Dear Explorer,
Read Luke 4:14-15
Jesus began teaching all over Galilee. Who was leading Him?
Read John 1:35-42
John the Baptizer was sent to announce Jesus' arrival. We know that he fulfilled his mission well. He could have been puffed up and proud about being the first messenger from God in 400 years, but I see something in these verses that tells me that he was not? Do you see it?
In John 1:37 you see 2 of his disciples walking away to follow Jesus. That tells me that John was pointing them to Jesus all along – so that they were ready to follow Him when they met Him. Too many followers call attention only to themselves – not Jesus.
As a teacher of God's Word, I want to be a good example, I want to live my life in transparency to you, but I want you to know that Jesus is the source of my strength and wisdom. I hope you will follow me until you learn enough to follow Jesus. But it would be very sad if you chose to follow me instead of Jesus!
We are given the name of one of these disciples of John who became one of Jesus' 12 apostles. Who was it?
Who did he go and find?
When Jesus met Simon, what did He do?
This is exciting to me because the name He gave him was Cephas or Petra or Peter which means “little rock.” You see, Jesus already knew what Peter would eventually become. He gave him a name that represented that – not what he was right now. The description his friends called him was “Son of Thunder” because of his bad temper, and we will see in the next few weeks how he was impetuous and impatient and argumentative. Jesus could have named him lots of negative things – but He gave him a name that represented who he would become. That gives me hope.
I, too, once had a terrible temper, was impatient and critical and hasty in judgment. I didn't love people and I was harsh. God has taken my life and transformed it little by little into the woman I am now. I'm so glad God doesn't look at my life and call me “Ms. Lightning Bolt” or “Ms. Grumpy” or “Ms. Impatient”. I hope that He looks at my life and calls me something like “Ms. Faithful” or “Ms. Loving” or “Ms. Obedient”.
What would you like God to call you?
Read John 1:43-51
The Scripture says that Jesus sought out and found Philip. Now, that's a man I want to meet in Heaven and find out why Jesus went out of his way to find him. That must be a good story!
What we do know is that Philip went to find his friend Nathanael and brought him to Jesus. This is a good example of how to bring our friends to Jesus, “Come and see for yourself!”
Did Nathanael believe that Jesus was who He claimed to be?
Yes, all 4 of these men became part of Jesus' close disciples – also known as the 12 apostles. But you won't find Nathanael's name in the list of apostles – because he's called Bartholomew by Jesus. I don't know whether Jesus changed his name, or whether like Matthew – he had two names that he used.
In His service, dale
Next study