Day 258 – Jesus’ Disciples Called

• Imagine you could compile your dream team in something that interests you (i.e. the perfect football team, or something like that). Who would you choose? If you showed your dream team to a friend, would they generally agree with you, or be shocked at your choices? Today we continue to read Jesus’ compilation of his own “team”, but the choices were often very surprising.
• In the first of today’s double-header in Matthew, Peter and Andrew were working their normal job when Jesus called them. How quickly did they decide to join Jesus?
• Consider what the fishermen were leaving behind: their livelihoods, their families, and their land. What would make a man do that? What do you think they saw in Jesus that made them follow Him so willingly?
• Why do you follow Jesus? Is it because you feel comfortable doing so, because it’s what you’ve already done? Or do you see something very special in Jesus that’s worth following more than anything else?
• What did Jesus mean when he said “I will make you fishers of men”?
• Luke 5:1-11 is a beautiful story. Jesus used a physical miracle to bring about a spiritual miracle in Simon Peter. What are these two miracles that I mention?
• In order for Simon Peter to follow Jesus fully, he first admitted something in Luke 5:8. What was it, and why is this an important step in following Jesus?
• Despite Simon Peter’s sin, Jesus called him nevertheless (Luke 5:10). What does this show us about Jesus, and what great hope can it give to ourselves?
• You could be forgiven for thinking that fishermen – men with perhaps little education, and difficult jobs – would be “easier targets” for Jesus to call (i.e. they would have followed anyone who told them to). That’s not really the case, of course, but to indicate this further, check out the verses in Matthew 9:9-13. The “Matthew” that is referred to in this passage is the same Matthew that wrote the book, in case you were unaware.
• What was Matthew’s job? You may know that tax collectors were viewed badly by people, but it’s important to see just how strongly felt this was. They were despised! The took more money than they should, including from the poorest in society who couldn’t afford to lose it.
• Why were the Pharisees so mad about Jesus eating with this “sinner”? Imagine you had been ripped off by Matthew. Would you want Jesus to eat with him?
• So, why did Jesus eat with Matthew, then? Why did he call him as a follower? Matthew 9:12 is an important verse here.

Jesus reminds us that it’s not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick. Jesus is the doctor, of course, and we are all sick with the stain and consequence of sin. The Pharisees, who kept all the laws (and more besides), might well have considered themselves “healthy”.

We know, however, that to follow Jesus we have to first admit that we need Him very much, for we are all sinners. For all his failings, Matthew made a good choice in giving up his riches to follow the Sin Healer!