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 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