simply spoke to the first Disciples, saying, "Follow me." Eventually, there were 500 disciples, who were specifically called after this manner, and closely followed Him. These were on the mountain when Jesus fasted and prayed before choosing the Twelve from among them; and again after the Resurrection, even seeing Christ ascend into Heaven. However, the great multitude followed Jesus when they heard by word of mouth from others about His teachings and works in demonstrating the Gospel of the Kingdom. No matter how you were called by the Master, the reall question and challenge is whether or not you are still following Him? Are you now following Jesus personally, or still only by word of mouth? Are you a Disciple, or merely one of the crowd, caught up and carried along by the uncertain urges and surges of the great multitude?