Sunday School Lesson Summary
January 2, 2000
Golden Text: Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
                    ---Matthew  4:19

Scripture: Matthew 4:18-22; 9:9-13; 10:1-4
Lesson Subject: The Twelve Disciples

Mat 4:18  And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
Mat 4:19  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Mat 4:20  And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
Mat 4:21  And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
Mat 4:22  And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

Mat 9:9  And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.
Mat 9:10  And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.
Mat 9:11  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
Mat 9:12  But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Mat 9:13  But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Mat 10:1  And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
Mat 10:2  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
Mat 10:3  Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;
Mat 10:4  Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

Introduction:

Our lesson today teaches us who the Jewish men were that Jesus called to be disciples.  We can learn from this lesson that the call to discipleship must be a willing submission of our will to the call of God.  A disciple or minister of God who comes at his call without hesitation or wonder will sacrifice himself for the glory of God.  Our sacrifice does not mean death because in Romans it says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service“(Rom 12:1).  We will see how the disciples that Jesus called left their occupations to follow him.  He chose men of low estate and strong in character who were willing to leave father, mother and family.  Our lesson will also revell to us how men who earned their living by fishing would exchange this trade to become God’s fishers of men.

Jesus Calls For Disciples.  (Matthew 4:18-22)

“And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren,”(vs. 18).  The two brothers were Peter and Andrew who were casting their nets to catch fish from the sea.  The Lord knew that these two men who sought the fish of the sea would also be as dedicated to God to become his fishers of men.  In verse 19, the Lord tells them to, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

John’s gospel tells us that the next day after Jesus’ baptism, John the Baptist saw Jesus walking and again said “Behold the Lamb of God”.  And of the two men that were with John one was Andrew (Read John 1:35-49) and Andrew went and found his brother Peter and said to him, “We have found the Messiah.” And Andrew took Simon (Peter) to Jesus and the Lord said, “Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shall be called Cephas (meaning little rock-read John 1:42).

Jesus saw character and quality in Peter and Andrew and called them to follow him and to be disciples of men.  The description disciple means to be a learner and all men who are called by God must be a learner of God’s teachings and ways.  Fishermen in that day were faithful to their occupation.  Jesus knew that they would be as  faithful in the casting out of the gospel net to catch men just as they were faithful in casting out their nets to catch fish.  Jesus was God in the flesh and He saw their hearts and knew the thoughts and actions of these men before they though the though and did the action.  God knew that they wouldn’t give up spreading the gospel to save the souls of lost men headed for Hell.  They were dedicated to this cause even unto the pain of death.

“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,”(vs. 19)---“And they straight way left their nets, and followed him,”(vs. 20).  The call of Jesus to discipleship and the revelation that he is God in the flesh will draw a man to him or drive a man away from him.  Jesus gave this invitation to these men to follow him to become fishers of men and without hesitation they arose and followed him.  The term “follow me” in the Greek means “come ye after me” implying that disciples of Christ must take up their cross and spread the gospel in good or bad times.  We can’t be fair weather saints of God and wait until conditions are in our favor to serve God.  The disciples gave up everything they were comfortable with and had great experienced in to follow the Lord.  We must also understand and believe that the Lord will supply all of our needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus no matter what our situation is in the ministry of the Lord.  Saints of old gave their service unto the Lord without holding back and we must be willing to serve him even at times when it is inconvenient to us.  We must not be fair weather Christians because this shows a lack of faith in the power and miracle-workings of our God.  Many folks only serve God when it fits into their schedule and when “the weather is good”.

“And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother”(vs. 21)--”And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him”(vs. 22).  Jesus gave these brothers the surname “Boanerges” meaning “The sons of thunder”(Mk 3:17).  These brothers also were fishermen like Andrew and Peter.  We see in these scriptures the immediate response of these men to the of Jesus.   Their reaction to the call of God is a lesson in itself because it showed their faith, trust, hope, and confidence in the man Jesus.  These men weren’t responding to blind faith because, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  For by it the elders obtained a good report.  Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear,”(Heb 11:1-3).

