The First Disciples

 After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and spending 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus started teaching and many people started following him.  After a night of prayer and meditation, Jesus chose twelve men out of all those who were following him.

Who were Jesus’ 12 Disciples? 13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 Simon to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. Mark 3:13-19

Why did the Lord Jesus selected his disciples? To let the world know of God’s love To witness and tell the people about Jesus incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection. Witnesses of the Gospel To teach people about how God can forgive sins and strengthen the faith of those who love him if they repent and confess.

o Once upon a time Jesus Christ was teaching the people by a lake. o The people started to increase in number and crowd Jesus till He could not find a place to stand. o So, Jesus found two boats and got into one of them. This was Peter’s boat. o Jesus asked Peter to get into the deep and let down his net for a catch. Peter was as fisherman.

o But Peter was tired and told Jesus we have spent all night trying to catch fish and we caught nothing. o However, Peter obeyed Jesus even when he had no much hope in catching any fish. o Peter told Jesus “at Your word I will let down the net”.

Guess What happened? When they had let down the net they caught great number of fish. The fish were so many that they could not even pull the net out alone because it was very heavy. They called their partners in the other boat to come and help them pull the great catch. Everyone was so amazed from what happened. Simon knew that Jesus was the reason they caught all these fish, and he immediately fell down on his knees in front of Jesus Christ. He asked Jesus to leave his boat because he is a sinful man and does not deserve the presence of Jesus in his boat. But Jesus was kind and liked Peter because he obeyed Him, and Jesus said to Peter: ….

“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Mathew 4:19 Fisher of men? What does it mean to fish for men? To tell people about Jesus so they too want to follow him. To tell people about His love to all of us To be a good example  Don’t do or say bad things  Pray  Fast  Help one another  Give to the poor.

Remember Nothing is too difficult for God. He can do anything and everything. MANY The things that we cannot do alone, He can make it happen when He is with us. Just like Peter who could not catch fish when he tried alone but he caught many... MANY fish when Jesus was with him in the boat. But we have to obey him and have faith in him. We are the children of God and we should be a good example to others.

“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Mathew 4:19