See Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11
There were three clear stages of growth for the
twelve in their relationship with Jesus. In the first stage they were simply
believers in Him as the Christ and his occasional companions, especially during
festive occasions. We can see this in the first four chapters of John, which
tell how some of the disciples first became acquainted with Jesus. They are
with him at a wedding in Cana, at a Passover celebration in Jerusalem, on a
visit to the scene of John the Baptist’s ministry, and on the return journey
through Samaria from the south to Galilee.
The second stage became an
uninterrupted journey with Jesus involving a complete or at least habitual
abandonment of their occupations. The passages listed above are stories of the
disciples entering this second stage of their discipleship. Of the four people
named, we recognize Peter, Andrew and John as old acquaintances who had already
passed through the first stage of discipleship. We also meet James the brother
of John, for the first time. With James, the first and second stages of
discipleship may have been blended together.
The twelve entered on the last and
highest stage of discipleship when they were selected by their Master from the
mass of his followers and formed into a select band. They were chosen so that
they could be trained for the great work of apostleship. This selection
probably did not take place until all of the disciples had been with Jesus for
some time. From the gospels, it appears that Jesus began at an early period to
gather a group of disciples around Himself. This was his strategy to carrying
out the work of the divine Kingdom.
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