A surgeon that has to open a human body, to cut out of it a cancerous tumour, for doing his best to save a human being from death, is applauded, and the patient sees Him as it’s saviour! Yet, eventually, that person will still die! Think of the calling that the disciples of the Lord were about to enter into, we cannot compare it to anything that a man on earth can do! Think of what Jesus said to these four fishermen, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, when they were busy repairing their nets: ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’! They had met Jesus previously in Perea, where John the Baptist baptised Him. The day following the Lord’s baptism John the Baptist saw Jesus coming where he was and said to the people that were gathered with him and he said to them: ‘Look the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.’ (John 1: 29) The next day, means the day following His baptism, John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said: ‘Look the Lamb of God!’ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning round, Jesus saw them following and asked: ‘What do you want? ’They said ‘Rabbi’ (which means – Teacher) ‘where are you staying?’ ‘Come’ He replied ‘and you will see. So, they went and saw where he was staying. (John 1: 35-39) One of the two disciples was Andrew, Peter’s brother, the other was John. Now the first thing that Andew did next day, is to go to Peter His brother to tell him: ‘We have found the Messiah, meaning the Christ', the anointed One, and Andrew brought Him to where Jesus stayed. ‘Jesus looked at him and said: You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas.’ (which when translated, is Peter) (John 1: 42)

After this very eventful encounter, they returned to Galilee to fishing, for Peter and Andrew, James and His young brother, John, were fishermen. (Read John 1: 29-51). Jesus also, few weeks after His baptism left Judea, and returned to Galilee, it was then that He came specifically as they were repairing their nets, to call them to follow Him! So, Jesus was not unknown to them. They had to learn what this special calling would do to them, and the excitement that they would experience as they followed Jesus. With Philip, whom Jesus called also, five of them followed him for the first year of His campaigning. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, have left us the faithful record of some of all the miracles that Jesus did, and the words that He preached during three and a half years, at the beginning of which He called them, it is John that writes: ‘This is the disciple who testifies to these things, and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.’ (John 21: 24-25) John wrote his Gospel, before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, by Titus the Roman emperor. By that time the other three gospels and some of the epistles had been written, except John’s three epistles, all were copied many times, and spread amongst the churches; no doubt other books could have also been written? Many, many, are still being written.

These verses of John really conclude beautifully the Gospels, which they are rightly followed by the book of the Acts of the Apostles, in it, Luke, the physician, led by the Holy Spirit, writes the last words Jesus said to His disciples and how Jesus sent the Holy Spirit from heaven and filled a hundred and twenty of them, on the day of Pentecost, which was commemorated ten days after the Lord’s ascension. Thus, He fulfilled the promise given to them in the Upper Room when He said: ‘The Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach all things, and will remind you everything I have said to you.’ (John 14: 26) … ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ (Acts 1: 8) And it happened just as He promised!