Being staunch Jews, they longed for the Messiah. That, and that prophets were seen as spiritual heroes, intrigued them. The fact that there was one who was said to be walking the earth was thrilling! It had been nearly years since the last notable prophet lived and spoke to the people.
A sort of object lesson. The Kingdom of God is at hand. John and James no doubt had to have long talks under the starry skies of Galilee wondering if there was any credibility to this cleansing that John the Immerser, the Baptizer, was calling them to do.
Before making a sacrifice to God, they would go down into these bathes to get clean, or at least symbolize that they were leaving their sin and their past behind. He used just about whatever water he could find, mostly making use of the large flowing river flowing down the middle of the country called the Jordan.
After the nets were cast on the open waters of the sea of Galilee, I can imagine these two brothers, perhaps with their dad, sitting there talking about John the Baptist…. Do you think that could be this guy? If he is that voice crying out, then the Messiah will be here soon… Come on, help me pull this net in. One-day John and James packed a few fish and some loaves and headed out to see this John guy for themselves.
Sure enough, there he was, wearing nothing but animal skin. He stood in the murky water of the fast-flowing Jordan preaching to the crowd on shore. At the conclusion of his sermons if which there were many in a day he would invite people to come into the water to be baptized as a symbol of repentance.
This dirty, and seemingly crazy man, was persuasive. His words gripped your heart as if they were from God. John son of Zebedee grew convinced that this really was a prophet and quite possibly could be the last prophet before the Messiah comes. John was all-in. He bought it, hook, line, and sinker. It only took one day with John the Baptist to convince him that he wanted to hang up the fishing job for a while and follow this man. James felt the same way.
You can imagine the late night conversation by candlelight back in Bethsaida with their father. They told him that they were going to become disciples of John the Baptist and leave the family business, at least for a while. I am sure it took some mom-help to get dad to be okay with it.
You want our boys to go eat grasshoppers and honey and play in the Jordan river all day? Chapter 2 emphasizes that the Saints know God by obedience and instructs them to love not the world. Chapter 3 calls all to become the children of God and to love one another. Chapter 4 explains that God is love and dwells in those who love Him. Chapter 5 explains that Saints are born of God through belief in Christ. He was born in the flesh as the Only Begotten Son of the Father.
John teaches by contrasting light and darkness, truth and error, good and evil, God and the devil. And John became known as the apostle of love. He was the author of the Gospel of John as well as the epistles of 1, 2, and 3 John. God made James and John into different people than they were before—and He can do the same for us.
Share this. Who were the "Sons of Thunder" in the Bible? What Transformed Them? Transformed by God On one occasion, when the people in a village of Samaria were not responsive to the message of Jesus, it was James and John who wanted to call down fire from heaven on them see Luke Who Was Doubting Thomas?
Who Was the Apostle Philip?
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