Young People’s Blog

“And as Jesus passed forth from thence, He saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and He saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed Him” (Matthew 9:9).

Today we are introducing another of the Lord’s twelve disciples. He was a tax collector, and in the Roman Empire, those men were usually rich. Matthew had a good job, but when the Lord Jesus called him to follow Him, Matthew immediately got up and followed the Lord Jesus. We do not hear much about Matthew during the Lord’s time in this world, but afterward, the Lord used Matthew to write the book that bears his name.

Matthew also gives us a good example to follow. He was ready to give up a good job and follow the Lord Jesus. Are we ready to give up the advantages we have in this world, if the Lord calls us to do so? It is not wrong to have a good job, but we should never let something like this interfere with what the Lord wants us to do. Remember that when Matthew followed the Lord Jesus, the Lord used him to write a book of the Bible that we are still enjoying today. That was much better than having a good job as a tax collector!

“And she [Martha] had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard His word” (Luke 10:39).

Here we have another woman who was associated with the Lord Jesus during His time in this world, and who often entertained Him in her home, along with her sister Martha and her brother Lazarus. There was something special about Mary, for she enjoyed sitting at Jesus’ feet, and hearing His Word. This does not mean that she was lazy; I am sure that she was a hard worker. But she recognized the need to hear the Word of the Lord Jesus, and took time to listen to Him.

This is a good lesson for all of us. Because she knew the Lord Jesus well, Mary did not go to the cross, nor did she go to the grave of the Lord Jesus. She was spiritually intelligent and could see beyond it all. She knew that the Lord Jesus had to go to the cross, and that this was the only way sin could be put away. Spiritual intelligence and real devotedness come from spending time listening to the Lord Jesus. Of course, we cannot literally sit at His feet now, but in reading His Word and walking with Him, we learn more of Him.

“Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord” (John 21:7).

John was another of the disciples of the Lord Jesus, and he was the brother of James. They were both evidently men of strong characters, for the Lord Jesus called them “the sons of thunder” (see Mark 3:17). But John came to know the Lord Jesus very intimately, and three times over refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” On another occasion, at the last supper, it is recorded that John was leaning on Jesus’ bosom. It seems that John appreciated the Lord’s love for him a great deal.

Does this mean that the Lord loved John more than the other disciples? No, He loved them all equally, but John knew and felt the Lord’s love more than some of the others. It is John who tells us in his epistle that “God is love,” and who records a number of times the Lord’s commandment to us to “love one another.”

This is something we should all remember. The more we know and appreciate the Lord’s love for us, the more our love will respond to His. It is a wonderful thing to live and walk in the Lord’s love for us!

“The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:14,16).

A few days ago we were driving down a street in Perth, Australia, when we saw a building with large letters on the side of it, saying, “Building the inner man.” This could mean a gym, or it could mean a mental health center. It could also mean a place where people could go and learn certain things.

However, as we got closer, we saw that it was a Christian high school, and the saying on the building was obviously taken from our verse today. Many people in this world are very concerned about their bodies, but Paul tells us that “bodily exercise profiteth little” (this means for a little time), but that “godliness is profitable unto all things.” Yes, it is good to get exercise and keep our bodies in good shape, but it is even more important to keep the “inner man” in good shape! In that high school in Perth, they were trying not only to give the students a good education, but also to build them up spiritually.

“And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water” (Matthew 14:28).

Today we will consider another of the Lord’s disciples—Peter. He was a bold man, sometimes outspoken, but one who was much used of the Lord. As we can see by today’s verse, he was the kind of man who, when he saw the Lord Jesus walking on the water, wanted to do it too! If you read the rest of the story, you will see that Peter did indeed walk on the water, but he had to learn a lesson too.

Peter was a brave man, and it was he who drew his sword to defend the Lord Jesus when the soldiers came to arrest Him. And it was Peter who preached on the day of Pentecost, when 3,000 souls were saved. He also wrote the two epistles in the New Testament that bear his name.

