Pastor John’s Bible Stories For Grown-ups

09/13/16 – 570 – Jesus Calls His First Disciples

Have you noticed that I named this story ‘Jesus Calls His First Disciples’? Have you asked yourself why? Like many of you, I grew up thinking that Jesus had only twelve. But really, nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus had many, many disciples. He had 12 that He called to become apostles, which is different.

Remember we said a disciple is like a learner – a student – only very dedicated? An apostle is more of a messenger. A disciple can and should witness for his/her rabbi, telling people what they have been taught, but an apostle has a special appointment to carry the message. One can be a disciple without necessarily becoming an apostle, but I really don’t think anyone can be an apostle without first being a disciple – a disciple who not only knows but believes in the message they carry.

The scriptures mention a crowd of people following Jesus around in several places, but clearly calls these people disciples in John 6. In this scene, Jesus had just finished telling the crowd that only those who ate His flesh and drank His blood would have eternal life.

As was often the case, the people tried to take what He said literally, and of course it made no sense. So they did what any good disciple would do. Questioned the teacher until they understood Him, right? Hardly.

John 6:52

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

So, Jesus said it again – trying to get them to understand that He was like the manna from heaven that God supplied during the Israelites 40 years in the desert. He also tried to make them understand that while manna took care of the physical body, He was sent to nourish the souls of men. They still weren’t getting it.

John 6:60-70a

On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[e] and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve?

Notice in verses 66 the phrase “many of His disciples left”?   We know the ‘many’ were NOT part of the 12 as they were referred to separately in verses 67 & 70.

The big question then: why is this important? Because it tells us one simple thing – that we too can be disciples of Jesus Christ Himself! We don’t need to wait for a personal invitation like many of them did. We already have one! The sooner we answer the sooner we can begin, and the sooner we begin the more we can grow to be like Him.

Pastor John’s Bible Stories For Grown-ups

09/14/16 – 571 – Jesus Calls His First Disciples

Yesterday we talked about the fact that Jesus had many more than 12 disciples, but only the 12 that He called to be apostles. These men He endowed with special power and authority to act in His name.

Matthew 10:1-4

Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.                                                                                                                                                          

But Jesus didn’t simply send these men out without instruction, guidance or purpose.

Verses 5-8

 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

He went on to give much more instruction – they were to take nothing with them as their work had value and people should support them. He told them that if a person, household or town didn’t want to listen to them, they should ‘shake the dust off their feet’ and move on.

This instruction is one that’s often forgotten today, and can be taken by some to be very radical and even cold, uncaring. As Christians, we are often taught never to give up trying to ‘win souls’. But I’ve found that some people are really good at using a carrot & stick routine, always keeping you convinced that they are just one step away from accepting Christ.

But you know what? They have no intention of ever accepting Him. What’s really happening is that they are draining you of time and energy that could be better spent elsewhere – and it’s intentional. Here’s the thing. They have the same freedom to choose as you and I. They know about Christ, and instead of choosing to follow Him they are choosing to allow themselves to be used as a disruption to prevent the Word from reaching others.

Jesus didn’t stop with these 12 men. He gave His instructions, and He prayed for them. Before He ascende into heaven after His resurrection, He prayed for them also. And then He prayed for… us.

John 17:20-23

 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

 That is – if you are one of His own. A disciple.

If you are, pray today that His Spirit would help you to crow to be more like your Rabbi. If not, why not make today the day you accept His call? I know it sounds hard – it demands your entire life. And why not? His life was also demanded so that we could be saved. But I promise – you’ll never be sorry for the new life you will live will be unbelievably better than the life you leave behind, because in this new life you’ll never be alone. He will always be with you.

