The First Disciples

John 1:1-51; Matthew 4:18-22; Matthew  9:9- 13;
 Mark 2:14-17; Mark 3:13-15;  Luke 5:27-32;
Matthew 10:1-8; Mark 6:7-13; Luke 9:1-6





Jesus walks by two of His disciples.

    John was with two of  his disciples when Jesus walked by. John looked at Jesus and said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" When the two disciples heard what John said they followed Jesus.





Jesus is followed


    When Jesus saw that they were following, Him he asked them what they were looking for. They called Him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), and asked Him where He was staying.





Andrew followed Jesus too.


      Jesus asked them to come and see.  They went with Him to where He was staying, and stayed with Him that day.  One of them who stayed with Him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.






Andrew finds his brother  Simon Peter.


    Andrew first found his own brother Simon, and told him that they had  found the Messiah (which means, the Christ).  Andrew  brought Simon to Jesus.  When Jesus saw him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah,  You shall be called Cephas" (which means, a stone).  Simon Peter and Andrew were fishermen.  Then Jesus told them to Follow Him, and He would make them fishers of men.  They left their nets right away and followed Him.  Jesus went on from there, and saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father.  They were mending their nets.  He called them, and they left immediately their boat and their father and followed Him. 






Jesus walked on.  Jesus had come
 say to  "Come follow Me".





Jesus finds Philip and asks him to follow Him.



    The next day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip.  He asked him to follow Him too.  Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.




Philip finds Nathanael and tells him of Jesus.


    Philip  found Nathanael and told him that they had found Him, the one that Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote about, Jesus of Nazareth,  the son of Joseph.  Nathanael told him, "can anything good come out of Nazareth?"  Philip told him tocome and see for himself.






Nathanael comes to see Jesus




    Jesus saw Nathanael coming, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!" Nathanael asked Him how do You know me?  Jesus answered him and said, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."





Nathanael knows who Jesus is.


    Nathanael answered, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God!  You are the King of Israel!" Jesus said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe?
    Jesus went on to tell him that he would see greater things than this.  He told him that he would see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of Man.






Jesus calls Matthew,  a Tax Collector,  to follow Him.



    Jesus went on from there, and He saw a man named Matthew.   He was sitting at the tax office.  Jesus asked him to follow Him too.  Matthew got up and followed Him.






Jesus eats at Levi's (Matthew's) house with othe Tax Colectors.



      Then as Jesus was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners were sitting with Jesus and His disciples.  There were many that followed Him.







Jesus sends out His Twelve Apostles to preach.



    Jesus had chosen twelve disciples to follow Him.  These twelve men Jesus sent out and commanded them to  not go into the way of the Gentiles, not to enter a city of the Samaritans.  But go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  He told them that as they go, to preach that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, and to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.  They were to freely give as they had received. 





The Twelve Apostles go out and preach
the gospel and heal the sick.



    So they went out and preached that people should repent.  They cast out demons, anointed with oil and healed those who were sick.  They preached the gospel and healed people everywhere they went.


CONCUSION:  Jesus called His disciples one by one and asked them to follow Him.  He chose 12 Apostles in all.  An Apostle is one who is sent out.  Jesus taught these men and then told them to go and heal the sick, cast out demons, and preach the gospel telling everyone that the kingdom of heaven was near.  The names of the twelve Apostles are; Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Batholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon, and Judas.  When we become a Christian we have chosen to follow Jesus.  As a Christian, Jesus wants us to tell others about the gospel too.




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