Jesus, Lessons for Life 3
Becoming Disciples
Jesus then began to pull his early believers together—the disciples, some of whom would be appointed as the apostles at a later time.
What does disciple mean? It refers most often to someone who is following and studying from a specific person. Synonyms include everything from “believer” to simply a “student.”
John 1:35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.
36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.
38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus.
41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).
42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter ).
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.
45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
These men were Jews, and it seems they had special longing for the coming of the Messiah. In these initial brief encounters each had with Christ, they became convinced that Jesus was the Messiah they had been so hopefully anticipating.
Key Lesson — Follow Him; become a disciple, a learner…
What was their reaction upon Jesus revealing himself to them? They followed.
That of course is a huge lesson for us—when our hearts are touched with the reality and truth that Jesus is Lord, we need to follow.
| 
