Study of
Jesus - Index
Sunday, September 5, 2010 am
THE LIFE OF JESUS (7)
The Beginning of His Ministry (4)
Choosing His Apostles
In the gospels we read of a handful of events surrounding the
beginning of Jesus’ ministry.
One event that occurred fairly early was the choosing of His
apostles. It was a pivotal
event that would shape not only His ministry while upon this earth, but
its expansion after Jesus finished His job.
Today we want to talk about the choosing of the apostles of
Jesus.
Matthew 4:12-17 records Jesus beginning His ministry.
He departs to Galilee and begins preaching in Capernaum.
This happens probably after the events of John 2:1-12 (the first
recorded miracle of Jesus).
There are several events that occur at the beginning of His ministry.
Next week we will notice a few of these.
But today, I want to address how Jesus chose twelve men to follow
Him.
a.
Inviting
men to follow Him – we have recorded the invitation of several of the
apostles by Jesus.
i.
Four
fishermen –
Matthew 4:18-22 records
Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee.
He saw two sets of brothers – Peter and Andrew and James and
John. He said to them,
“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Luke 5:1-11 gives us more details of this account.
He was at the “Lake of Gennesaret” where He saw two boats and the
men washing their nets. Jesus tells them to “Launch out into the deep
and let down you nets for a catch.”
Peter said that they had been fishing all night and caught
nothing, “Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”
They complied and caught so many fish that both boats began to
sink and their nets began to break.
On shore, Peter said to
Jesus, “Depart from me, for a am a sinful man, O Lord!”
Jesus answered, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch
men.” We are then told they
brought their boats in and “forsook all and followed Him.”
Lesson: What are we willing to give to
follow Him?
ii.
Andrew
–
John 1:35-42.
Andrew was Peter’s brother and partner in fishing and one of the
four. From this text, we
also know that Andrew was a disciple of John.
When John introduced Jesus as, “the Lamb of God”, Andrew began
following Him. After
spending a short time with Jesus, Andrew” first found his brother Simon,
and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated, the
Christ). And he brought him
to Jesus.” (41-42).
Think about this: Andrew
introduced Peter to Christ.
iii.
Philip
and Nathanael –
John 1:43-50.
The following day, after meeting Peter and Andrew, Jesus said to
Philip, “Follow Me.” He went
and found Nathanael and proclaimed Jesus as the one they were looking
for. This leads to a
conversation where Jesus notes the purity of Nathanael’s heart.
Jesus promises him Nathanael that he would see greater things.
NOTE: Nathanael is believed by
some to be Bartholomew.
In the listings of the apostles in the gospels, Philip and
Nathanael are always found together.
Further, this account in John seems to imply that Nathanael would
serve with Jesus.
iv.
Matthew-
Matthew 9:9-13.
Sometime later, perhaps a few weeks, Jesus is in Capernaum (Mk.
2:1) performing miracles, teaching and gaining followers (and critics).
He passes by the tax house where Matthew (also called Levi) is
sitting as a tax collector.
Jesus says, “Follow Me” and Matthew does.
We find in our text, that after this that he has a great feast in his
house where he invites many of his coworkers (tax collectors) who were
not looked upon highly by the Jews.
They criticize Jesus for eating with “tax collectors and
sinners”. .
Note Jesus’ response to the criticism of the Pharisees and
scribes. He says that those
who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick need
one. Then He says, “But go
and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’
For I did not come to call the
righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
His point was that sinners need to be given the chance to hear the
gospel – a great lesson for us.
v.
The
rest – At some point later,
probably within a few months, Jesus “officially” chooses the 12. We know
that Jesus was on a mountain and Luke records that He had prayed all
night as He made this decision.
He then called His disciples together and appoints the 12
apostles. They are listed
in Matthew 10:1-4,
Mark 3:13-19, Luke 6:12-16.
The twelve:
1.
Peter,
Andrew, James and John – four fishermen and those who would becomes His
“inner circle”.
2.
Philip -
who brought with him Nathanael.
3.
Bartholomew – possibly, Nathanael.
We know nothing else of him.
4.
Thomas –
also called the twin (Jn. 20:24).
He is mentioned a couple of times during the ministry of Jesus,
specifically in John.
Willing to fight for Jesus and die, he would doubt and refuse to believe
until he saw Jesus living.
5.
Matthew –
the tax collector. Again,
little is known of him beyond this.
6.
James, son
of Alphaeus, also known as, “James, the Less.”
(Mk. 15:40).
7.
Labbaeus,
also known as Thaddaeus and Judas, son of James (different names in each
of the gospel lists)
8.
Simon, a
Cananite. Described in Luke
as “the zealot” (Lk. 6:15).
A zealot was a Jew who advocated the overthrow of the Roman government.
9.
Judas, the betrayer of Jesus.
Always mentioned last and described as a traitor.
He would be replaced with Mathias after Jesus ascended to heaven
(Ac. 1:15-26).
b.
Observations –
i.
They
were ordinary men –
“uneducated”.
Jesus didn’t rely on men who had been versed in “the wisdom of men.”
He chose industrious men.
They were human and made mistakes.
ii.
For most
of these men, their calling was not their first encounter with Jesus.