Pastor John’s Bible Stories For Grown-ups

09/12/16 – 569 – Jesus Calls His First Disciples

Saturday I said that we don’t have specifics about Jesus calling the rest of the men we think of as the original 12 disciples, and that is true. However, there is one man whose name stands out among the others, and without his help, Jesus’ story on earth would not have been complete. So, we really have to take a look at him before we move on, I think. That man was called Judas Iscariat. Judas was the treasurer of the group, the money man. He carried the money box and made sure the bills were paid. But there was a problem, one which should make us sit up and really take notice, as too many of us are prone to fall into the same trap! That is, even though he was with Jesus 24/7 for 3 years it didn’t affect him spiritually. Not one lick.

Why? Because he wasn’t in it for the right reasons. He didn’t really want to change. Like James and John, he saw Jesus as a means to power. The Messiah the Jews were expecting never came. Instead of a conquering king on a huge white stallion, they got a suffering servant on a donkey colt. Another fairly obvious reason that Judas was in it was for the money. Oh, there wasn’t a lot during the earthly ministry, but he was certainly looking for the big pay-off at the end.

That’s why he was so upset when Lazarus’ sister Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with oil from her alabaster jar. He said he wanted to sell the perfume and give the money to the poor, but the truth was really that he just wanted to sell it and skim the profits for himself. When things got tough, he didn’t wait to be approached. He went to the chief priests and struck a deal, intending to salvage something for his 3-year investment – rather than walk away empty-handed or worse.

Why should Judas be so all-fired important to us? After all, we wouldn’t betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, would we? Or would we? How many of us have walked away from Him for a chance at overtime, soccer club for our kids or a new relationship? How many professed ‘Christians’ these days have become involved with unbelievers (couched nicely these days as ‘non-churchgoers’), and traded our relationship with God for the earthly one?

In fact, how many of us have walked away simply because things got rough, someone got sick, or times were bad? Jesus knows we will fail, but gives us a chance anyway. In John 6, there is talk about many of Jesus’ disciples leaving Him after He told them that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood to be a part of the kingdom.

John 6:70

 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

So why would he allow this, knowing how it would end? I can think of 2 reasons. First, the prophesies in scripture had to be fulfilled.

Ps 41:9

Even my close friend,

    someone I trusted,

one who shared my bread,

    has turned against me.

John 13:18

 “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’

The second reason is one I cite fairly often. He always gives us as many chances as possible to repent and turn back to him. I know there are those that disagree, but here it is. If God’s grace knows no bounds, then even Judas could have been forgiven!

This is a wonderful thing for us though, isn’t it? Why? Because there really is so much of Judas in all of us! Jesus knows this, and chooses us anyway. He knows us, and gives us another chance anyway.

Never forget that at the heart of our sin nature lies self-centeredness. When we allow what we want to trump what Jesus wants for us, sin wins. It’s that simple. Our will versus His.

Whose will you allow to win today? How important are those 30 pieces of silver? Or that overtime? Or soccer? Or that new relationship? It’s up to you to decide. Do it before it’s too late, and make that decision your prayer today – along with a prayer of gratitude for giving you another chance to make it!

Pastor John’s Bible Stories For Grown-ups

09/10/16 – 567 – Jesus Calls His First Disciples

We really don’t see individual stories of the rest of Jsus’ first disciples being called, other than this:

Mark 3:13-19

 He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, 15 and to have authority to cast out demons. 16 So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Now there are 3 extremely important things to be learned from this passage. Can you guess what they are? No? OK, I’ll tell you on Monday.

Just kidding.

The first is that simple, innocuous opening phrase Z  “He went up the mountain”. Why is this so important? Because we know what Jesus did in those times when he went up on a mountain to be alone. Those were not just times of prayer, but times of His most intense, personal prayer to God.

Jesus seemed to do this habitually whenever He faced a big decision or a very stressful situation. What’s more, he would stay and pray, apparently, until He was through – until the situation was settled in His heart.              How important was the selection of the 12? These men (mostly teenagers at the time) were to be used by God to change the world – literally! Kind of important to get it right, don’t you think?

