18. Why do they want to follow Jesus?

WHO ARE THE FIRST DISCIPLES OF JESUS?

All kinds of people come to John the Baptist to be baptized: soldiers, farmers, fishermen, old people and young people. To all, he repeats: – Change the way you live, stop doing evil, ask God for forgiveness, get ready to welcome the savior whom he has long promised and who is here now. Many are impatient to know this savior. In particular, a few young men who often come to listen to John the Baptist. They wonder how they will recognize this savior. One day, John the Baptist is with one of them, it’s Andrew and there is also another young man. Jesus happens to be passing by. John says to them: – Look, here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, he is the promised savior. Immediately, Andrew and his friend leave John. What do they do? They start to follow Jesus. Jesus turns around and says to them: – What are you looking for? – Where do you live? They ask him: – Come and you’ll see! He replied. Jesus welcomes them to his home. They spend the whole day with him. We don’t know what they said to each other. Maybe Andrew and his friend asked Jesus questions? Later, André meets his brother, he says to him: – Simon, we have found the savior God promised. He tells him how Jesus welcame them at his home. Simon also wants to meet him and get to know him so Andrew leads him to Jesus. When Jesus sees him, he says to him: – You are Simon and your father’s name is Jonas, you will be called Cephas, which means Peter. The next day, Jesus meets another young man who lives in the same city as Peter and Andrew. He tells him: – Philippe! Follow me! Philippe does not hesitate, he follows him. Later, Philippe meets Nathanael. He tells him: – Nathanael, we have found the promised savior, it is Jesus, the son of Joseph the carpenter, Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael is rather surprised. – Do you really believe that something good can come from Nazareth? – Come and see! Philippe replies. And they both leave to meet Jesus. When Jesus sees Nathanael, he says: – Here is really a righteous man; there is no fraud in him. – But, how do you know me? asks Nathanael, who has never seen Jesus before. – Before Philip called you, Jesus replied, when you were under the tree, under the fig tree, I saw you. – But then you are the Son of God, said Nathanael, you are the savior we are waiting for. – Because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree, Jesus continues, you believe in me, I tell you that you will see greater things than this. You will see the sky open and the blessing of God coming down on men. This is, in fact, what these four young people will see, men, women and children blessed, healed, saved. They are going to see extraordinary miracles. It’s the start of a whole new life for them. This day when they agreed to follow Jesus, they did not understand everything but there was in their hearts a deep desire to listen to Him, to know Him better. Andrew, Peter, Philip and Nathanael are the first disciples of Jesus. We will find them in our next stories. 1, 2 3, 4 AND YOU AND ME! Tell me, have you noticed the desire of these four young people to know Jesus? They were curious, they wanted to see Him, hear Him, and follow Him. Well we can say that they were not disappointed and yet this is only the beginning of their discovery because they will see supernatural things and their faith will be strengthened. They’re going to believe in Him more and more. We will see that in our next stories. And you? Do you have this desire to know Jesus? Do you want to know who He is, what He can do for you? Did you understand that He knows you? He sees you as He saw Nathanael under the fig tree. He wants to welcome you and do you good. You can talk to Him, He will hear you. As you read the Gospel, listen to our programs “1,2,3 STORY TIME”, you will know Him better and better just like the disciples of Jesus. By the way, did you find the names of the first four disciples? So can you answer the question? Yes, they are Andrew, Peter, Philip and Nathanael. See you very soon for our next broadcasts, we will find Jesus and his disciples! 4, 3, 2, 1 AND WE PARENTS! We notice that these disciples of Jesus were disciples of John the Baptist. By the teaching of John the Baptist, their hearts were well prepared to receive the Messiah. Let us prepare the hearts of our children too through our prayers, our life, our example, our teaching. The life of the disciples will teach us our way to Jesus but also will enlighten us on our children‘s way to faith . To know Jesus and to love him is not a matter of a moment but of our whole life. So, what do you think? Choosing to follow Him as soon as possible, isn’t that the best direction for a life and for the lives of our children?