It seems to me that in a sense Jesus tended to walk away from more than he walked towards. The way I read it he walked about from place to place, preaching of the kingdom of God and making contact with people, mostly making physical contact with them. What I mean by that is he got down and dirty, really identifying with them and not just in word, but in deed. He touched and healed and extended love and dignity to those he came across, especially the untouchables, the rejected, the socially unacceptable, the impoverished, desperate, hopeless, vile sinners as well as the socially, religiously and politically incorrect. He never came for the righteous nor the religious, he came for those who missed the mark, who messed up, who were devastated and lost. He had no home he went to each evening after a hard days walk, no comprehensible set pattern of movement even to the point that it seemed as if whenever they all expected him to zig, he zagged. He also had no mission headquarters and no regular venue as a meeting place. He went to them and the masses tended to follow him as he walked and from time to time and he felt compassion for them and stopped to heal and comfort them … sometimes he would feed them … but then, he kept moving on. There is no record of him trying to start feeding schemes nor social help centres and institutions, nor actively collecting followers or converts. He was not interested in building a religious order, a social club or a political party. There was no morning roll-call, sabbath attendance registers, or accountability structures. He led a small entourage, but he did it as a servant … he just kept walking and talking, mostly walking, always moving. In fact, it looks very much to me like he made it very difficult for people to follow him. He came from the poorest of social stock but there is no record of him asking for support, or even taking up a monetary collection to meet his or his disciples personal or ministry expenses. Instead there is evidence that he gave money to the needy and not the other way round. And when the masses thronged around him in pressing need he challenged them directly about their self centred motives for seeking him out, how they were following him because he had fed them all and not because they were seeking truth. He then continued to present his teaching in even more mysterious, metaphorical, vague, even dark ways that had even his own closest disciples scratching their heads in perplexed frustration. Instead of changing this tack, softening his delivery, and making them feel comfortable and secure in their hearts and minds about him and what he was saying and doing he instead disturbed them even more by telling them in exact detail of the very real risks and great cost it would take for anyone to follow him including, social alienation, excommunication even physical death. Yes, he did tell his 12 disciples to follow him but then, having spoken to them individually he seemed to walk and leave it up to them if they followed or not and there is no real record of him trying to persuade them or anyone to believe in him using manipulation, logic or any other such skilful oratory device. In fact, there isn’t any record of him taking anyone behind any waling wall and asking them to repeat after him a prayer of confession according to the 4 or so spiritual laws that would lead them to, and seal their personal, eternal salvation. Actually, he presented a whole new and revolutionary angle on the same memes his hearers had heard for many generations and it appears to me that a lot of the time he seemed to deliberately say the things that he knew very well would disturb, confuse and even totally infuriate those who heard him, especially the religious leaders. He was kind and compassionate to the lowly and the lost but with the religious leaders he often became very shrewd, even furious. And then to cap it all he told them all that the world would hate and reject all who believed in him and followed his example … that those who believed would suffer exactly the same way he would, and this simply for believing in him and living out his example … and then he deliberately got himself killed.
… and just before his life on earth ended he once again said, “follow me, … as you have seen me do, do likewise”
