Scripture Snapshots:
JESUS’S DISCIPLES
Series 2 Lesson 4
Do you have a best friend on earth, someone you like to spend time with and talk to? The friends we have are very important. You will find that to be true, as you grow older, you will meet and make new friends. This is one of the many choices you will have to make in life. You should always choose friends who will help you live the way God desires and who will help you do your best. Do you think that Jesus is a great friend? What makes Him a great friend? He is faithful, helps us, never leaves us, cares for us, died for us, paid for our sins, etc. Yes, Jesus is a great friend, and He wants to be your very best friend. You show your friendship to Him by talking with Him and doing what He commands in God’s Word, the Bible.
When Jesus was thirty years old, He began his earthly ministry. He knew that it would only last for three years and then He would suffer and die on the cross for our sins, rise again, and return to Heaven. He taught about salvation (having your sins forgiven) and how to get to Heaven. He wanted his followers to keep teaching that message after He was gone. To make that happen, Jesus chose twelve men, who were called the apostles or disciples, to learn from Him and then carry on His work when He went back to Heaven.
If I were to make that choice, I would carefully choose very smart men, men who could write books and who were bold enough to get up and preach. Jesus did not do that. Instead, He chose ordinary men. His power was so great that if they allowed Him to, He would change them and make them all that they needed to be. The result was that they turned the world upside down with the Gospel. The good news that Jesus loves you and died for you is still being preached today, and it started with twelve ordinary men. Let’s take a look at the men Jesus chose.
SIMON PETER – The first disciple we will talk about is Simon. Jesus gave him the name Peter, which means rock. He was to be strong for God. Peter, Jesus knew, if he yielded to God, would become a powerful preacher. Jesus used Peter to establish God’s Church on earth. He became the leader of the group. However, Peter wasn’t always strong. Of all the chosen disciples, the most is written about him.
Although there were twelve chosen disciples, three were Jesus’ closest friends. Peter was one of them. He, along with James and John, was with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus’ face and clothing glowed like the sun. Moses and Elijah appeared, and Jesus spoke with them. Then a cloud enveloped them, and they heard God the Father say, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him.” All of this was a preview of Jesus’ coming Kingdom.
Peter also did something that no other man has ever done: He walked on water! One night, Jesus told the disciples to get in a boat and cross the Sea of Galilee. He remained to send a great crowd away. Then Jesus went into the mountains to pray. Sometime between 3:00 A. M. and daybreak, Jesus came walking on the water to join them. At first, they thought He was a ghost and were terrified. They were relieved when Jesus spoke to them, “It is I, do not be afraid.” Peter called out, “Lord, if it’s really you, let me walk out on the water to you.” Jesus said, “Come on out, Peter.” Carefully, Peter put one foot over the side of the boat and put it on top of the water. Miraculously, he didn’t sink. Then he brought his other foot over. There was Peter standing on the sea! Slowly, he began to take steps toward Jesus. Then Peter made a mistake. He took his eyes off of Jesus and began to look at the stormy sea all around him. Instantly, he started to sink. He cried out, “Lord, save me.” Immediately, Jesus put out His hand, grabbed Peter, and together they made their way to the boat.
Peter also failed sadly when Jesus was arrested. When Jesus told His disciples that He was going to be arrested and crucified, they all said that they would go with Him. They would stick with Him until the end; Peter was especially vocal in his promise. Jesus looked at Peter and told him that by dawn, after the rooster crowed twice, he would have denied Him three times. Peter said, “No way, I will always be true.” Later that night, in the garden of Gethsemane, soldiers came, led by Judas Iscariot, also one of the chosen twelve, and they bound Jesus and led Him away. Peter did attempt to fight. He cut off the ear of Malchus, a servant of the High Priest. Jesus healed Malchus by giving him a new ear, but then Jesus let the men take Him. All of the disciples, including Peter, ran because they were afraid.
Peter followed the crowd from a distance to see what would happen. As he warmed himself by a fire outside the judgment hall, a woman approached and said, “You are one of Jesus’ followers.” Peter, fearful, denied it. “Woman, I don’t know Him,” he said. A little while later, another woman said, “You are one of Jesus’ disciples, I know it.” Again, Peter said, “I don’t know the man.” Then, about an hour later, just before dawn, a man said, “You speak like you are from Galilee. I know that you are one of the disciples. Peter cursed and strongly said, “You don’t know what you are talking about. I don’t know that man.” At that moment, Jesus turned, and their eyes met. Suddenly, the rooster crowed the second time, and Peter remembered what Jesus had said. He had just denied he knew his best friend three times. Peter turned away quickly and wept bitterly. He was such a failure!
The good news is that Peter did not remain a coward. He confessed his sin. Jesus forgave him. Today, we remember him much more for being a good friend to Jesus.
ANDREW – He was Peter’s brother. Both of them were fishermen, and they left their fishing business to follow Jesus. This was a big decision. They both had families that depended on them. Andrew knew about Jesus before Peter. Andrew was there when John the Baptist baptized Jesus. John pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world.” From that day on, Andrew began to seek Jesus. He was sure that Jesus was the Messiah. He couldn’t keep that good news to himself, so he ran and told Peter, his brother. They both began to follow Jesus to learn more about the Kingdom of God. Andrew also brought someone else to Jesus. One time, a great crowd had gathered to hear Jesus teach, but now they were hungry. There was no restaurant nearby, and they had not prepared to stay so long. Jesus told His disciples to feed them (He was actually testing them), but they all said that it was impossible. Had they forgotten who Jesus was and all the miracles they had seen Him do? It seemed that way. Andrew found a young boy who had a sack lunch, just five small loaves of bread and two fish, but what was that among so many? He led the boy to Jesus, and Jesus took it, blessed it, and then began to break it into the baskets each disciple held. Then they passed out the food to the crowd and told them to take all that they wanted. As their baskets became empty, they went back to Jesus for more. Each person ate until they were full, and when it was all over, each disciple still had a basket full of bread and fish. Jesus had fed 5,000 men (plus women and children) with just five small loaves and two fish!
