The number of Christ's disciples increased, but it was necessary that He should have a certain number of faithful men constantly with Him, to be witnesses of all that He said and did whilst on earth; so that they might teach "the Gospel of the Kingdom" to others, when he should have returned to His Father in Heaven. To this end, therefore, when walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus bid the two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew, leave their occupation of fishermen, and follow Him wheresoever He should go; telling them that He would make them fishers of men: meaning, that as by putting their nets into the sea, they had hitherto brought fish to land; so now, by preaching the Gospel, they should bring men to the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus did not speak in vain: "straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. And when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. And straightway he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him." A miracle quickly confirmed the faith of these four disciples. The people, who had gathered round our Lord to hear his words, so pressed upon Him, that He entered into Simon's ship, and from thence taught the people. When He had spoken to them for some time, "he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught." Now Peter, who had been toiling all night, which is the best time for catching fish, knew that there was little chance of taking any then; but the command of his Master was enough for him. His obedience was rewarded by a wonderful draught (or take) of fishes, which greatly astonished Simon and Andrew, as well as their partners, James and John. Peter, seeing the wonderful works of God, felt that he was utterly unworthy even to be the servant of so glorious a Being, and falling at Jesus's knees, he exclaimed, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" But Jesus encouraged him, and repeated His promise, that His disciples should by their preaching of the Gospel bring the hearts of men to love and obey the Lord, for "he said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him."

From henceforth these four disciples, who had been especially called, became the constant attendants of our Lord. Three of them, Simon, James, and John, were more particularly favoured; for they are mentioned as being with the Lord on many occasions, when His other disciples were not with Him; thus they were witnesses of all the wonderful events in His life.

After the calling of Simon and his companions, Jesus went with them into Capernaum; "and on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught." Jesus did not talk to the people, as many of the Scribes did, about ceremonies and traditions; but he tried to draw their thoughts away from such comparative trifles, and fix them upon the Lord God Almighty—upon His goodness and mercy, and upon the necessity of faith and love producing perfect obedience to His holy Will. Jesus spake of holiness and righteousness in a way that they had never before heard; and he spake also in a tone of authority as One who had a right to command. He told them that he was indeed the Son of God, and that he spake unto them in the name of the Lord God of Israel: He warned the impenitent and disobedient, that they would bring eternal misery upon themselves, while He promised eternal happiness to all who would believe and obey. No wonder that His hearers were astonished at such teaching, from one who appeared to be merely a man like themselves. But to convince them that they might safely believe in Him, Jesus, even in the synagogue, healed a man who had a spirit of an unclean devil, so that "the people spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this? for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. And immediately the fame of him went out, and spread abroad throughout all the region, into every place of the country round about Galilee."

"And when they were come out of the synagogue, Jesus with James and John entered into the house of Simon and Andrew: here the mother of Simon's wife lay sick of a fever." The poor woman's friends besought Jesus for her; He took her by the hand; the fever left her at once; and then, instead of being weak, as people naturally are after a fever, her health and strength returned at once, and "immediately she arose and ministered unto them." The news of so wonderful a cure, increased the fame of Jesus.

The wonderful cures performed by Jesus brought many to ask His help. "And when the even was come," that is, as soon as the Sabbath was over,—for the Jews reckoned their Sabbath to begin at sunset, or about six o'clock on Friday evening, and to end at the same hour on Saturday night,—as soon, therefore, as the Sabbath was past, "all the city was gathered together at the door, and they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick." Thus were fulfilled the words spoken, 700 years before, by Esaias the prophet, who said, "Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."

This prophecy was doubly fulfilled: first, by healing sicknesses and diseases, Christ, during his lifetime, took away the consequence of the punishment of sin; secondly, by His death upon the Cross, He took away sin, and procured forgiveness and salvation, for all who seek it in the way appointed by Him.

"And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place and there prayed." Having taken upon Himself the form and nature of man, Jesus now set His disciples an example of what prayer ought to be. It is a blessed thing to be allowed to pray to God—to tell Him of all our joys and sorrows—and to beg Him to bless us, and make us able to do well, whatever work He may give us to do. We sinful creatures have also another thing to pray for; and that is, forgiveness of our sins for Jesus Christ's sake, and such true repentance, as will make us try every day to do His holy Will better and better. For all these blessings we should constantly pray: but you must remember, that it is quite possible for you to kneel down every morning and evening and repeat the prayers which you have learnt, and yet never really pray one bit.

Prayer is speaking to God, and begging Him to give us what we stand in need of, both for our souls and bodies. Now, amongst ourselves, it is thought very rude and disrespectful, to speak to any person without thinking of what we are saying: and what should we think of a person who went into the presence of an earthly king, to ask some great favour, and then spake in a careless, indifferent manner, without seeming to know or care what he was asking for? We should all blame such a person; and think that he did not deserve to have his petitions granted. What must it be, then, to speak to the Lord God Almighty, the King of Kings, in such a manner? Then, again, if you really wanted your Parents to do anything for you, or give you anything, you would not ask them carelessly, as if you did not care whether they said "Yes" or "No"; you would beg and pray earnestly with all your heart. Now this is what you should do when you say your prayers to God, your heavenly Father, Who can give you all you need on earth; and can besides, put His holy Spirit into your heart, and give you eternal happiness hereafter. Try, then, always to pray from your heart, and never allow yourself to repeat words carelessly, as if prayer was a task, to be got through as soon as possible. Such prayers can never please God; on the contrary, by praying in such a way we commit a great sin; for we take God's holy Name in vain, every time we kneel down to say our prayers. Written prayers are useful as helps; but you should also try of your own self to ask God to forgive you for any naughty things you have done, and help you to do better: God does not care what words we say, if our hearts really pray.

Jesus, you will observe, got up before it was light, and went into a quiet place, where he could pray without interruption. He would rather give up His night's rest, than not have time to pray to His heavenly Father; and we must remember, that as He had taken upon Him the nature of man, He was just as liable to be tired and sleepy as we are; and therefore, He suffered as much from giving up his night's rest as we should do; let His conduct, therefore, be an example to us.

In the morning, "Simon and they that were with him," (the three other disciples already called,) missed their Master, "and followed after him. And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee." No doubt, as soon as it was day, all they that had any sick in their families, brought them to be healed, and were disappointed at finding only the disciples.

After this, "Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria; his wonderful cures were heard of in neighbouring lands, and they brought unto him all sick people and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic (or mad); and he healed them." And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from JudÆa, and from beyond Jordan.