Disciples of Jesus

"Disciples of Jesus" – Matthew 16:18 The disciples of Jesus were not perfect people. They were not religious leaders, priests, or teachers of the law: they were fishermen, a tax collector, a political extremist. Ordinary men, with some virtues and many faults. Jesus did not call the perfect: He called the willing. This study walks through the twelve one by one —what they were before, which passage portrays them, what the Lord transformed in them— in order to answer one question: what does it take to be a disciple today? Not ability, but availability; not perfection, but obedience.

I. What the disciples were not

A. They were not perfect. They denied Him and hid; only John stood by the cross. The rest sought safety by shutting themselves in a room out of fear.

B. They were not religious leaders or students of the law. They were ordinary men: fishermen, a publican, a revolutionary.

C. They did not stand out for any high level of spirituality. They had virtues, yes; and also many faults, just as we do.

D. Yet they were chosen, because God knew their hearts would be willing to do what He wants.

II. What Jesus was looking for: available, correctable, teachable

A. Available. "Jesus did not call the perfect; He called the willing." When a person is called it is because God has already seen how willing that person is; it is not how capable we are, it is how willing we are.

B. Correctable. They made mistakes, but they let themselves be corrected; there was no pride in them. Obedience mattered more than perfection, because perfection is costly and obedience carries us forward.

C. Teachable. They did not understand at first: they asked, they listened, they watched the Master. Jesus formed them step by step, and the method has not changed: prayer and Scripture, day after day.

D. A warning about instability: today willing, tomorrow not; today laughing, tomorrow not. A life you do not make stable leaves everything around it unstable, beginning with the children, to whom a father and a mother are meant to give stability and security.

E. Transparent. They did not hide their failures. Whoever hides his failures cracks in time; a double life does not work.

III. They left everything

A. They were drastic: they left work, family, security, and every plan they had for the future.

B. They did it because they recognized who Jesus was. On the day His blood washes us, a person is never the same again.

C. That sets the priority: when you give yourself to the Lord, God is first in your life, come what may.

D. Except for John, none of them lived past sixty. In that short span they had to leave the Gospel in writing and carry to north, south, east and west the news that the Messiah had come. They left everything so that we would have the Gospel today; the question is what we are leaving.

IV. Transformed men

A. Peter went from impulsive to a firm leader. The one who denied the Lord before the soldiers later asked to be crucified head down, so as not to die as his Master did.

B. John went from a fierce temperament to being the apostle of love, as his own writings record.

C. Thomas went from doubt to conviction: "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28).

D. They all grew by the Holy Spirit. That growth is not produced by our own effort; and the Spirit remains where the life is kept clean.

E. To be a disciple is not to be perfect: it is to be willing to listen and to be corrected, to put Jesus first and grow with Him every day.

V. The twelve, one by one

A. Peter — Matthew 16:18. "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Peter's confession of faith is the foundation on which the church is built, and he paid for that faith with his death. The gates of Hades will not triumph: death does not have the last word over the church of Christ.

B. Andrew — John 1:41-42. Meek and humble; the first to believe and the first to go find someone else. He runs to his brother saying "we have found the Messiah," and through him Simon comes to Jesus, who looks at him and says: "thou shalt be called Cephas".

C. James, the brother of John — Acts 12:2. Herod killed him with the sword, and seeing the applause of the people he arrested Peter as well. With him begins the hard day of the apostles.

D. John — John 19:26-27. The only disciple at the cross. Jesus entrusts His mother to him —"behold thy mother"— and from that hour he took her into his own home. Love brings surrender; surrender brings faithfulness; faithfulness brings purity; purity brings integrity: being of one piece.

E. Philip — John 14:8. "Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us." Jesus answers that He Himself is the revelation of the Father: the Father commands, the Son acts; they are not divided. That is why every prayer is made to the Father in the name of the Son.

F. Nathanael, called Bartholomew — John 1:47. "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" A just and clean man; that is why it was easy for him to hear the Master and confess: "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel".

G. Thomas — John 20:28. A realist, he looked for evidence. On seeing the wounds he cries out, "My Lord and my God!" And the blessing remains for those who believe without having seen.

H. Levi, called Matthew — Luke 5:27-28. A publican; at the word "follow me" he rose and left everything. In his house he held a feast that was his farewell to the men of his trade: he traded the fortune of earth for the fortune of heaven.

I. James — James 1:19. Faithful in the small things. "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." He stands for the disciples who make no noise yet hold up the work in struggle and care: a silent steadiness, and that teaches humility.

J. Judas Thaddaeus — John 14:22. He asked in search of clarity, not to challenge but to learn. Jesus answers that whoever loves Him and keeps His word will have the Father and the Son make their abode with him.

K. Simon the Zealot — Luke 6:15. Formerly a political extremist; Jesus turned his aggressive passion into passion for the kingdom. He gave his strength and his conviction to God.

L. Judas Iscariot — Matthew 26:14-15. Intelligent and able, but divided in heart: he loved money more than Christ. He went to the religious leaders —where there is an appearance of godliness— and sold for thirty pieces of silver. His life is a warning: being near Jesus is not the same as following Him.

VI. Application

A. Do not disqualify yourself for being ordinary. God chooses the willing, not the brilliant; the calling is measured in willingness, not ability.

B. Let yourself be corrected. When a brother points something out, that is correction, not insult. Where there is no correction, pride grows.

C. Become a student of the Scriptures. Whoever knows the Word knows what to say, what to keep quiet, and how to behave, and can teach in his own house.

D. Be transparent. Hiding failures only postpones the crack; a double life does not work.

E. Guard the place of the Holy Spirit in you. He is the one who gives growth, and He remains where the life is kept clean.

F. Measure life by eternity, not by what you hold today. To know the good and not do it is also sin, and heaven does not measure the way we measure.