We disciples today also have the responsibility to immediately follow the leading of the Word of God and it is the Holy Ghost that gives us power to follow without hesitation.  Wonderful blessings are bestowed upon us when we quickly obey God and we bless our children when they obey, especially when they obey us quickly
When these men obeyed Jesus’ call they realized that is was necessary for them to give up all to follow him.  They left their possessions and their families and we must also have this same dedication in our ministry to God.  The disciple knew that they couldn’t look back nor can we look back.  Jesus said, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple,”(Lk 14:26).  Jesus gave to us another reminder or warning of the danger in going back on our commitment to him, when he said, “No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God,”(Lk 9:62).

Jesus Calls More Men to Discipleship.  (Matthew 9:9-13)

“And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew,”---”and he said unto him, Follow me.  And he arose, and followed him”(vs. 9).  Jesus now calls Matthew and he is also called Levi in the book of Luke and he is the writer of the Gospel of Matthew.  This verse tells us that he is a custom or tax collector and that he immediately rises and follows Jesus.  Verse 10 tells us that Jesus is at meat (diner) in Matthews house.  This diner indicates that Matthew was a man of substantial means and gave up all to follow Jesus and there were many publicans and sinners there at his house along with Jesus and his disciples.   The publicans were tax collectors like Matthew and the sinners were those Jews who had broken the moral and ceremonials laws.  But we know that all men are sinners because we all were conceived in sin and shaped in iniquity.

“Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners“(vs. 11)? These are the words of the Pharisees that saw Jesus with these men at Matthew’s house.  The Pharisees were a group of self-righteous religious men who were members of the temple.  Most churches of today will always have their group of “Pharisees” who will question your ministry to the lost and make you guilty by association.  This type of reaction towards the committed saints ministry should make them hold on to the gospel plow with greater determination and not look back.

In Verses 12 and 13 we hear the answer and the rebuke Jesus gave to the Pharisees.
Jesus saw the hearts of the self-righteous Pharisees and told them, “the whole need not a physician but they that are sick“.   In verse 13 Jesus says “But go ye and learn what that meaneth.“ This was a very popular saying among Jewish rabbis.  The scribes and the Pharisees who claimed to be keepers of the Torah read these words many times but were lacking in its spiritual meaning.  The prophet Hosea knew its meaning when he said, “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings“(Hosea 6:6).

These words of Jesus are telling the Pharisees and us to show kindness and compassion towards men no matter what their station in life is and to show piety (honor and respect) towards God.  We are to be kind and show mercy instead of being haughty, proud and unmerciful.  We who are saved must not exalt ourselves above those who aren’t save, for while we all were yet in sin Christ died for the ungodly.  Jesus didn’t come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.  We who are saved have a tendency to preach to ourselves too much in the comfort of our churches but Jesus said go ye into all of the world and preach the gospel and our starting point is in our own homes to our family.

Jesus Gives the Twelve Disciples Power.  (Matthew 10:1-4)

“And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease”(vs. 1).  Jesus now gives his twelve chosen disciples or Apostles power.  The Lord is sending these men out into the world on a divine mission and that mission is to spread the gospel of Christ into the world.  Before they go, he gives the power to oppose the works of Satan and power to help those in need of the blessings of God.
This power will enable them to over come the works of the unclean spirit of Satan.  This power will help those in need by healing all manner of sickness and disease.
Satan is going about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and it is only the power of God that can defeat the works of Satan.

Jesus knew that his Apostles would soon come against many oppositions that will attempt to hinder the work of these men.  They will be fighting against unbelief, sin, government officials and spiritual wickedness in high place working through the flesh of men.  They will also be battling against deceit for Satan will be going about as “an angel of light” causing many men to turn from God for something that appears to be righteous.  We have cults and Jim Jones running amuck within  our society bringing havoc and death.  It will be the sharing of the truth of God and his power that can save men from damnation.

In verses 2-4 we find the names of the final 7 disciples given.

Conclusions:

Each disciple that Jesus called into the ministry had special skills and a good character traits: he took their skill as fishermen and made them fishers of men.  Our lesson teaches us that as the disciples responded quickly to the Lord’s call we ought to respond quickly to him also.  We learn also that when Jesus calls us into ministry, he will directed us where we should go and we will have no doubt.  Every person who has come into the church of God today has been unction with the power of the Holy Ghost.  The Holy Ghost gives us witnessing power, preaching power, teaching power, right living power and many, many more gifts that will enable us to successfully complete the mission God calls us for.  One of the most important things the lesson teaches us is to willingly submit to God’s call and to respond quickly to that call.
 

By: Eld. H. Watson
       hlwj2@aol.com