Acts of the Apostles
Simon Peter, Thomas … Nathanael … the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said , “Well go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. John 21:2-3
After Jesus rose from the dead but was no longer living among them, Peter decided to return to fishing and six other disciples followed his lead. They fished all night; however, they caught nothing. Then Jesus came and told them to cast their nets on the other side. of the boat. They hadn’t recognized him, but when the nets immediately filled to overflowing, they knew it was Jesus.
Later, after a fish breakfast, Jesus spoke to Peter. Some see Jesus’s words as a reinstatement after Peter’s denial, but it was more than that. With the words, “Feed my lambs” and “take care of my sheep,” Jesus called Peter to the leadership role he would soon assume in the early church. Jesus’s message was for the other disciples too. He reminded them that he had called them to be fishers of men, not fish. In saying, “Follow me,” he also promised to be with them (John 21:1-22).*
When Jesus chose disciples at the beginning of his ministry years, he didn’t choose scribes (teachers of the Law) or Pharisees (Jewish leaders) or politicians or eloquent orators. He chose fishermen and other working class individuals, including a tax collector—people without the skills we normally associate with leadership.
“[The apostles] were twelve perfectly ordinary, unexceptional men. But Christ’s strategy for advancing His kingdom hinged on those twelve men . . . rather than through mob force, military might, personal popularity, or a public-relations campaign. From a human perspective, the future of the church and the long-term success of the gospel depended entirely on the faithfulness of that handful of disciples. There was no plan B if they failed.”**
The twelve apostles (not counting Judas Iscariot, who killed himself and was replaced) mostly disappear from the Scriptures shortly after Pentecost, but they proclaimed the gospel of salvation to Israel, established the church, and wrote much of what became our New Testament. Tradition and early church records show they spread the gospel to Samaria, India, Syria, Persia, the British Isles, and Turkey. They faced persecution and all were martyred, except John who was exiled to a penal colony on an island.
Successful fishers of men, they and other believers turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). The kingdom has advanced all over the world and to us over two thousand years later. We’ve become part of the Upside-down Kingdom.
Join us as we study the lives of the apostles and others who changed the course of history.
The Twelfth Apostle Acts 1
Filled with the Spirit Acts 2
At the Temple Acts 3
Peter’s Second Sermon Acts 4
*A.B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 1988), p. 516-520.
**John MacArthur, Twelve Ordinary Men, (Nashville, TN: The W Publishing Group, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. 2002), p.2.