The second thing is mistake we often make. We talk about Jesus having 12 disciples.   The reality is that He had many more than that – and still does today. These 12 men we’re studying now were disciples who were chosen by Jesus to become apostles, and speak speak in His name. The difference is huge. A disciple is a student, a learner. An apostle is a messenger or spokesperson.

The last thing is really a question – why would Jesus, knowing what would happen, choose Judas anyway? Isn’t that like the President putting a known Russian spy on his cabinet? I’ve often thought about this, and can actually think of 3 reasons that Jesus may have done it.

1. Simple obedience: Just like when He was praying in the garden (Matt 26:39 “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

2. Fulfillment of the scripture (God’s plan) (Matt 26:53-54 “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

3. Hope. As a father, there were many times that I pretty much knew what my children were going to do in a given situation, yet I still hoped and prayed that they would not. I believe that it’s the same with our heavenly Father. He knows our hearts, and knows what w will probably do – but still has hope (and enough faith in us) that He keeps the door open for us to make the right choices.

Let’s make that our prayer today. What decisions are you faced with? How about a nice surprise for your Father – surprise Him by doing what He wants you to do instead of what you want to do?

Pastor John’s Bible Stories For Grown-ups

09/09/16 – 566 – Jesus Calls His First Disciples

Yesterday we talked about Jesus’ call to Matthew (Levi) the tax collector. Now we don’t know exactly how far along in His ministry he was when He did this (someone forgot to time/date stamp the calendar files), but we do know that word was getting around, and a LOT of people were already watching Jesus. Did you notice the first 2 phrases in yesterday’s passage?

Mark 2:13-14

Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

This was not the first time Jesus preached in public, and He was drawing some crowds – large enough, apparently, that they had to move it outside into a sizeable open area. The place Mark is speaking of is a beautiful hill outside Capernaum, a wide, gentle, grassy slope – almost a natural auditorium. Anyway, when someone begins to draw that much attention, there are always others that start to get nervous. What Jesus did next was just as shocking to the community and its religious leaders as the call itself – maybe more so:

Verses 15-17

 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Want to know what my favorite part of that passage is? The part where the Pharisees are talking about “tax collectors and sinners” in the third person – as if they don’t fall into that group! But honestly, how often do we look at others in the same way?

Oh, we can admit we’re sinners, but in the same breath look down on the addict standing at the exit ramp with the cardboard sign. We balk at opening our homes to people who visit our church because they are poorly dressed , or came from the wrong place, or just because we don’t know them – so we assume the worst. Better safe than sorry, right?

So apparently Jesus agreed that the Pharisees were good, right? Did He not call them (spiritually) “healthy”? Hmmm…

Honestly, I don’t think so, because that’s obviously not true. The original Greek word used means ‘strong’ or ‘able’. So, I believe that Jesus possibly meant 2 things. One was that these religious leaders had the ability to understand the scriptures and follow God, which would mean that their disobedience was a matter of choice. They simply didn’t want to change – they only wanted to get rid of the one person Who was making them feel convicted and look bad.

The other is that these men thought they were spiritually strong even though their lives did not reflect that. It was then as it is now – you can’t teach the willfully ignorant. Either way, Jesus chose to invest in people who knew they were lost, knew they needed help, and were at least willing to listen to what He had to say over a hot meal.

I’m pretty sure all of them didn’t believe Him, much less accept Him as Messiah. But they weren’t listening only to find ways to trap Him with His own words either. So, what does this all mean for us?

The same as usual. If we are to follow the example of our rabbi, we must first recognize that we are among the group at Matthew’s table, not above them. We must actually invest our time, our lives in those who are willing to listen to the good news about Jesus. The setting of a meal around a table denotes intimacy, relationship – family. Relationships that go deeper than just handing out tracts on a street corner or shaking hands during ‘Friendship Time’ at church.

