As soon as he returned victorious from the temptation in the
wilderness, Jesus entered on the work of his public ministry. We find
him, at once, preaching to the people, healing the sick, and doing
many wonderful works. The commencement of his ministry is thus
described by St. Matt. iv: 23-25. "And Jesus went about all Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the
kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of
disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria; and
they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers
diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils,
and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he
healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from
Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and
from beyond Jordan." What a blessed beginning of the most blessed of
all ministries this was! He came to bless our world. He did bless it,
as no one else could have done. And here, we see, how he entered on
his work.
And one of the first things he did, after thus beginning his
ministry, was to gather his disciples round him. The first two that
we find named among his disciples are John and Andrew. They had been
disciples of John the Baptist. Their master pointed them to Jesus,
and said--"Behold the Lamb of God." When they heard this they
followed Jesus, and became his disciples. When Andrew met with his
brother Simon Peter, he said to him "we have found the Messias--the
Christ. And he brought him to Jesus." After this we are told that
"Jesus findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me." He was an
acquaintance of Andrew and Peter, and lived in the same town with
them. He obeyed the call at once and became one of the disciples of
Jesus.
Philip had a friend named Nathanael. The next time he met him, he
said, "we have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets
did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." But Nazareth was a
despised place, and had a bad reputation. Nathanael had a very poor
opinion of the place, and he asked--"Can there any good thing come
out of Nazareth?" Philip saith unto him--"Come and see."
And this is what we should say to persons when we wish them to become
Christians. There is so much that is lovely and excellent in Jesus
that if people will only "come and see," if they will only prove for
themselves what a glorious Saviour he is, they will find it
impossible to help loving and serving him. Nathanael came to Jesus.
And when he heard the wonderful words that Jesus spoke to him he was
converted at once, and expressed his wonder by saying--"Rabbi, thou
art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel." We can read all
about this in John i: 43-51. Nathanael became a disciple of Jesus,
and one of the twelve apostles, and is supposed to be the same one
who bears the name of Bartholomew in the different lists of the
apostles.
After this we read of Jesus calling Matthew the publican, who was a
tax-gatherer. This is what is meant by his "sitting at the receipt of
custom." "Follow me," were the words spoken to him. He obeyed at
once; left all and followed Jesus. St. Luke and St. Mark mention this
same call, but they give the name of Levi to the person thus called.
This is not strange, for it was common among the Jews for persons to
have two names. Sometimes they were called by one of these names and
sometimes by the other.
Here we have the account of six persons, who became disciples of
Jesus; and of the different ways in which they were led to follow
him. No doubt many others were led to become his disciples from
simply hearing him preach; and from listening to the gracious words
that he spoke.
And very soon after he had gathered together a large company of
disciples, he made choice of twelve, out of this number, who were to
be his apostles. He wished these men to be with him all the time.
They were to hear his teaching, and see his miracles, and so be
prepared to take his place, and carry on his work when he should
return to heaven.
It was necessary for these men to be chosen. When Washington was
appointed to conduct our armies during the Revolution, he chose a
number of generals to help him. And it is natural for us to think of
Washington and his generals. But just as natural it is to think
of--Jesus and his apostles.
And this is the subject we have now to consider--_The Apostles
Chosen_.
And in considering this subject there are four things of which to
speak.
_The first, is the condition and character of the men whom Jesus
chose as his apostles.
The second, is the work these men were called to do.