The two most prominent of the disciples at the Passover supper, Peter and John, were converted in different ways. John heard the word from John the Baptist.
“Looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God." John 1:3636And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! (John 1:36). He is ravished by the beauty of Jesus and attracted to His person. A little word is let out from John Baptist's heart and he follows Jesus. John Baptist began his ministry (and rightly so) with the terrible denunciations of coming judgment. The last two notes in John 1 as to the Person of Christ, attracted their hearts and God allows one of those men to tell you "it was about the tenth hour." Do you think God is indifferent to the day and the hour when a soul was brought to Him? No, for it is written of one here in the eternal Word of God.
When Peter was converted, it was different. Andrew went to Peter and brought him to Jesus and said, "We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ." The results were very different in their path. You never find that the Lord had to tell John to follow Him, but He has to say to Peter, "Follow thou Me.”
There are the same distinctive marks in the character of their ministry. John is a true Kohathite, bearing golden vessels of the tabernacle, the Person of Christ. Peter never went beyond the Messiah made Lord and Christ. It is remarkable how his conversion gives a character to his ministry in his epistle and service. It is also true of John in his ministry, although on the other hand, the call of God does all. Still, the character may be much altered afterward which is encouraging to us.
Changed Characters
The men who gathered to David to the cave of Adullam had only sorry characters, yet they had fine characters when the kingdom was set up. Why? Because they remained with David. So the power of assimilation to the Lord will keep us in His presence and mend our characters.
“Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom He spake. He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto Him, Lord, who is it?" John then, drawing more closely, gets the mind of Christ and this because he was leaning on His bosom. He did not draw near to get the mind, but because he was near he got the mind of the Lord.
“He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me." John 14:2121He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (John 14:21). No matter how ignorant we may be, if we love Christ, we will get the intelligence of His mind and He will reveal Himself to us. Mary, in John 20, had little understanding, but she had a heart that could well nigh break itself for Christ. She got the manifestation of Himself as well as His commandments. To such hearts as these, He makes Himself known. Is your heart resting on His bosom? Is your ear open to hear His word? Are you so near that He communicates to you His mind?
Why do we go to another to solve a question? Because we feel that he is nearer to the Lord than we are. In Judas there was the habitual allowance of sin and this was the groundwork of his fall. It hardened his conscience. The Lord could not reveal His mind to the others until Judas had gone out. The presence of the traitor hindered the manifestation of His glory.
“A new commandment I give unto you." John 13:3434A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. (John 13:34). There are in other languages two words for "new." But in English we have only one. Suppose you see a man with a coat of an entirely new fashion and cut that never was seen before.