There is nothing in the texts to indicate they did not already
know of Jesus. Furthermore, we have interaction of some recorded that
implies this to be the case.
For example: Think of Andrew
and Simon. They were called
as fishermen, but BEFORE that, the events of John 1 note that at least
Andrew was a disciple of John.
John 1:35-41 record events that demonstrate they would get to
know Jesus and trust Him before they were actually called.
This also explains their willingness to “quit their jobs” to follow Him,
without hesitation.
iii.
They
were leaders – at least they
developed into leaders. I
bring this out because they were not the big political, business and
religious leaders of the day, BUT they possessed character traits that
could be developed into being effective leaders as they would establish
the Lord’s church. We all
need to develop ourselves to do whatever it is we can do.
iv.
They
were friends – some were
chosen in pairs and knew each other.
The value of friendship is seen in having companions of like
interests. We have noted
that there were two pairs of brothers that got along with each other.
One brother brought his sibling to Christ.
As to Philip and Nathanael, their friendship also led to one
sharing with the other the good news of Jesus.
Jesus would later send these men out in pairs so they needed to be there
for one another and they needed a relationship and friendship.
Unlike the corporate world, friendship would be imperative to the
success of carrying out the important work Jesus would later assign
them.
The “business” of Christianity is different than the corporate world.
It is based upon friendships.
v.
Fellowship – the word
fellowship is a word that means sharing or joint participation.
Such would become absolutely necessary as they began their work
after Jesus left this earth.
The apostles were united behind a cause - they were all disciples of
Christ. Jesus would spend
considerable time in His ministry making sure they understood this (more
in a future lesson). Acts
5:17-18 records that the apostles were arrested.
Together, when threatened, they said, “We ought to obey God
rather than men.”
Think about this.
The cause of Christ united these men.
Before Christ you had a tax
collector that work FOR the government and an activist who worked
AGAINST the government. You
had men from all walks of life, but Christ brought them all together.
NEVER underestimate the importance of this fellowship.
It is crucial in the Lord’s church.
II.
Lessons –
a.
Will
you accept your “calling”?
We cannot become apostles today.
But every Christian is “called”.
It is not some miraculous calling, but a calling “through the
gospel of Christ” (2 Tim. 1:8-9, Eph. 1:13-14, 2 Thess. 2:13-14) for
obedience.
Nevertheless, we ALL have abilities.
Whatever ability we possess, let us use it to God’s glory - 1
Pet. 4:11, Rom. 12:6-8, etc..
b.
The
value of a good example in trying to reach others
In our texts for Jesus calling His apostles, note how they are already
aware of His godly character.
Peter, in Luke 5 declares that he is a sinner and unworthy to
stand before Jesus.
Remember John the Baptist as he introduced Jesus, “behold the Lamb of
God…” (John 1:29-30)
Does our example hinder us from seeking others?
Does our example stand as an obstacle to others accepting the
gospel? Matt. 5:13, 16.
c.
Your
best “prospects” are your friends.
If you want to reach others, become friends.
Your best opportunities to teach and influence others will come
with a relationship. When people know you, they are more like to listen
to you, (provided you are a good example).
As one person said, “People don’t care about how much you know, until
they know how much you care.”
d.
Be
careful before you “judge” who
is worthy to hear and be invited.
While we have noted in times past that there certainly are times when
judgment is absolutely necessary (cf. Jn. 7:24), there is also a type of
judging that is clearly condemned
- it has to do with prejudging without all the facts (i.e.
prejudice). Such is what is
condemned in Matthew 7:1-5, James 2:1-9 which speaks of prejudice and
becoming judges with evil motives.
CONSIDER how Jesus, chose individuals from differing walks of life.
He did not assume that all tax collectors were crooks or that
zealots were radicals that could not be taught OR that fishermen were
rough people who probably were not interested in the gospel or changing
their life. Jesus gave
EVERYONE a chance AND that is what we need to do!
1 Cor. 9:19-21 speaks of Paul becoming “all things to all men.”
Our goal needs to will as many as we can and that includes those
people we assume are uninterested, and thereby deem them unworthy of
God’s love because we don’t take time to teach them.
e.
On
Planting and watering – let God give the increase.
We sometimes view success based upon outward circumstances.
If someone doesn’t obey the gospel we assume there is no hope.
We fail to consider that maybe we are just planting a seed that
someone else will be able to water and bring to life.
1 Cor. 3:5-7 clearly notes that everyone involved has a crucial
role in reaching the lost.
And ultimately, it is GOD who achieves the victory.
We don’t read in scriptures much about Andrew, but we read so much about
Peter. According to John, it was
Andrew who brought Jesus to Christ.
So the lesson for us is to just do the best we can.
Plant seed and water your seed and the seed of others.
Let God take care of the results.
These are some lessons we can learn from
Jesus choosing His apostles.
This was not something He took lightly.
After He chose them, he then proceeded to spend about 3 years
training them for the important work ahead of them – making disciples of
all nations (Matt. 28:18-20).
We will discuss some of this effort at a later time.
In the mean time, let us glean all that we can from the events we
have examined today. Are you in the habit of searching for and choosing
to walk through doors to win the lost?
Jesus did! (1 Cor. 11:1)