The number of Christ's disciples increased, but it was necessary that
He should have a certain number of faithful men constantly with Him,
to be witnesses of all that He said and did whilst on earth; so that
they might teach "the Gospel of the Kingdom" to others, when he should
have returned to His Father in Heaven. To this end, therefore, when
walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus bid the two brothers, Simon
called Peter, and Andrew, leave their occupation of fishermen, and
follow Him wheresoever He should go; telling them that He would make
them fishers of men: meaning, that as by putting their nets into the
sea, they had hitherto brought fish to land; so now, by preaching the
Gospel, they should bring men to the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus did not
speak in vain: "straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.
And when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the son of
Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their
nets. And straightway he called them; and they left their father
Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him." A
miracle quickly confirmed the faith of these four disciples. The
people, who had gathered round our Lord to hear his words, so pressed
upon Him, that He entered into Simon's ship, and from thence taught
the people. When He had spoken to them for some time, "he said unto
Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a
draught." Now Peter, who had been toiling all night, which is the best
time for catching fish, knew that there was little chance of taking
any then; but the command of his Master was enough for him. His
obedience was rewarded by a wonderful draught (or take) of fishes,
which greatly astonished Simon and Andrew, as well as their partners,
James and John. Peter, seeing the wonderful works of God, felt that he
was utterly unworthy even to be the servant of so glorious a Being,
and falling at Jesus's knees, he exclaimed, "Depart from me; for I am
a sinful man, O Lord!" But Jesus encouraged him, and repeated His
promise, that His disciples should by their preaching of the Gospel
bring the hearts of men to love and obey the Lord, for "he said unto
Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they
had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him."
From henceforth these four disciples, who had been especially called,
became the constant attendants of our Lord. Three of them, Simon,
James, and John, were more particularly favoured; for they are
mentioned as being with the Lord on many occasions, when His other
disciples were not with Him; thus they were witnesses of all the
wonderful events in His life.
After the calling of Simon and his companions, Jesus went with them
into Capernaum; "and on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue
and taught." Jesus did not talk to the people, as many of the Scribes
did, about ceremonies and traditions; but he tried to draw their
thoughts away from such comparative trifles, and fix them upon the
Lord God Almighty--upon His goodness and mercy, and upon the necessity
of faith and love producing perfect obedience to His holy Will. Jesus
spake of holiness and righteousness in a way that they had never
before heard; and he spake also in a tone of authority as One who had
a right to command. He told them that he was indeed the Son of God,
and that he spake unto them in the name of the Lord God of Israel: He
warned the impenitent and disobedient, that they would bring eternal
misery upon themselves, while He promised eternal happiness to all who
would believe and obey. No wonder that His hearers were astonished at
such teaching, from one who appeared to be merely a man like
themselves. But to convince them that they might safely believe in
Him, Jesus, even in the synagogue, healed a man who had a spirit of an
unclean devil, so that "the people spake among themselves, saying,
What a word is this? for with authority and power he commandeth the
unclean spirits, and they do obey him. And immediately the fame of him
went out, and spread abroad throughout all the region, into every
place of the country round about Galilee."
"And when they were come out of the synagogue, Jesus with James and
John entered into the house of Simon and Andrew: here the mother of
Simon's wife lay sick of a fever." The poor woman's friends besought
Jesus for her; He took her by the hand; the fever left her at once;
and then, instead of being weak, as people naturally are after a
fever, her health and strength returned at once, and "immediately she
arose and ministered unto them." The news of so wonderful a cure,
increased the fame of Jesus.
The wonderful cures performed by Jesus brought many to ask His help.
"And when the even was come," that is, as soon as the Sabbath was
over,--for the Jews reckoned their Sabbath to begin at sunset, or
about six o'clock on Friday evening, and to end at the same hour on
Saturday night,--as soon, therefore, as the Sabbath was past, "all the
city was gathered together at the door, and they brought unto him all
that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils: and he
cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick."
Thus were fulfilled the words spoken, 700 years before, by Esaias the
prophet, who said, "Himself took our infirmities, and bare our
sicknesses."
This prophecy was doubly fulfilled: first, by healing sicknesses and
diseases, Christ, during his lifetime, took away the consequence of
the punishment of sin; secondly, by His death upon the Cross, He took
away sin, and procured forgiveness and salvation, for all who seek it
in the way appointed by Him.
"And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out,
and departed into a solitary place and there prayed." Having taken
upon Himself the form and nature of man, Jesus now set His disciples
an example of what prayer ought to be. It is a blessed thing to be
allowed to pray to God--to tell Him of all our joys and sorrows--and
to beg Him to bless us, and make us able to do well, whatever work He
may give us to do. We sinful creatures have also another thing to pray
for; and that is, forgiveness of our sins for Jesus Christ's sake, and
such true repentance, as will make us try every day to do His holy
Will better and better. For all these blessings we should constantly
pray: but you must remember, that it is quite possible for you to
kneel down every morning and evening and repeat the prayers which you
have learnt, and _yet never really pray one bit_.
Prayer is speaking to God, and begging Him to give us what we stand in
need of, both for our souls and bodies. Now, amongst ourselves, it is
thought very rude and disrespectful, to speak to any person without
thinking of what we are saying: and what should we think of a person
who went into the presence of an earthly king, to ask some great
favour, and then spake in a careless, indifferent manner, without
seeming to know or care what he was asking for? We should all blame
such a person; and think that he did not deserve to have his petitions
granted. What must it be, then, to speak to the Lord God Almighty, the
King of Kings, in such a manner? Then, again, if you really wanted
your Parents to do anything for you, or give you anything, you would
not ask them carelessly, as if you did not care whether they said
"Yes" or "No"; you would beg and pray earnestly with all your heart.
Now this is what you should do when you say your prayers to God, your
heavenly Father, Who can give you all you need on earth; and can
besides, put His holy Spirit into your heart, and give you eternal
happiness hereafter. Try, then, always to pray from your heart, and
never allow yourself to repeat words carelessly, as if prayer was a
task, to be got through as soon as possible. Such prayers can never
please God; on the contrary, by praying in such a way we commit a
great sin; for we take God's holy Name in vain, every time we kneel
down to say our prayers. Written prayers are useful as helps; but you
should also try of your own self to ask God to forgive you for any
naughty things you have done, and help you to do better: God does not
care what words we say, if our hearts really pray.
Jesus, you will observe, got up before it was light, and went into a
quiet place, where he could pray without interruption. He would rather
give up His night's rest, than not have time to pray to His heavenly
Father; and we must remember, that as He had taken upon Him the nature
of man, He was just as liable to be tired and sleepy as we are; and
therefore, He suffered as much from giving up his night's rest as we
should do; let His conduct, therefore, be an example to us.
In the morning, "Simon and they that were with him," (the three other
disciples already called,) missed their Master, "and followed after
him. And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for
thee." No doubt, as soon as it was day, all they that had any sick in
their families, brought them to be healed, and were disappointed at
finding only the disciples.
After this, "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; his wonderful cures were heard of in
neighbouring lands, and they brought unto him all sick people and
those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic
(or mad); and he healed them." And there followed him great multitudes
of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and
from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.