ὀπίσω - The 2nd Word You Should Know
We come to Christ's 2nd word in his short exclamatory sentence from Matthew 4:19 - "Come follow me!" He yells out to Simon Peter and Andrew; he calls out to them to become the first disciples and to follow him as he leads and teaches them. In a previous post, we learned of Christ's first word, Δεῦτε (deute), a word of interjection. Christ speaks out, up, and into the lives of these fishermen. Jesus interrupts Peter and Andrew's momentary and eternal lives with his word, "Come; come now!" But Christ does not leave these early disciples with just a blind calling without any direction. If he had, Peter and Andrew may have been prompted to raise the question, "Come where? Where are we supposed to go?" This is the purpose behind Christ's second word, ὀπίσω (opisō). This is a word that gives both direction and order.
The cultural system of rabbis and disciples were quite common in the 1st century. Educated men would take on disciples who would follow and live with the teacher. Disciples lived this way until it was time for them to go out and teach themselves. The logistics of how this teacher-student relationship often began, however, is slightly different than what we see exampled by Jesus in Mat 5:19. Most times it worked out more like modern day job applications. A student would find a rabbi who had an opening for a new disciple and he would then apply for the position of student-follower. Disciples, then, had the initial responsibility of choosing who they wanted to follow. Christ, however, reverses this process. Instead of Peter and Andrew seeking Jesus out, he seeks them out. Instead of them applying and proving their worth to Jesus, Christ calls them out of their normal lives and into a life of discipleship. He calls out to them, "Come follow!"
Many of us can probably assume how the relationship between rabbi and disciple works - the disciple follows the rabbi around, learning from his teaching and his life. The purpose of following the rabbi around is so that the disciple might learn from him and become more and more like the rabbi. Christ's second word infers all of this. Opisō, or rather, "follow after/behind," tells Peter and Andrew to what and for what Christ is calling them. He is calling them into fellowship, discipleship, and relationship. In other words, Christ is calling these men to walk closely behind him so they might hear what he teaches and observe how he lives. A more specific way to describe the action behind this word might be to say that this word includes the action of "running after someone/thing," or "to attach one's self to another person/party." Just as they did not miss the meaning of the first word, Peter and Andrew understood what Christ meant when he told them to follow behind - Matthew quickly describes (v. 20) that the new disciples quickly left their nets and ran to follow Christ.
The impact this 2nd word should have on us is this: it maintains and reminds us of the structure to our relationship with Christ. There are times that, if we could, we would run out in front of Christ to work things out quickly or to figure out how events pan out in our lives. It is hard to wait when we have to follow after Christ because we can only walk with the speed he sets. There are also times in our lives that we wish we could stand up and take control of our lives or decide what will happen and when in the world. It is hard to submit to Christ and follow behind him - giving him authority over our lives. We sometimes think to ourselves, "When it comes to me and mine, I need to be the one in charge!" Yet, Jesus calls us to follow after him. We have to push away our pride and strengthen our patience and trust. When we do, we find that following after Christ is both the most difficult and most rewarding blessing. Just as Christ has interjected himself into our lives with his first word, Δεῦτε (deute), he also offers each of us the opportunity to attach ourselves to him and to follow behind him in close relationship with his second word, ὀπίσω (opisō). We all have been called to do something - to follow Christ, to learn from him, and to grow more and more like him.