Peter made some mistakes, but we can admire his boldness for the Lord, and his willingness to speak out for the Lord, even when it meant persecution. We should be willing to do the same.

“And there shall be no night there…and they shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:5).

“And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever” (Revelation 14:11).

Today, as I write this in January, 2024, we are sitting in a hotel lobby in Sydney, Australia. A man passed us wearing a T-shirt bearing the logo, “Extinction is forever.” We knew what it meant. He was concerned about various animals that are becoming extinct, for when this happens, there is no human means of bringing them back.

However, there are other things that will last forever—things that many people do not think about. According to our first verse today, those who reign with Christ will reign with Him forever. What a wonderful thought! But those who reject Him will be tormented in hell forever too. This is a most awful thought, and ought to concern us more than the extinction of some animals in this world. Yes, man has not done a very good job of looking after this world, but God is able to restore those extinct animals. He may well do so during the millennium, although I am not aware that Scripture says so clearly. But those who go into a lost eternity will never be released. I cannot think of anything more serious.

“And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun” (Mark 16:1-2).

Here we find two women who were very devoted to the Lord Jesus. They had spent time with Him while He was alive, and now that He was in a grave, they wanted to put their sweet spices on His dead body, in order to honor Him. They never needed those spices, for by the time those women came to the grave, the Lord Jesus had risen again. However, because they came to the grave early in the morning, they were some of the first ones to learn about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, for the angel at the tomb of the Lord Jesus told them clearly that He was risen.

But the Lord Jesus greatly appreciated their devotedness in buying and bringing those spices. Devotedness is important in our lives too. We may not know as much about the Bible as others know, but the Lord greatly values our love to Him, and our devotedness. When we come together on Lord’s day to remember the Lord Jesus, as He has asked us to do, it is like bringing sweet spices to Him.

“And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: the same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again, Andrew and Philip tell Jesus” (John 12:20-22).

Here we find Philip again, but this time he is connected with Andrew, who was another disciple of the Lord Jesus. It seems that both Philip and Andrew were people who were easy to approach, and easy to talk to. When some Greeks wanted to see the Lord Jesus, they came first of all to Philip, and then Philip told Andrew. Together they go and tell the Lord Jesus.

We do not hear much about Andrew and Philip otherwise. They were apparently not prominent in preaching publicly, and they were not gifted leaders. We do not hear anything about them in the book of Acts, for the Philip mentioned in Acts was a different man. But they did well in personal work, and this is very valuable in the eyes of the Lord. All of us should work on being easy to approach, and being able to relate to people one-on-one.

“When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him, He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?… Philip answered Him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little” (John 6:5,7).

It is interesting that of all the disciples, it was Philip to whom the Lord Jesus asked the question about where they were to get enough bread to feed a big crowd of people. Why would He pick Philip? We know from other references to Philip that he was a “one-on-one” type of person. He related well to people on a personal basis, and cared how people were doing. Earlier in John (chapter 1), we find that it was Philip who first brought Nathanael to the Lord Jesus. We will see tomorrow that Philip and Andrew were evidently good friends.

It is good to be the kind of person who notices how other people are doing, and cares for them. The Lord Jesus knew that Philip cared for others, and would be interested in how they were going to be fed. I am sure that Philip cared how the people were fed spiritually as well, but he also cared how they were doing naturally. It is a good characteristic for all of us to copy.

“Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile”! (John 1:47).

For the next few days, we are going to have some verses before us about those who were connected with the Lord Jesus during His ministry in this world. Each of them had a good, distinctive characteristic which we should think about.

Here in our verse for today, we read that Nathanael was a man in whom was no guile. What does this mean?

Guile is different from telling a lie, but it often amounts to the same thing. Guile is doing something or saying something to deceive people, often in a clever way. Afterward, the person can usually say quite honestly that he or she did not tell a lie, but others know that he or she deliberately did or said something to give a wrong impression.

Nathanael was not like that. He was an honest man, and when it was clear to him who the Lord Jesus was, he believed on Him.