JAMES AND JOHN – Like Peter and Andrew, James and John were brothers and fishermen. Jesus called them to follow him while they were mending their nets, just as He had called Peter and Andrew. These two, along with Peter, made up Jesus’ three closest friends. While we should be friendly to everyone, we will have just a very few dear, close friends. These two had a reputation for having a bad temper. One day, they wanted to call down fire from heaven on a village that had rejected Jesus. Jesus scolded them for even thinking such a thing because He had come to save, not to destroy. Jesus gave them the nickname, “Sons of Thunder”.
The time that James and John spent with Jesus resulted in changed lives. John learned how to react in loving ways and wrote much about love. John was very close to the Savior. At the last supper, John sat right next to Jesus and affectionately leaned against Him. Jesus also spoke to John from the cross. John had come to be with Mary, Jesus’ mother. We assume that by this time, Joseph was dead. John knew that Mary would need a friend as she saw her firstborn son being crucified, so he came and stood by her. Even while He was dying for our sins, Jesus did not think about Himself. He thought of those around Him. When He looked down and saw his mother with John, He asked John to take care of Mary. From then on, John did. He showed his love and friendship through his actions.
PHILIP – The day after he called Peter, Andrew, James, and John, Jesus called Philip to follow Him. He, too, wanted to tell his friends about the Messiah, so he went to his hometown, Bethsaida, and found Nathaniel (also sometimes called Bartholomew) sitting under a fig tree.
“Come quickly, Nathaniel, I have found the promised Messiah that the prophets wrote about, Jesus of Nazareth.” Nathaniel said, “Will any good prophet come out of Nazareth?” Philip just said, “Come and see for yourself.” Later, when Jesus fed the 5,000. Jesus asked Philip to get food for the huge crowd. Philip forgot about Jesus’ power. He replied, “Lord, even if we had two hundred days' wages, we couldn’t buy enough to give each person just a little bite, and where would we buy it even if we had the money?” That’s when Andrew stepped in with the little boy’s lunch, and soon Philip saw Jesus do a great miracle.
NATHANAEL (BARTHOLOMEW) – After Philip brought Nathaniel to Jesus, Nathaniel quickly recognized who Jesus was. He was the first disciple to declare that Jesus was the Son of God and that He was the King of Israel. (John 1:49)
THOMAS – This disciple was probably a twin (we don’t know if he had a twin brother or sister). He is sometimes called “doubting Thomas” because he had difficulty believing that Jesus was alive after the resurrection. On the day of the resurrection, some of the disciples had locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in their midst. He showed them His hands and feet. The disciples rejoiced to see Jesus alive from the dead. Thomas, however, wasn’t there. When the disciples saw him and told him the good news, he didn’t believe it. He said, “Unless I see Him with my own eyes and put my fingers in His wounded hands and side, I won’t believe it.”
Eight days later, Jesus appeared again to His disciples, and this time Thomas was there. Jesus said, “Come, Thomas, put your fingers in My wounds. It’s really Me.” Thomas fell down at Jesus’ feet and proclaimed, “My Lord and My God.”
MATTHEW – Sometimes called Levi, was an unusual choice for Jesus because Matthew was a tax collector. Although he was a Jew, he betrayed his own people by taking their money and giving it to the Romans who ruled over them. The Jews hated the Romans, so they hated tax collectors. It was also the practice of tax collectors to cheat the people, charging them much more than they owed and keeping the rest as payment for themselves. As Matthew sat collecting taxes, Jesus approached him and said, “Follow me.” Immediately, Matthew got up and became one of Jesus’ disciples.
JAMES “THE LESS” – There were two disciples named James. This one was the son of Alpheus and is called the less, most likely, because he was shorter than the other James. He may be the brother of Matthew, whose father’s name was also Alpheus.
SIMON – He is called the Zealot because he belonged to a radical group that tried hard to get rid of Roman rule in Israel. He would have had issues with Matthew, who had been friendly to the Romans. The Lord knew this, but chose him anyway.
JUDE – We don’t know much about this disciple. He is also referred to as Thaddaeus. We do know that he was with Jesus for the three years He ministered on earth. Jude asked Jesus a question in John 14:22 right after the Last Supper. He wanted to know if and when Jesus would make Himself known to the world at some point in the future.
JUDAS ISCARIOT – This disciple was the treasurer for the group, although he secretly stole some of the money. One day, a woman poured very expensive perfume on Jesus and then wiped his feet with her hair. Judas complained, “What a waste! She could have sold that perfume. The money could help poor people!” The Bible tells us that he actually really wanted the money for himself. We cannot say that Judas Iscariot valued his friendship with Jesus. Judas was the disciple who betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. He looked for a time when the Jewish leaders, who hated Jesus, could arrest Jesus when He was alone. Later, after the arrest of Jesus, Judas regretted what he had done, and the Bible tells us that he hung himself. Jesus knew what Judas would do, yet He chose him anyway. Jesus was a friend to Judas, but Judas used the friendship and did not return the friendship relationship with Jesus.
CONCLUSION: All of these men walked with Jesus for approximately three years. They saw Him do many miracles. They observed it when Jesus turned water into wine, walked on water, healed the blind and the lame, and cleansed leprosy. They were present when Jesus multiplied a little bit of food so that it fed 4,000 men on one occasion and 5,000 another time. Their ears heard Him teach great truths. They all promised to stand with Him no matter what happened, but when Jesus was arrested, they all ran and hid for fear of their lives. All that will change.