Jesus as Rabbi
So as Jesus began His public ministry and spent time teaching and showcasing His interpretations of Scripture in different synagogues, the text implies He was a rabbi in His own right.
One day as Jesus was leaving the synagogue, He went to walk near the Sea of Galilee. As He was walking, He saw two fishermen, Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, out casting their nets into the lake. This meant they had already left school to learn the family trade, likely because they weren't smart enough to keep studying under a rabbi.
Rabbi Jesus approached the two brothers:
'Come, follow Me,' Jesus said, 'and I will send you out to fish for people. — Matthew 4:19 NIV
They dropped their nets and followed Jesus, leaving everything behind, just as a kid would've done when accepted by a rabbi.
Jesus went a little farther down the shore of the lake and saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were out in their boat with their father, preparing their nets for a day of fishing. Jesus called out to them and asked them to follow Him as well, so the brothers left their boat behind, left their father behind, left their livelihood behind, and followed Jesus.
Later on, Jesus was walking through town when He came upon a man named Philip. Jesus approached him and said,
"Come, follow Me."
Philip ran to tell his friend Nathanael what had happened, but Nathanael was a little skeptical of who this Jesus was and why He would give Philip the opportunity to follow him. Once Nathanael met Jesus face-to-face, he, too, was given the opportunity to be a disciple.
After that, Jesus went out and saw a man named Levi (who would later be named Matthew) working in a tax collector's booth. Tax collectors were hated by the Jews because they had joined forces with the Romans to financially oppress the Jewish people. Jesus also went up to Levi and said,
"Come, follow Me."
To Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Nathanael, Matthew:
"Come, follow Me."
Every single one of them dropped everything they were doing and immediately left to follow Jesus.
The Bible doesn't describe the calling of the other five disciples, but you can bet they followed in the same way — each one of them dropping everything to join this rabbi, Jesus.
People from all over were following Jesus at this point. He had tons of disciples hanging on to His every word. But as His fame grew, He needed a trustworthy, close-knit group to help Him bring God's Kingdom to earth. So Jesus chose Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew (Nathanael), Matthew (Levi), Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas son of James (also called Thaddaeus), and Judas Iscariot.
Twelve men, all between the ages of thirteen and thirty, were chosen to be His close disciples, the people He spent every waking hour alongside, His best friends.
The number twelve is also significant here because it was significant to the history of Israel. There were twelve sons of Jacob, twelve tribes of Moses, and twelve territories of David; so the number twelve was very symbolic for the original readers. Jesus was saying that through these twelve people, God was creating the future of Israel — rewriting history through this new group of twelve.
So the twelve disciples spent every minute with Jesus. They were in his vicinity 24-7, learning from Him and doing everything He did in order to be just like Him. Their new lives were in complete dedication to replicating Jesus.
And Jesus would soon use these twelve disciples to change the world.
One-Sentence Recap
Jesus called a group of twelve men who were told by society that they didn't have what it took to become a disciple — but Jesus looked at each of them and said, "Come, follow Me," proving they had what God's Kingdom needed.
How to Apply This Lesson to Your Life
Would you say Jesus is your rabbi today? Have you dedicated your life to becoming a true disciple? Not just someone who goes to church on Sunday for an hour, but someone who lives and breathes for Scripture more than anything else. This understanding of the disciple/rabbi relationship should be inspiring and sobering to us. Jesus calls us to much greater intimacy than we often realize.
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