With the new excitement of them all catching a large amount of fishes, Simon called his other partners to help him gather the fishes in a net. Since Simon was full of joy, he fell down to Jesus knees and said that he was a sinful man, and that Jesus shouldn’t associate around him. Simons other partners, James and John son of Zebedee also fell down to Jesus knees in astonishment. Jesus then replied, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch Men”. With this newly phrase said from Jesus, Simon and his partners packed their bags, and followed Jesus in his preaching.
This chapter from Luke’s Gospel tells us that Jesus is willing to accept us all into his kingdom, no matter how sinful we are. Also if we as Disciples of Christ continue to have faith inside him, and to follow his commandments (like Simon did) we will also prevail in the future.
My second story I have selected from Luke’s Gospel is Luke Chapter 5, verse 27-32. In this occasion Levi, Jesus called a tax collector. Levi then held a banquet for Jesus, just to show his appreciation, of Jesus calling him, since he was a tax collector. At the banquet many tax collector were also there eating with Jesus. Other people such as the Pharisees and the teachers of law saw Jesus eating with tax collectors and were furious since they questioned, “why do you eat and drink with tax collector and sinners”. Jesus then replied, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”.
In this Chapter of Luke’s Gospel, we get the impression that Jesus calls the most unlikely people, to follow his path of good. Levi being a tax collector over 2000 years ago ripped people off by adding extra taxes to their payments. Levi then invites Jesus to a banquet since he has now accepted Jesus into his heart. With the Pharisees and teachers of law, furious with Jesus eating and drinking with tax collectors Jesus replies to them “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” which portrays a sense of loving and acceptance to his family.
The third story I have chosen is also from Luke’s gospel Chapter 6, verse 12-19. In this story Jesus travels to a mountain to pray with his 12 disciples. All his followers, Simon, (who Jesus named Peter) Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alpaues, Simon who was called Zealot, Judas son of James and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.
As they all continued to travel up the mountain Jesus was surrounded by many people, including his disciples. Various people from Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre gathered to listen to the word of God, and to be healed. All the people full of evil were cured, and all the sick were also cured. Everyone who gathered around Jesus wanted to touch him and feel the power of good flow into his or her hearts.
This occasion tells us how all the unlikely Disciples, such as Simon repented to sin, and decided to change his name to Zealot, proving that he has change from a tax collector into a true follower of Christ. The story also blends with a fact that 12 disciples were all completely different people, in reference to their ambitions and daily routines. Some of the disciples were quiet, some were talkative and some were smart. This story also personifies how Jesus helped heal all of them sick, and all the sinners full of evil, proving that Jesus was ready to help them full of evil and to help them who were sick.
Lastly in this occasion, two sister Martha and Mary invite Jesus and his followers (disciples) to their house. Jesus began to preach the word of God but only Mary was listening to the preaching. Martha on the other hand was busy preparing food and other things to satisfy Jesus. Martha then approached Jesus and asked said “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me”, but Jesus replied, “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her”.
From this story we get the impression that Mary is a follower of Christ and deeply believes in the Christian faith, which pleases Jesus as he replies to Martha “Mary has chosen what is better”. We also learn that Jesus has faith in both sisters, but only wants them to listen to the word of God, which he carries across in a way that Martha didn’t understand. Since Jesus has seen how committed Mary is, he has now accepted her into being one of his disciples (not one of the 12) since the word of God is really important to her.
In conclusion all these disciples had the commitment to Jesus and where eager to follow in his footsteps. They may have not had the power to heal the sick and cure the ones full of evil, but they had the inner strength to preach the word of God and to acknowledge Jesus’ actions as a leader.
