People of the Bible: The Disciples Part 1: Andrew, Peter, and Thomas
Jesus chose 12 men to be his first disciples. They were normal people, with normal jobs, but God had a special plan for them. Jesus taught the disciples many things while on Earth. Over the next four weeks, we will be taking a deeper look into each of the 12 disciples. Today, we will begin with three: Andrew, Peter, and Thomas.
The Call: Matthew 10:2-4- 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Andrew:
Andrew was one of the first people who followed Jesus. He was originally a disciple of John the Baptist and when he heard him preach about Jesus as the Messiah he started following Jesus. The Bible also tells us that he went to get his brother Peter to tell him about Jesus. Before they were called, he and his brother Peter were fishermen. Jesus called them both by telling them that he would make them fishers of men, and that’s exactly what he did.
Besides his early following of Jesus, we do not know much about Andrew. But it is clear that he played a significant role in getting his brother Peter to follow Jesus as well. Historically, it is believed that after Jesus ascended to heaven Andrew became a missionary and spread the gospel.
Peter:
Unlike his brother Andrew, we know quite a bit about Peter. Peter witnessed and was involved in many of the miracles of Jesus. Most notably, Peter walked on water with Jesus (Matthew 14:22-33). He was also one of Jesus’s 3 closest disciples (John and James will be talked about next week). As a part of this Jesus told him that he would be the “rock” that he would build the church on (Matthew 16:18). At Pentecost, this prophecy started its fulfillment when Peter preached to a crowd of people and 3,000 people were saved. Peter is also credited with writing the New Testament books 1 and 2 Peter.
Peter did some incredible things with Jesus, but not everything was pretty. Peter is also known for denying Jesus 3 times the night before he was crucified. Jesus told him it would happen and Peter said it couldn’t be true, but when people began to ask him if he knew Jesus he lied and said he didn’t.
Peter had his ups and downs, but his life teaches us that even though we may deny him sometimes, Jesus still loves us. Jesus is faithful to us even when we are not faithful to him. We all sin, but like Peter, Jesus wants us to build his church until he returns for us.
Thomas:
Thomas is a disciple that we know a moderate amount about. He has been nicknamed “Doubting Thomas'' because he refused to believe the other disciples when they tried to explain that Jesus had been resurrected. He said that he would not believe until he could put his hand in his wounds (John 20:25). Eventually Jesus appears and he allows Thomas to examine his wounds. After this, Thomas believed and was in amazement.
Jesus told Thomas that he believed because he saw. But that there would be many who could not see and would still believe, and these people would be blessed. Today we fall in the unseen category. None of us can touch Jesus like Thomas could, but if we believe the accounts in the Bible then Jesus says we will be blessed.
Key Takeaways:
Follow Jesus
Jesus calls us to be a disciple and build the Church as well
Have Big Faith
Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about Andrew, Peter, and Thomas this Sunday, both in-person and online.
Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.
To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.