The 12 Disciples of Christ. Part Three.
Bible Reading: Mark 1:16-20.
16. “And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He
saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were
fishermen.”
17. “Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I
will make you become fishers of men.”
18. “They immediately left their nets and
followed Him.”
19. “When He had gone a little farther from
there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the
boat mending their nets.”
20. “And immediately He called them, and they
left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and went after
Him.”
4. Recruiting the Twelve.
It is easy to misunderstand the process Jesus
used to recruit His disciples. Yet there are good reasons for any misunderstandings.
For instance, Mark 1:16-20 contains
this account of calling several of the disciples.
And as He walked by the
When He had gone a little farther from there,
He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the
boat mending their nets. And immediately He called them, and they left their
father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and went after Him.
A little later Mark 2:14 Mark describes
the call of Matthew (called Levi in the Gospels). As He passed by, He saw Levi the son
of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So, he arose and followed Him.
From Mark’s account it almost appears as if
Jesus on impulse picked out strangers He came across, and that these strangers,
with no prior relationship with Christ, simply dropped everything and committed
themselves to a life of discipleship.
This impression, however, is a false one. What
Mark describes is the call to discipleship, a call that followed a lengthy period
during which Jesus and His disciples came to know each other well.
5.
Meeting at the river, John 1:30-51.
John the Baptist had been preaching near the
headwaters of the River Jordan, and many traveled to hear the fiery prophet
predict the appearance of the Messiah and call for repentance. Jesus too came
to hear His cousin John, and even to be baptized by him.
It was while Jesus was coming up out of the
waters that John saw the Holy Spirit descend as a dove on Christ and was amazed
to realize that his cousin from Nazareth, Jesus, was the Son of God and the
Messiah, John 1:31-34 “I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel,
therefore I came baptizing with water.”
“And John bore
witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He
remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water
said to me, “Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him,
this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I have seen and testified
that this is the Son of God.”
The day after, John was seated with two of his believers
and pointed Jesus out to them as the Lamb of God.
The two left John and trailed after Jesus. When
Christ noticed them, He asked, “What do
you seek?” verse 38 and afterward invited them to spend the day with Him.
One of the two was Andrew, destined to become one of the Twelve.
John tells us that Andrew later found Peter,
his brother. Excitedly Andrew told Peter, “We
have found the Messiah!” verse 41. Andrew hurried Peter along to see Jesus
for himself. That very day Jesus announced, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” verse 42,
which translated into Greek, is petros,
Peter, a stone.
Jesus clearly knew what the future held for
Simon Peter. But Peter and the others did not know and were not yet ready to
commit themselves to be His disciples.
The next day Jesus was ready to return to
Nathanael, who had never met Jesus, was
surprised. He blurted out, “How do You
know me?”
Jesus answered that He had “seen” Nathanael “before
Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree” verse 48. This remark
convinced Nathanael, who knew that from where Jesus had been, He could not
possibly have seen Nathanael with physical eyes. “Rabbi,” Nathanael said, “You
are the Son of God! You are the King of
6. Three days later, John 2:1-11.
Jesus and those He met at the river then
traveled together to
We do know, however, that “on the third day” there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Both
Jesus and His disciples were invited, and apparently came as a group. It was
there that, when the wine ran out, Jesus turned water into wine.
John describes this as the “beginning of signs Jesus did.” It was Jesus’ first miracle,
performed before His new friends rather than in public, and John says it “manifested His glory; and His disciples believed
in Him” John 2:11.
7.
The move
to Capernaum, John 2:12.
“After this He went down to Capernaum, He,
His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many
days.”
Jesus now moved from
Mark describes a healing that Jesus performed
in a synagogue at
He goes on to say that coming out of the
synagogue “they entered the house of
Simon and Andrew, with James and John” Mark 1:29. Peter’s wife’s mother was
sick with a fever, and Jesus healed her. That evening “they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were
demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door (of
Peter’s house)” verses 32-33.
Jesus stayed with Peter that night but slipped
away to pray. The next morning Peter was worried when he discovered Christ was
gone, and “searched for Him” Mark 1:36.
The more we compare the accounts of Jesus’
early relationship with His disciples, the more clearly, we see it. Jesus did
not recruit strangers. Jesus first nurtured a relationship with the men He
intended to become His disciples. When His call to discipleship finally came,
the disciples knew well the person to whom they were making a commitment.
End of part three, part four will follow.
