JESUS' FIRST DISCIPLES

The Calling of the First Apostles by 
Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1481

John 1:35-51

Again the next day after, John stood and two of his disciples and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, “What seek you?”

They said to him, “Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwell you?”

He said to them, “Come and see.”

They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day for it was about the tenth hour. [4:00 PM]

One of the two, which heard John speak, and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah?” (which is, being interpreted, the Christ.)

And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, “You are Simon the son of Jona [John], you shall be called Cephas,” which is by interpretation, a stone.

So Jesus gave Simon the name Peter well in advance of Peter’s declaration in Matthew 16:16.

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” [Matthew 16:13-16 ESV]

 This makes sense because Simon is referred to from this first meeting on as Peter or Simon Peter. I think at the moment of Peter’s declaration, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”, Jesus was not giving him the name “rock”, but emphasizing that it was Jesus the Large Rock (petra) on which the church would be build, not on Peter, the lesser stone (petros).

The other disciple of John the Baptist who followed Jesus that day was John, brother of James, the sons of Zebedee.

It is important to note the author (John the Apostle) begins this passage with, “the next day”. This is the day after John the Baptist was asked by the Pharisees why he baptized. John the Baptist is now standing with two of his disciples. These two men are Andrew and John. They are Galileans, but this fact does not mean this is taking place in Galilee. These men are seekers and they are seeking the Messiah. They have become followers of John the Baptist, whether they, like the Pharisees wondered if John the Baptist was the Christ or they thought he would help them find The Christ we don’t know. 

At any rate, Jesus suddenly comes walking by the spot. Perhaps Jesus has just returned from the temptations in the wilderness, perhaps it is some time after that event. We are not told. We know Jesus came and was baptized, then immediately went into the wilderness for 40 days thus we know more than a month has passed since Jesus was baptized and when these first Apostles-to-be questioned Him. Since Jesus answers their question by taking them to where he is staying, we can probably assume he has been back from the wilderness at least a couple days, long enough to get some form of lodging. 

The two men go with Him and spend the day. Now here is another place that can be confusing, because it says the first thing Andrew did was find his brother, Simon, and bring him to Jesus. I do not think it means Andrew ran to get Simon immediately after asking Jesus where he lived. I think Andrew and John had a long discussion with Jesus and then Andrew, feeling strongly they had found the Messiah, went to find Simon. His going came after the tenth hour, which would have been 4:00 in the afternoon.

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. (NIV)

Again a passage begins with “the next day.” Here is the count. Day one, John the Baptist answers the questions of the Pharisees. Day two, Jesus comes by and is joined by Andrew and John, then Simon Peter. Day three, Jesus decides to go to Galilee.

In the King James Version, the translation reads, “The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and found Philip…” Some critics argue Jesus could not have traveled the distance as it is reported in scripture in the time frame given. This is a misinterpretation of what it says. The word “thelo” translated “would” in the KJV means “intend, to be determined or resolved, to desire, to like to do a thing”. The NIV is closer to how this should be read, “The next day, Jesus decided to leave…” It is more likely that Jesus then found Philip and Nathanael before setting out on the journey, than his finding them in Galilee. They then traveled the distance to Galilee over the next three days arriving in Cana in time for a wedding.

The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and found Philip, and said to him, “Follow me.”

Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

Philip found Nathanael, and said to 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 to him, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?”

Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said of him, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”

Nathanael said to him, “Whence knows you me?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Before that Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

Nathanael answered and said to him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, believe you? You shall see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Verily, verily, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”

We are told, “finding Philip”, but little more. We do not know if Jesus had prior contact with Phillip, if one of the others had suggested Philip to Him, or if he had come across Philip on the way to Galilee. Philip is from the same town, Bethsaida, as James, John, Andrew and Simon Peter. It seems quite probable these men had come together to John the Baptist or at least knew each other. At any rate, Jesus tells Philip to follow.

Philip follows, but also goes and finds Nathanael Bartholomew (Nathanael son of Tholmai). Philip says something similar to what Andrew said to Simon Peter when he said “we found the Messiah.” Philip says, “We found the one Moses wrote about in the law”. This refers us back to our discussion of The Prophet in the Pharisees’ questioning of John the Baptist.

