The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young Part 1

The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young.

by Richard Newton.

THE APOSTLES CHOSEN

As soon as he returned victorious from the temptation in the wilderness, Jesus entered on the work of his public ministry. We find him, at once, preaching to the people, healing the sick, and doing many wonderful works. The commencement of his ministry is thus described by St. Matt. iv: 23-25. "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great mult.i.tudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan." What a blessed beginning of the most blessed of all ministries this was! He came to bless our world. He did bless it, as no one else could have done. And here, we see, how he entered on his work.

And one of the first things he did, after thus beginning his ministry, was to gather his disciples round him. The first two that we find named among his disciples are John and Andrew. They had been disciples of John the Baptist. Their master pointed them to Jesus, and said--"Behold the Lamb of G.o.d." When they heard this they followed Jesus, and became his disciples. When Andrew met with his brother Simon Peter, he said to him "we have found the Messias--the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus." After this we are told that "Jesus findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me." He was an acquaintance of Andrew and Peter, and lived in the same town with them. He obeyed the call at once and became one of the disciples of Jesus.

Philip had a friend named Nathanael. The next time he met him, he said, "we have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." But Nazareth was a despised place, and had a bad reputation. Nathanael had a very poor opinion of the place, and he asked--"Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip saith unto him--"Come and see."

And this is what we should say to persons when we wish them to become Christians. There is so much that is lovely and excellent in Jesus that if people will only "come and see," if they will only prove for themselves what a glorious Saviour he is, they will find it impossible to help loving and serving him. Nathanael came to Jesus.

And when he heard the wonderful words that Jesus spoke to him he was converted at once, and expressed his wonder by saying--"Rabbi, thou art the Son of G.o.d; thou art the King of Israel." We can read all about this in John i: 43-51. Nathanael became a disciple of Jesus, and one of the twelve apostles, and is supposed to be the same one who bears the name of Bartholomew in the different lists of the apostles.

After this we read of Jesus calling Matthew the publican, who was a tax-gatherer. This is what is meant by his "sitting at the receipt of custom." "Follow me," were the words spoken to him. He obeyed at once; left all and followed Jesus. St. Luke and St. Mark mention this same call, but they give the name of Levi to the person thus called.

This is not strange, for it was common among the Jews for persons to have two names. Sometimes they were called by one of these names and sometimes by the other.

Here we have the account of six persons, who became disciples of Jesus; and of the different ways in which they were led to follow him. No doubt many others were led to become his disciples from simply hearing him preach; and from listening to the gracious words that he spoke.

And very soon after he had gathered together a large company of disciples, he made choice of twelve, out of this number, who were to be his apostles. He wished these men to be with him all the time.

They were to hear his teaching, and see his miracles, and so be prepared to take his place, and carry on his work when he should return to heaven.

It was necessary for these men to be chosen. When Washington was appointed to conduct our armies during the Revolution, he chose a number of generals to help him. And it is natural for us to think of Washington and his generals. But just as natural it is to think of--Jesus and his apostles.

And this is the subject we have now to consider--_The Apostles Chosen_.

And in considering this subject there are four things of which to speak.

_The first, is the condition and character of the men whom Jesus chose as his apostles.

The second, is the work these men were called to do.

The third, is the help that was given them in doing this work; and

The fourth, is the lesson taught us by this subject._ Or, to make the points of the subject as short as possible, we may state them thus:

_The men. The work. The help. The lesson.

We begin then with speaking of_--THE MEN--_or the condition and character of those whom Jesus chose to be his apostles or helpers_.

Now we might have thought that Jesus would have chosen his apostles, or helpers, from among the angels of heaven. They are so wise, and good, and strong, that we wonder why he did not choose them. But he did not. He chose _men_ to be his apostles. And what kind of men did he choose? If we had been asked this question beforehand, we should have supposed that he would certainly have chosen the wisest and the most learned men, the richest and greatest men that could be found in the world. But it was not so. Instead of this he chose poor men, unlearned men, men that were not famous at all; and who had not been heard of before. Fishermen, and tax-gatherers, and men occupying very humble positions in life, were those whom Jesus chose to be his apostles.

And one reason, no doubt, why Jesus made choice of men of this character to be his apostles was that when their work was done, no one should be able to say that it was the learning, or wisdom, or riches, or power of men by whom that work was accomplished. The apostle Paul teaches us that this is the way in which G.o.d generally acts; and that he does it for the very reason just spoken of. He says, "G.o.d hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and G.o.d hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath G.o.d chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought the things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence." I. Cor. i: 27-29. The meaning of this pa.s.sage is that G.o.d loves to work by little things. This was the reason why Jesus chose poor, unlearned fishermen to be his apostles. And we see G.o.d working in the same way continually.

Look at yonder sun. G.o.d made it, and hung it up there in the sky that it might give light to our world. But the light which this sun gives comes to us in tiny little bits, smaller than the point of the finest needle that ever was made. They are so small that hundreds of them can rush right into our eyes, as they are doing all the time, and not hurt them the least. Here we see how G.o.d makes use of little things, and does a great work with them.

And then look at yonder ocean. The waves of that ocean are so powerful that they can break in pieces the strongest ships that men have ever built. And yet, when G.o.d wishes to keep that mighty ocean in its place, he makes use of little grains of sand for this purpose.

Here again we see how G.o.d employs little things, and does a great work with them. And we find G.o.d working in this way continually. Let us look at one or two ill.u.s.trations.

