Barton's Bible Study Notes

Life of Christ: Unit 8 - Sections 38-44

Read Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20. After moving to Capernaum, Jesus begins to choose men to follow Him and be trained. While Matthew and Mark do not mention it, we know from John’s gospel that Peter and Andrew, James and John had already been introduced to Jesus and had traveled with Him. This was their official invitation to follow Him.

1. What, do you think, it cost these men to follow Jesus?

Read Matthew 8:14-17, Mark 1:21-34 and Luke 4:31-41. This records events taking place on the Sabbath after the calling of the four fishermen. The Sabbath was from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. It was a special day for Jews, for God had instructed them to keep this day holy by not working. It was to be a day of rest. The people, however, had taken God’s simple command and had added their own traditions to it. They started to meet in synagogues (church services). They developed a very long list of strict rules for what was considered work and what was not. These were human traditions rather than God’s commands.

2. What event took place in the synagogue?

3. What impressed the people about our Lord’s teaching?

4. How was our Lord’s authority confirmed?

5. Why do you think the people waited until sunset to start coming to Peter’s house to be healed?

6. Why did Jesus forbid the demons to speak?

Read Matthew 4:23-25, Mark 1:35-39 and Luke 4:42-44. The crowds did not come until after sunset and stayed late. It would have taken time to deal with each individual need, so He probably was up quite late. But even with very little sleep, Jesus still got up before light and went to pray.

7. Why did Jesus not want to stay with the crowds that were looking for Him there?

Read Luke 5:1-11. Sometime after He called the four fishermen, He reaffirmed their call. They, after following Him a while, sort of drifted back into fishing part-time. At one of these times when they were fishing, Jesus calls them again.

8. What miracle does Jesus perform to get their attention?

The Applications:

What are the applications of these passages to our lives today? Identify as many as you are able.