The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so. The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die." Deuteronomy 18:14-16 (NIV)

 [Keep in mind that the Jewish expectations of the Messiah were different from what we know as Christians today. I think it is important we remember the Apostles were not expecting a suffering Savior Messiah, who would die and be resurrected and then promise to return to fulfill God’s promises. They expected a Warrior-King Messiah who would defeat Rome.]

Nathanael was from Cana, but it is implied from Philip’s statement that he was part of this group and they were seeking the Messiah together.

Nathanael is a bit incredulous when he hears this Messiah is supposedly from Nazareth. Nazareth did not have a highly regarded reputation. We find throughout the Gospels that Nazareth was not accepting of Jesus and it is thought to have been a place of meanness. Another aspect of Nathanael’s question is the Jews expected the Massiah to come from Bethlehem, David’s city, not from Nzareth. Of course, Jesus did come originally from Bethlehem.

So Philip doesn’t just say take my word for it, he says come and see for yourself.

Jesus greets Nathanael, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” (John 1:47 KJV).

Nathanael was probably a little suspicious when he asked, “How do you know me?”

When Jesus says he saw him under the fig tree before Philip called him, Nathanael declares Jesus is the Messiah. Nathanael must have realized two things. One, Jesus knew his character, although they had never met, for he recognized Nathaniel had no guile; that is, was an honest man. Two, Jesus must not have been where he could have physically seen Philip approach Nathanael under a fig tree or overhear their conversation, otherwise there is nothing to make Nathanael jump to his conclusion. This reminds me of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well (reference John 4). Here was a person he had never met before, but he knew how many husbands she had had and what kind of person she was. It is the same here.

JESUS AT THE WEDDING FEAST IN CANA

The Wedding at Cana by Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto, 1561

Autumn 26 A.D

Cana in Galilee

John 2:1-12

And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there and both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

On the map below, you will see Cana just above Nazareth and if you look further down to the Dead Sea, you will see a Bethany just at the top of the sea. As stated previously, no one  really knows 

the exact location of either of these places anymore. Their placement on this map is the most commonly accepted guess. It is thus estimated that Cana was about 9 miles north of Nazareth. The location of Bethany beyond the Jordan probably was just inside the border of modern day Jordan.

At any rate, there are those who claim Jesus could not have been at Bethany beyond the Jordan and then attended a wedding in Cana in the time frame given by John. However, this is a miscalculation of the text. When they read, “On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee”, they mistakenly think it is the third day after John the Baptist pointed Jesus out to John and Andrew. However, a careful count of the references to “the next day (as we did) shows Jesus decided to leave for Galilee on the third day and the reference of the wedding on the third day is the third day of that trip.

Some still argue the distance was too great, but this only comes from living in a culture and time when we ride everywhere. We are not use to walking great distances to go between places as was common in those times. The distance between Bethany and Cana was most likely 90 to 95 miles. I walk at an average rate of 4 miles per hour. If we allow a slower pace of three miles per hour, a person could cover the distance in three days by walking between 10 and 11 hours a day. If the person did average four miles per hour, it would be eight hours a day. For people used to foot travel, certainly doable. 

Here is where we pickup on the third day when Jesus and his new disciples arrive at this wedding:

And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

Jesus said to her, “Woman, what have I to do with thee? My hour is not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Whatsoever he says to you, do it.”

And there were set there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins [8 or 9 gallons] apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.”

And they filled them up to the brim.

And he said to them, “Draw out now, and bear to the governor of the feast.”

And they bare it.

Mary says to Him (probably whispered). “They have no more wine.”  This was going to be a great embarrassment to the family running out of wine before all the wedding celebrating was over. I think Jesus and His disciples had just arrived when the wine ran out and so Mary informed Him of that fact. It would have been customary for Jesus and his followers to be given wine and perhaps this had not happened. If we look at the Young’s Literal Translation of this text it becomes clearer this may have been the sequence of events:

And the third day a marriage happened in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there, and also Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage; and wine having failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, `Wine they have not…'

This may have been a family wedding. We find later that Mary, Jesus, His disciples and His brothers went down to Capernaum from there, so His brothers were also guests. Mary as a close family member may have been helping with the arrangements. It may also be this is why Jesus decided to go to Galilee when He did, he had been invited to this wedding. The literal translation says Jesus was called. His new disciples may have been called as a courtesy. These were not gatecrashers, one had to be invited to attend a wedding feast. We have to be called to attend the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. We won’t be allowed in with out our invitation.

