Jesus’ command: “Follow me” might at first sound like: “Come with me.”

Scot McKnight writes:

‘The most important words Jesus said to his disciples were “Follow me.” To Levi Jesus said, “Follow me” (Mark 2:14). To a less-than-certain-about-following-Jesus-person Jesus said, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22), and to the crowd and his disciples, Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34).

‘To follow means to follow, to get behind and walk in the steps of the one being followed. To follow means to improvise following Jesus into paths Jesus never took. To follow is to make Jesus an example. The apostle Paul wrote this to the Corinthians: “Become copies of me just as I am of Christos” (1 Cor 11:1; Second Testament).’

This clarifies, I think, the meaning.  When he says, “Follow me”, Jesus doesn’t simply mean, “Be with me.”  He means, “Become like me.”

This, after all, is both the heart and the cost of discipleship.