Are you up for a challenge today? Ask God whom He would have you invite to your table this Sunday after church (or soonest possible). Then the hard part – you have to actually do it.

Pastor John’s Bible Stories For Grown-ups

09/08/16 – 565 – Jesus Calls His First Disciples

One of the things that has caused a bit of confusion over time is the use of different names for some of the people in scripture. For example, in yesterday’s devotion we talked about the disciple Nathaniel, who seems to disappear after being called, only to be replaced by a new guy named Bartholomew. The truth is, he didn’t go anywhere. ‘Nathaniel’ was usually a first name and Bartholomew a surname (last name). So, when the New Testament was written in Greek, the Aramaic name Nathaniel bar Talmai (meaning Nathaniel son of Talmai) became Nathaniel Bartholomew. Later writers simply referred to him by his surname.

Sometimes names changed when there were significant life changes. We saw this when Abram entered into a covenant with Jehovah and became Abraham. Sometimes we just don’t know the reason for a person being referenced by two names, but we can know from the circumstances that we’re talking about the same person.

This is the case with the next disciple Jesus called. We know and love him as Matthew, the former tax collector. But the first time we meet him, it’s by the name of Levi.

Mark 2:13-17

Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

I think that most people know that tax collectors were not well liked in Jewish society to say the least. I will offer that as proof that some things really don’t change. However, as much as none of us really loves the IRS today, people like Matthew were pretty much hated by everyone. And I do mean hated.

To understand why, one has to remember that the Israelites lived under the iron hand of the Romans. One of the methods they used to keep peace in the nations they conquered was to use indigenous people to do a lot of the government work for them. These people ranged from puppet kings like Herod to tax collectors like Matthew.

The assumption was that these locals knew the people, knew their habits and could better find and collect taxes on assets that the people might otherwise be able to hide. So, they found men that were willing to betray their own neighbors and use them.

The return was that anything collected in excess of what was demanded by the Romans was theirs to keep, and these collectors had all the weight and protection of the Roman Empire to help them. Needless to say (but I will anyway), the job didn’t exactly draw men of highest moral character. So, when Jesus called him to actually become a disciple, it did more than just raise some eyebrows.

What happened next is something we still talk about today. We still talk about it but sadly, we too often forget about it. Stay tuned – we aren’t finished yet.

We’ve been talking about how Jesus called those who had been rejected by other rabbis as not being ‘good enough’. Yet here He goes far beyond, calling a man that no one would have considered worthy of bothering with, worthy of redemption. Worthy of grace. Do you think Jesus was trying to tell us something?

Let’s pray today that we get His message.

Pastor John’s Bible Stories For Grown-ups

09/07/16 – 564 – Jesus Calls His First Disciples

Yesterday we talked about what it meant to be called to be a disciple. It’s much more than simply studying the rabbi’s teachings, it means to become as much like that rabbi as possible. Many rabbis purposely made this as difficult as possible, I believe simply as a way to make themselves appear better, smarter or more spiritual than anyone else. In other words, making the clear statement that only the best and brightest can even hope to be anything like me, because that’s just how good I am!

Then along comes Jesus. The Son of God. I can’t think of anyone who could possibly be more special, yet who does he call to be His disciples? The rejects, the ones who have long since been weeded out and sent home. The ones that no other rabbi would even consider as being ‘good enough’ to be like him. Yet here was Jesus, saying exactly that. “Come, follow me. I will teach you to be like me.”

“Yes, I think you are good enough.”

The first 4 men He called were 2 sets of brothers: Peter and Andrew, and John & James. We know they had been rejected because they were all working as fishermen when Jesus found them, rather than still studying in school. They all followed, because in that society they had just been given a great honor – one for which they had long since lost hope.

John 1:43-50

 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

 So Jesus had now called disciple #5, Philip. But then the pattern changes, did you notice? Jesus wasn’t the one who went to Nathaniel directly. Instead, this is our first example (I think), of a disciple calling someone else to discipleship. It was Philip who went and told his friend Who he had found, what had happened, and invited him to join them.