Notice that Mary does not ask Jesus to do anything; she just states a fact. Jesus reply is curious, “Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come.” (NIV) [Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. (KJV)]

If his mother had called Jesus to the wedding and she had some responsibility for the provisions, was it inferred he would help by creating more wine?

The King James translation sounds harsh, “Woman what have I to do with thee?” The NIV sounds either indifferent or put-upon, “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” First, He is speaking to his mother and we would not today generally refer to our mother as “woman”. But in those times this was actually a term of respect. Second, there may have been a better translation of Jesus’ response. Here is the Young Literal Translation: “Jesus saith to her, `What -- to me and to thee, woman? Not yet is mine hour come.”

This may to be similar to us saying, “Mother, just between you and me, it isn’t my time yet.”

Mary never made a specific request and she doesn’t wait for a specific answer either. She goes to the servants and says to do what Jesus tells them. This again indicates Mary had some authority at this wedding, enough that the servants would obey her. Also notice this is all kept rather secretive. There are only three groups who witness what happens: Mary and Jesus, the servants and the disciples. There is no spectacle made of this first miracle. No one else is let in on it. Mary doesn’t boast, “Look everyone at what my wonderful son the Messiah can do.” Jesus doesn’t stand before the wedding guests and announce, “Watch this and be amazed.”

It isn’t time for that yet.

Jesus quietly points out some empty ceremonial washing jars and tells the servants to fill them with water. He doesn’t say to what purpose. He then tells them to draw some and take it to the banquet master, which they do. 

When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was (but the servants which drew the water knew) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Every man at the beginning does set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse, but you have kept the good wine until now.”

This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory, and his disciples believed on him.

The banquet master had no idea a miracle had occurred. The biggest miracle in his eyes was the family had saved the best wine for last, something that just wasn’t done. Generally, it still isn’t. You serve the expensive wine first, and then you serve cheaper wine. Why? To save cost. When one first drinks a cup of wine, the taste buds are fresh and the drinker savors the drink, but after a cup or two, the taste is dulled to a point it is hard to distinguish a change in the drink. In the case of those times, the best wine would be served and then wine that was either a bit close to turning sour or new wine that had not fully fermented. 

There is a lesson here. Jesus honored his mother and saved the bridegroom’s family from embarrassment, but he took none of the credit. As far as the banquet master and the wedding guests were concerned, the bridegroom was a generous person. A true kindness from a generous heart is one unmotivated by self-aggrandizement or praise seeking. It is not self-serving. It is the right hand not knowing what the left hand does so the good deed done is between the doer and God. Mary didn’t have to actually ask, because she knew he would do it out of mercy. Jesus did it without fully revealing himself.

The servants had seen what happened, why didn’t they say something? Perhaps somewhere at sometime they did speak of it to intimate acquaintances they trusted not to ridicule them? Put yourself in their sandals. If you saw a man take a jug of water and turn it into fine wine, would you tell anyone? Who would believe you? Would you tell the banquet master, your boss? He might think you’d been sneaking the wine on duty and fire you on the spot. 

There was someone else Jesus allowed to witness this transformation of water into wine, the five new disciples he had chosen to bring with him from Bethany. Remember what was the last thing said to Nathanael before the trek to Cana began? "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." Here is the first of greater things these Disciples will see over the next three and a half years. It is also the first opportunity Jesus takes to manifest his glory to these men to teach them to put their faith in him.

As an aside, I read some believe this wedding was Nathanael’s. This doesn’t make much sense and seems only to come from the fact Nathanael is from Cana. However, if you notice after the banquet master receives this new wine (and don’t think the reception of new wine doesn’t have a far more spiritual and future meaning) he called the bridegroom aside to congratulate him. This would indicate Mary and Jesus were attending the wedding feast. This is an important fact.

