After Jesus temptation, He went back to His people with a specific mission. He was going to choose 12 men to personally train. They would become known as His disciples.
John 1:35-39- Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.
As Jesus was walking where John the Baptist was preaching, John was doing his job of pointing out the Messiah. Two of the men who were learning from John saw who he was talking about and followed Him.
Jesus saw that they were following, and asked them what they wanted.
They said they wanted to see where he lived. Perhaps, they were curious about who this man was. Or, maybe they wanted to know why John spoke so highly of Him.
Jesus knew that these two men would become part of the 12 men that He would choose to train. So, he told them to come and see. They went to where Jesus lived and stayed with him the rest of the day because it was already 4 PM (the Jewish day ends at 6 PM, so they stayed with Jesus for 2 hours).
John 1:40-42- One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
One of the things that followers of Jesus are called to do is to tell others about Jesus. One of the men that heard John the Baptist talking was named Andrew. Andrew already had a missionary heart; the first thing he did was find his brother and tell him about Jesus.
This brother would be one of the most drastic characters to ever follow Christ! His name was Peter. Peter would do things that the other disciples never dreamed were possible, and in time he would become the leader of the disciples.
Jesus gave Peter a nickname- Cephas. This means stone.
But, Jesus needed 12 men, and this was only three.
John 1:43- The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.
Jesus called another man named Philip. Philip also had a missionary's heart.
John 1:44-46- Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
Philip went and found his friend, Nathanael, and told him about Jesus, the Messiah. Philip couldn't believe it! Jesus was from Nazareth. Nathanael thought, "What good could ever come from that city?"
But, he was curious enough to follow Philip and find out.
John 1:47-51- Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
When Jesus saw Nathanael he commented on the man's character. Perhaps Nathanael had been told this thing about himself before, or maybe he was just curious why Jesus would say this when they had never met.
But, then Jesus told him that He knew where Nathanael was sitting when Philip went to get him. Nathanael was amazed that Jesus knew this and yet was no where near where Philip had found him.
This was all it took for Nathanael to believe.
I guess this struck Jesus as curious. Nathanael would see more amazing things in the next three years! Nathanael is given a new name by Jesus. He is only referred to by his name Nathanael is the book of John.
So far, Jesus had chosen five men. But, he still needed more.
The first few men that Jesus chose were fishermen. They came and saw and talked with Jesus, and then went back to their profession. But, Jesus had chosen them, and they were going to have to leave their jobs and follow him!
Jesus began His ministry teaching, and healing, and trying to show His people the love of God. These six men were about to see just a glimpse of what their lives would be like with Jesus.
Luke 5:1-11- And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
Jesus went out into the boats that belonged to Peter, Andrew, James, and John. He used them like a plat form to be able to preached to the multitude of people that had gathered. The fishermen had tried to catch fish all night long, but they came up empty-handed.
After preaching, Jesus told them to throw their nets back into the water. He was going to teach them a lesson.
They did as they were told and were amazed that now their nets caught so many fish that their ships began to sink and their nets began to break!
Simon Peter was amazed! He knew that he was a sinful man, and he thought that he was unworthy to be used by the Lord.
But, Jesus had chosen him. Isn't it wonderful that Jesus will use us even when we think we are unusable?
Mark 1:16-20- Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.
Simon Peter and Andrew went back to fishing. But, Jesus went the next day and searched them out, along with another two fishermen, James and John.
Now, there were six. But, He wasn't done yet!
Jesus went and found two men who were collecting taxes. It appears that these men were in the same city doing the same job.
Matthew 9:9- And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.
Luke 5:27-29- And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.
Levi was a wealthy man with a good job. He not only left his wealthy job, but he made a great feast and invited many of his tax collector friends to this feast so they could meet Jesus. Matthew also attended this feast.
Matthew 9:10-12- And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
The religious leaders didn't understand why Jesus would choose such rough men like fishermen, or such seemingly dishonest men like tax collectors.
No one likes tax collectors, especially in Jesus time! Tax collectors were known for overcharging people and keeping the extra money to make themselves rich! They also worked closely with the Romans, and the Jews didn't like their Roman oppressors.
But, Jesus knew that these were just the men that He could use! Jesus didn't look at their jobs or their clothes; He looked at their hearts!
The Bible only tells us about how Jesus chose eight of the men. But, it tells us that He ended up choosing a total of 12.
Luke 6:13- And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;
Mark 3:14-19- And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: And Simon he surnamed Peter; And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.
Some people think that it's a mistake that there are different names mentioned here. But, they forget that Jesus often gave His disciples new names; and then there are also those with nick names.
Simon Peter and Andrew were two brothers, the sons of Jona, who followed Jesus. They were fishermen by trade. Simon Peter, also called Cephas, wrote the books of I Peter and II Peter in the New Testament.
James and John were also brothers, the sons of Zebedee, that Jesus nicknamed "The sons of Thunder". They must have been really rough! They were also fishermen. John is also known as John the Beloved, and he wrote the Gospel of John as well as I John, II John, III John, and the book of Revelation in the New Testament.
Philip, Matthew, and Levi were tax collectors, also called publicans.
Matthew wrote the book of Matthew in the New Testament.
Levi, the son of Alphaeus was given a new name, James the son of Alphaeus. This James wrote the book of James in the New Testament, and became one of the leaders of the church in the book of Acts.
This James-Levi had a brother named Judas, who was sometimes called Thaddaeus or Lebbaeus. This man wrote the book of Jude in the New Testament of the Bible.
Bartholomew is another disciple that Jesus chose, but he doesn't have much mentioned about him.
Another Simon, who Jesus called "Zelotes", and he was a Caananite. I think that this man was Nathanael, because Nathanael was from Cana of Galillee,and he was one of the first disciples. Nathanael was with Peter, James, John, and Thomas when they were fishing after Jesus arose, maybe because they were some of the first disciples together? But, that is my guess work.
Whether Nathanael was another name for Simon Zelotes or Bartholomew, God put how he was called in the Bible for a reason! And if God thought enough of it to put it into the Bible, we shouldn't ignore it!
Then, there was a man known as "doubting" Thomas, also called as Didymus.
And last of all, Judas Iscariot, the man who would betray Jesus!
These twelve men would go with Jesus throughout His ministry, and they would become the Apostles that helped to spread the gospel through the known world after Jesus death. But, for now, they were going to follow Jesus and learn from Him.
Matthew 4:23-25- And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.