Of course it would be the rabbi’s decision to take on anyone, which makes it so impressive to me that Philip had enough faith in Jesus as the Messiah that he felt he could make this invitation, and have Jesus stand by it! Of course, it wasn’t Jesus but Nathaniel who voiced his doubt – until He actually met Jesus.

Verses 47-51

 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

I have a feeling that most of us are a lot like Nathaniel. When we first hear about Jesus, we just aren’t sure. Even when we accept Him for who He is, we often have doubts in our own ability to be a true disciple – to be like Him. We say things like “No one’s perfect” or “only Jesus is without sin”, even using His holiness as an excuse for our failures. Yet His call for us is “Be holy as I am holy”

Apparently our rabbi thinks we can do it. That we can be like Him. Where we are weak He sends His Spirit to help us. All we have to do is let Him. So there really are no excuses. The only condition is this: it’s an all-or-nothing deal. We are either His disciples, or not. No part-time. No on-demand.

His offer is on the table – always has been. Your ability to do it is not in question – you can. So what’s left is your willingness. And that is what your talk with Him today is all about.

Pastor John’s Bible Stories For Grown-ups

09/06/16 – 563 – Jesus Calls His First Disciples

Matt 4:18-22

 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.

21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Have you ever asked yourself why these men, who were probably in their late teens, would have simply walked away from their jobs when a stranger called? Did Jesus have a magical power over them? And why would Zebedee be OK with his sons walking out on him and the family business? I always pictured him shaking his fist at them and yelling “You two better get back here!”

Well, Jesus never forced Himself on anyone – including us, nor tricked us into following Him. Which is more than we can say for Satan. So the only explanation is that following a rabbi who was willing to teach them was pretty much the greatest honor they could ever imagine. And it was.

In the educational system of the day, boys began their education by memorizing the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible). They began at the age of 5-6, and should have had that completed by age 10 or so. Just like us <wink>. Only the very best students would be selected to go on, and memorize the rest of the Bible (our Old Testament) by about the age of 14-15.

At that point only the cream of that crop might be chosen by rabbis to become their disciples. The rest would be deemed ‘not good enough’ and sent home to learn the family trade. Which is probably why Peter & Andrew, James & John were working in fishing boats when Jesus called them. They were washouts.

You see, it was the job of a disciple (student, but in a much deeper sense than we think of it) to learn everything that could be learned about their rabbi (teacher) and to become as much like him as possible. Somewhere along the way some rabbi (teacher) had decided that these guys were just not good enough to do it.

Honestly, I’ve had teachers like that in college. I recall 2 in particular who used to boast about what great teachers they must be, because no one ever got an ‘A’ in their class. In other words, they weren’t really interested in teaching, but in having people around that they could keep to a level just a little lower than where they felt their own was.

Many rabbis were like this. Their teachings were purposely made difficult and confusing. My guess is that many potentially great disciples were sent home after being told ‘You aren’t good enough to be like me!’ I wonder how many just gave up – discouraged.

But then here comes this new rabbi who does a radical thing – He calls His disciples from out of the ‘rejects’! From the guys who years before were sent home from school as not being smart enough, devoted enough or whatever to study under a rabbi. He goes straight to these guys and He says “I think you are good enough to be like me!”

Of course they dropped everything and followed. Of course Zebedee let them (he was probably jumping for joy). Jesus had given them a second chance – called them to the greatest honor imaginable for a Jewish boy – to be the disciple of a rabbi!

And now, He does the same for us. We who are told over and over that we aren’t good enough, that we don’t make a difference, that we can’t do it, need only to look up. Jesus Himself is standing right there in front of you, reaching out to you and saying “Come. Follow me. I think you’re good enough. I think you can do it.”

Our prayer for today? Easy – just answer Him.