Today when we think of attending a wedding it means going to a relatively short ceremony where the bride and groom exchange vows to each other. This is often followed by a joyride, a caravan of cars following the newly weds and blowing horns. This ends with a reception, where a meal is served, music is provided, often dancing and then the happy couple drive off to parts unknown for a honeymoon.

This is not the wedding procedure being followed in Cana in the First Century. First, the couple was for all intent and purpose “married” with their betrothal. This was not the same as our engagement period today. One did not simply decide to return the ring and try someone else. To end a betrothal one had to have legal reason to petition for a divorce. (This was the situation Joseph faced when Mary told him she was pregnant, whether to divorce her for adultery.) 

Once a woman had accepted the man’s proposal and the betrothal was established, the groom would tell his bride he was going to prepare a home for her and would return for her when it was ready. (Keep this in mind; it will come up again later in Jesus’ promises to those who believed in Him.) While he was busy building or preparing this home, she would be busy getting a number of things together by her bed for the moment he returned. When he came back, she would know it because he would come with his friends and there would be the blowing of a trumpet.

Here is why this could not have been Nathanael’s wedding. The groom would collect his bride and followed by the wedding guests and family, they would go to their new home for seven days, their version of the honeymoon. On the first night, the wedding was consummated and proof of the bride’s virginity was displayed. The wedding party and guests would then basically party for a week while the bride and groom enjoyed time alone with each other. At the end of these seven days, the happy couple would reemerge and the Wedding Supper would commence.

Since the bridegroom was in attendance at this celebration, this was the Wedding Supper and Nathanael could hardly have been on his honeymoon when three days prior he was in Bethany.

It is interesting that this whole sequence from when John addressed the Pharisees until Jesus was at the wedding feast paralleled the wedding of the bride and groom. John told the Pharisees the Messiah was coming. Jesus appeared the next day and on the fourth day after he met his new Disciples left for Cana where he arrived three days later; the time of the groom appearing until the end of the honeymoon and the wedding feast.

After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples and they continued there not many days.

There is one person missing from this group, Joseph. Joseph is not mentioned as attending this wedding and has disappeared from the narrative completely at this point. My opinion is Joseph has died between the time Jesus was twelve years old and His baptism.  I think circumstantial evidence in the Scriptures supports this. From this point onward until near the end of Jesus ministry, Mary is mentioned in conjunction with his siblings. It would be expected if the husband died that the family would take care of the widow. (We will discuss this further later.)

JESUS CALLS HIS FIRST DISCIPLES

Christ calling St. Peter and St. Andrew, 1681 Diego Quispe Tito

Matthew 4:18-22, Mark1:16-20, Luke 5:1-11

By the Sea of Galilee (AKA Lake of Gennesaret and Lake Tiberias)

The town of Gennesaret was not far to the west of Capernaum. Both sat on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and this body of water was also called Lake of Gennesaret. In this instance, Matthew and Mark refer to it as the Sea of Galilee, while Luke uses the name Lake of Gennesaret. So there is no contradiction here. There is a statement some, who like to do the “gotcha moments”, may claim is a contradiction, if a minor one. This is that Luke says Jesus saw the fishermen on shore washing their nets while Matthew and Mark say Simon and Andrew were casting a net into the sea, and James and John were in a ship mending a net. Actually all these observations are true, not contradictory at all, when you know the whole story.

This passage is titled, “Jesus Calls His First Disciples” in many Bibles. In popular culture portrayals of this instance we never get the entire action and so we have a common misunderstanding about this Calling.

The image we may have from films is Jesus comes walking along the seashore and sees these fishermen at work. He calls to them, “Follow me” and they immediately drop everything and go with this charismatic stranger. Jesus was hardly a stranger to these men and this was far from some impulsive spur of the moment behavior.

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 Jesus, now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren. Walking he saw Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

Jesus had settled in Capernaum after those in Nazareth tried to kill him. Here he began to preach and gained fame. We are not told how much time passed since he first began this preaching, but by now he had become known enough that people were “pressed upon him to hear the Word”. So Jesus isn’t strolling along the shore alone at all. He is standing by the lake and he is looking about for some space between him and those mobbing him. We see him do this in other passages of scripture.

