The Adventures of Jesus Christ
Episodes from the Life of Jesus for Young Readers
by Vincent Cheung
[ Contents ]
Chapter 10. Jesus and the Disciples
HEY, LET’S FISH FOR PEOPLE INSTEAD
After Jesus came back from the wilderness, he began to travel around teaching people about God and the kingdom of heaven. He said that the hero God promised had come, and Jesus himself was that person. He said that he was God’s chosen one and that God had given him the Holy Spirit, just like the prophets predicted. He declared that it was time to turn away from sin and to trust in God. Crowds of people gathered to listen to him.
Jesus wanted a group of people to travel with him, to learn from him, and assist him in his ministry. Later, these people would also continue his work and spread his message to the rest of the world.
So Jesus began to choose his first disciples. A disciple is a student and a learner. A disciple is a follower of the teacher, but he does not merely listen to the teacher and admire the teacher. He does more than that. A disciple would also want to become like the teacher, to think like the teacher thinks, to behave like the teacher behaves, and to do what the teacher does. This is the kind of followers that Jesus wanted. Later, these people would be called Christians, because they followed the Christ. They are also called believers, because they have faith in Jesus.
One day, Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, and he saw two brothers. One brother was Simon, who was also called Peter, and the other one was Andrew. They were fishermen, and they were out on the water, throwing their nets into the sea to catch fish.
Jesus called out to them, saying, “Come, follow me, and I will teach you how to fish for people.” They made their living by catching fish and selling them for food. But Jesus upgraded their career to catching people for God. Jesus would teach them about God, about people, about doctrines, and about miracles. Jesus would train them to do the same things that he was going to do.
Peter and Andrew did not hesitate. God was at work in their hearts. They left their nets right away and followed Jesus. They had a strong trust and respect for him. They were ready to follow him wherever he went.
As Jesus walked a little farther, he saw two more brothers, James and John. They were in a boat with their father, Zebedee, fixing their nets. Jesus called them too, and right away, James and John left their boat and their father and followed Jesus.
Jesus was putting a team together for his ministry, and God was working with him. These fishermen became his first disciples. They left their old jobs and lives behind to be with him and to learn how to share God’s message with the world.
Jesus did not choose only fishermen. He called all kinds of people to follow him and to learn from him. Soon after, he met a man named Matthew, who worked as a tax collector. People did not like tax collectors because they often took more money than they should. But Jesus knew that Matthew could be a disciple too.
It does not matter what a person is like before he knows Jesus. If God puts the desire in his heart to follow Jesus, and if God puts the faith in his heart to believe Jesus, then this person can follow Jesus and be transformed. Jesus even said that this person is “born again.” So Jesus said to Matthew, “Follow me,” and Matthew left his job and everything he had to follow Jesus. He became one of his closest disciples.
After Jesus called Peter and Andrew to follow Him, he found another disciple named Philip. Philip was eager to tell others about Jesus. He remembered his friend Nathanael and hurried to find him.
Philip said to Nathanael, “We have found the person Moses and the prophets predicted. He is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph!” But Nathanael was skeptical and answered, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” He did not think much of the place where Jesus grew up, and doubted that someone so great – the greatest person in history – could come from such a town.
Philip did not give up. He invited Nathanael to come and see for himself. “Come and see!” he urged. He believed that if Nathanael met Jesus, he would understand. This is an important lesson for us. It is the largest part of what we do in ministry as the followers of Jesus. After all, in telling you about the adventures of Jesus Christ, this is what I am doing right now! I am telling you, “Come, see Jesus for yourself.”
As they approached, Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said, “Look! A true man of Israel – there is nothing false in him.” Jesus recognized that Nathanael was not a cunning or deceptive person.
Nathanael was taken aback. “How do You know me?” he asked. Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” He had supernatural knowledge about the exact situation. He saw where Nathanael was and how Philip went to tell him about Jesus.
Nathanael’s realized that Jesus was the real deal. He exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus was probably amused. He answered, “You believe this just because I said, ‘I saw you under the fig tree’? You will see greater things than these. To tell you the truth, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on me.”
It was a simple thing for Jesus to see the personalities and circumstances of people. If something like this was enough to convince Nathanael, he was about to be more amazed at the things he would witness as he followed Jesus. He would see that Jesus had a direct line to heaven.
Jesus lived a supernatural life, a life of miracles, because he was a man in touch with God and full of the Holy Spirit. He would teach that all his disciples could also fellowship with God and receive the Holy Spirit, and live a life that is beyond what human power can produce.
A person without God is dull. He can pursue many activities to distract him, but deep down he knows that he is dead on the inside. But a person who follows Jesus Christ and believes in God is alive on the inside. His life is full of purpose not because of many activities and noises, but because he is full of the love of God and the power of God. And this makes him the most helpful kind of person in the world.
Jesus was confident. He did not beg people to follow him. He chose people to follow him. He was not desperate for more followers. He did not say to people, “Please choose me. Please choose me.” He would tell his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” And he did not beg people to stay. Later he even told people that if they did not like what he was teaching, they could leave.
If you are confident in God, and if you are not desperate, then you will not change your beliefs to make people like you. Jesus always said what was true. When a person followed Jesus, the follower was the one who had something to gain. Jesus did not need people to support him or to make him feel important. God was enough for him. But together with God, he wanted to bless people and teach people.
As Jesus traveled, he called more and more people to follow him, and his group of disciples grew. These men were not perfect, but they were willing to learn, and they trusted Jesus. They tried to stay loyal to him even in the face of danger, but sometimes they made mistakes or became fearful, and they needed God to forgive them. They knew that being close to Jesus was the most important thing they could do.