Jesus Calls His First Disciples
Notes
Transcript
Intro; Tonight and next week we are going to look at The Calling of Jesus First Disciples.
Now just for fun as we get started, can you name the Twelve Disciples;
Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew [Nathaniel], Thomas, Matthew, James the Son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot.
Disciple- a person who follows and adheres to the teachings of another; a student or learner. In the New Testament it is used for Jesus’ followers. Often references “the Twelve” but also a wider group of followers.
As we focus on the “twelve disciples/apostles”, we will find out that Jesus had many disciples that followed Him and some that left Him.
The account of Jesus calling his disciples is found in all four gospels;
18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them,
22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
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.
1 So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret,
2 and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.
3 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.
4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”
6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.
7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken;
10 and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.”
11 So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.
35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.
36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ).
42 And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).
1. The Four Gospels;
1. The Four Gospels;
Each of the writers of the four gospels reveal the person of Christ and His purpose, but they do it in different ways and to specific audiences. That’s important to know because it will clear up any confusion some might have with “so called” discrepancies in the scripture.
Matthew- [AD 55-65] written by the apostle of the same name. The style of the book is exactly what would be expected of a man who was once a tax collector, orderly and concise. Matthew’s gospel is to prove to the Jews that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah. More than any other Gospel, the Gospel of Matthew quotes the Old Testament to show how Jesus fulfilled the words of the Jewish prophets.
Mark- [AD 55-59] Mark’s gospel is targeted to the Roman believers, particularly Gentiles. Though John Mark had gone on missionary journey with Paul and Barnabas, he became the spiritual son of Peter.
13 She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son.
Mark’s gospel comes from first hand information from Peter. Marks gospel is the shortest and unique because it emphasizes Jesus’ actions more than His teaching.
Luke- [AD 58-65] physician and a close companion of the Apostle Paul, wrote both Luke and Acts. The Gospel of Luke is unique in that it is a history—an “orderly account” of Jesus Christ as a compassionate Savior written to a Roman dignitary, Theophilus. Luke’s history of the Great Physician emphasizes His ministry and compassion for—Gentiles, Samaritans, women, children, tax collectors, sinners, and others regarded as outcasts in Israel. Luke is the only Gentile to pen any book of Scripture.
John- [AD 85-90] The gospel of John introduces Jesus Christ, not from His birth, but from “the beginning,” before creation. John calls Jesus “the Word” (Logos) who, as God Himself, was involved in every aspect of creation.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
Who later became flesh in order that He might take away our sins.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Written that we might believe
31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
Johns gospel was written to strengthen the faith of second generation believers to avoid false teachings that were creeping into the church.
2. Summary Accounts;
2. Summary Accounts;
Matthew and Mark make very short work of the account of Jesus choosing His first disciples and they are nearly identical.
But I want to point out two things in these accounts that will help us as we unfold the facts about Jesus calling His first disciples.
First; This is not the first time that these men have encountered Jesus. As we read the same account in John we see that Andrew had been a disciple of John Baptist and followed Jesus and invited his brother Peter to come meet him.
Also we see in Luke’s account, Jesus had gotten into Peter’s boat and preached from it because the crowd was pressing against Him at the Lake of Gennesaret.
Second; Jesus did not choose any of His disciples until John Baptist ministry was complete.
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.
13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali,
14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles:
16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.”
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
Why do you think Jesus waited for John to be in prison before He started full blown ministry?
Jesus could not give the appearance of competing with John. If He had begun His ministry in full force before John’s ministry had been completed, the loyalty of the people would have been divided. John was sent to prepare the way, and the way was not fully prepared until John was removed from the scene.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Jesus did not start His earthly ministry where John was at, but went to Capernaum to fulfill prophesy, again demonstrating Jesus did the Father’s will at all times.
19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.
Close;
Homework; study the scripture passages in Luke and John about the calling of the first disciples and we will discuss them in two weeks.