He sees a couple ships anchored by the lake and some fishermen washing their nets, after a hard night of fishing. The fishermen are at the waters edge, tossing the nets in the water to clean them. See, just because Matthew said Peter and Andrew were “casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers” didn’t mean they were standing on the deck of the ship fishing. They were standing at the shore washing the 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.

These are not strangers to Jesus. He knows these men very well. So Jesus goes up the plank onto Simon’s boat and asked Simon to take him a bit offshore. Why? As we said, Jesus wanted some space between himself and all those people who had been pressing up against him. Simon and Andrew grab their nets and clamber aboard and row out a bit.

Jesus sits down and finishes teaching the crowd.

Now when he had left speaking, he said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.”

(A British definition of “draught” is “the drawing in of a fishing net; the fish taken in one draft). Jesus has finished teaching and now he tells Simon to go out to deeper water and he’ll catch a bunch of fish. Perhaps Jesus is rewarding Simon for his loan of the boat and his time.

And Simon answering said to him, “Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.”

Simon doesn’t see much reason to do this. He moans they have worked all night and caught nothing. He’s just finished washing the nets. He is probably tired and wants to pack up and go home, but he does it anyway. Why? Note he calls Jesus “Master”. Maybe he would call him this out of respect having heard about Jesus’ preaching and considers him something of a rabbi, yet he does what is asked because it is “nevertheless” Jesus’ word. Would he really go to a lot of useless bother for some itinerant rabbi? You see Simon knows Jesus and has certain opinions about him that compel him to do what Jesus says.

And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned to 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 he, Jesus, said to them, Come you after me, Follow me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

And they straightway left, forsook their nets, and followed him.

A miraculous catch happens. Where before they caught nothing, now so many fish fill their nets that the nets are breaking. They can’t handle it all themselves, so they call their business partners, Zebedee and his sons, James and John, to help. The other boat is rowed over to them and the two teams of fishermen upload the bounty, so much so both boats are in danger of sinking.

As they have filled the holds of the boats and started to the shore, Simon falls on his knees, telling Jesus to go away because he, Simon, is too sinful to be in his presence. He addresses Jesus as Lord.

It is at this point Jesus says to Simon and Andrew, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

Notice the difference here than the portrayal of this scene in The History Channel’s, “The Bible.” Jesus did not wade out to Peter’s boat to be pulled aboard where he was alone with Peter and he does not tell Peter to come with him because they will “change the world.” They are not going off to change the world; they going out to save people from it.

And going on from thence, when he had gone a little farther, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and straightway he called them.

And they immediately left the ship and their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after and followed him.

They debark Simon’s boat; leaving everything behind. Simon and Andrew follow Jesus a short distance down the beach. Jesus stops as he looks out at Zebedee’s crew mending their nets aboard their boat. They are mending their nets because that huge catch of fish had torn the nets up. Jesus calls to James and John. The two brothers now stop mending, come to shore and follow Jesus, leaving behind father, servants and their occupation.

Let’s ask a couple questions. Why did Jesus only call these four guys from those on the boats? Why didn’t he include Zebedee or any of the servants? Why did Simon, Andrew, James and John follow so quickly?

I don’t think there was anything spur of the moment about this. It wasn’t a sudden impulse. The four men were probably waiting for this call. Although this is titled, “Jesus Calls His first Disciples”, that title is a bit deceiving. This isn’t where he made his first Disciples, simply where he has called them to action.

These four fishermen were devout Jews and seekers of the Messiah even before they ever heard of Jesus. Remember, we met them about a year before this calling. They had been following John the Baptist in Bethany. It was there they first saw, followed and spent a day with Jesus. Phillip and Nathanael Bartholomew also joined them there. These men were from the same area as Jesus. They traveled back home in his company and stopped at a wedding in the town where Nathanael lived. There at Cana they had witnessed his changing of water to wine during a wedding celebration. Later they had traveled with Jesus to a Passover Feast in Jerusalem where he turned over the tables and chased the moneychangers from the Temple. They had been in the desert with him, baptized others with him, traveled through Samaria with him and lived near him in Capernaum. They had probably heard him preach many times by now, spend evenings with him listening to his lessons and so awaited him to bid them to be missionaries. Now that moment had come. Of course they immediately followed.

Duccio di Buoninsegna, The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew, 1809-11