"What a Plant Did." A little plant was given to a sick girl. In trying to take care of it, the family made changes in their way of living, which added greatly to their comfort and happiness. First, they cleaned the window, that more light might come in to the leaves of the plant. Then, when not too cold, they opened the window, that fresh air might help the plant to grow; and this did the family good, as well as the plant. Next the clean window made the rest of the room look so untidy that they washed the floor, and cleaned the walls, and arranged the furniture more neatly. This led the father of the family to mend a broken chair or two, which kept him at home several evenings. After this, he took to staying at home with his family in the evenings, instead of spending his time at the tavern; and the money thus saved went to buy comforts for them all. And then, as their home grew more pleasant, the whole family loved it better than ever before, and they grew healthier and happier with their flowers.

What a little thing that plant was, and yet it was G.o.d's apostle to that family! It did a great work for them in blessing them and making them happy. And _that_ was work that an angel would have been glad to do.

"Brought In by a Smile." A London minister said to a friend one day; "Seven persons were received into my church last Sunday, and they were all brought in by a smile."

"Brought in by a smile! Pray what do you mean?"

"Let me explain. Several months ago, as I pa.s.sed a certain house on my way to church, I saw, held in the arms of its nurse, a beautiful infant; and as it fixed its bright black eyes on me, I smiled, and the dear child returned the smile. The next Sabbath the babe was again before the window. Again I smiled, and the smile was returned, as before. The third Sabbath, as I pa.s.sed by the window, I threw the little one a kiss. Instantly its hand was extended and a kiss thrown back to me. And so it came to pa.s.s that I learned to watch for the baby on my way to church; and as the weeks went by, I noticed that the nurse and the baby were not alone. Other members of the family pressed to the window to see the gentleman who always had a smile for the dear baby--the household pet.

"One Sunday morning, as I pa.s.sed, two children, a boy and a girl, stood at the window beside the baby. That morning the father and mother had said to those children: 'Get ready for church, for we think that the gentleman who always smiles to the baby is a minister.

When he pa.s.ses you may follow him, and see where he preaches.'

"The children were quite willing to follow the suggestion of their parents, and after I had pa.s.sed, the door opened, and the children stepped upon the pavement, and kept near me, till I entered my church, when they followed me, and seats were given them.

"When they returned home, they sought their parents and eagerly exclaimed: 'He is a minister, and we have found his church, and he preached a beautiful sermon this morning. You must go and hear him next Sunday.'

"It was not difficult to persuade the parents to go, and guided by their children they found their way to the church. They, too, were pleased, and other members of the family were induced to come to the house of G.o.d. G.o.d blessed what they heard to the good of their souls, and seven members of this family have been led to become Christians, and join the church, and, I repeat what I said before: 'they were all brought in by a smile.'"

What a little thing a smile is! And yet, here we see how G.o.d made use of so small a thing as this, to make seven persons Christians, and to save their souls forever! Of the G.o.d who can work in this way, it may well be said that he loves to work by little things. It is the way in which he is working continually.

How eagerly, then, we may try to learn and to practise what has been very sweetly expressed in

THE MITE SONG.

"Only a drop in the bucket, But every drop will tell, The bucket would soon be empty, Without the drops in the well.

"Only a poor little penny, It was all I had to give; But as pennies make the dollars, It may help some cause to live.

"A few little bits of ribbon, And some toys--they were not new, But they made the sick child happy, And that made me happy, too.

"Only some out-grown garments; They were all I had to spare; But they'll help to clothe the needy, And the poor are everywhere.

"A word now and then of comfort, That cost me nothing to say; But the poor old man died happy, And it helped him on the way.

"G.o.d loveth the cheerful giver, Though the gifts be poor and small; But what must he think of his children Who never give at all?"

G.o.d loves to work by little means. We see this when we think of the men whom Jesus chose to be his apostles. The first thing about this subject is--_the men_.

_The second thing to speak of, in connection with this subject, is_--THE WORK--_they had to do_.

What this work was we find fully stated in the fourteenth chapter of St. Matthew. In this chapter Jesus told the apostles all about the work they were to do for him, and how they were to do it. In the seventh and eighth verses of this chapter we have distinctly stated just what they were to do. "As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand; Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils."

On this occasion Jesus sent his apostles to do the work committed to them, not among the Gentiles, but only among the Jews; or as he calls them--"the lost sheep of the house of Israel," v. 5,6. But, after his resurrection, and just before he went up to heaven, he enlarged their commission. His parting command to them then was--"_Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature_." St. Mark xvi: 15.

When Jesus, their Master, went to heaven they were to take up and carry on the great work that he had begun. Those twelve men were to begin the work of changing the religion of the world. They were to overturn the idols that had been worshiped for ages. They were to shut up the temples in which those idols had been worshiped. They were to "turn men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto G.o.d." Acts xxvi: 18. They were to go up and down the world, everywhere, telling the wondrous story of Jesus and his love. And in doing this work they were to be the means of saving the souls of all who believed their message, and in the end of winning the world back to Jesus, till, according to G.o.d's promise, he has "the heathen for his inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for his possession." Ps. ii: 8.

This was the grandest and most important work that men were ever called upon to do. The apostles spent their lives in doing this work; and then they left it for others to carry on. The work is not finished yet. And, if we learn to love and serve Jesus, we may help to carry it on. We may be apostles, too, though in a lower sense than that in which the first twelve were apostles. An apostle means--one _sent_. But Jesus _sends_ into the vineyard to work for him all who become his loving children. And, in this sense it is true that all who love and serve Jesus are his apostles. He says to each of us--"Go, work to-day, in my vineyard." St. Matt, xxi: 28. And in another place he says--"Let him that heareth, say, Come." Rev. xxii: 17.