Jesus Calls Disciples

Written by Ali Hukill

Today we started off our day with wakeup call a little earlier than usual…5:45 AM. Then, a bus ride to Mt. Arbel. Ben started off the day by teaching us the Hebrew word, “shema”, which means to hear, to listen, and to obey. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5. He challenged us to think about what it looks like to love our God with all our heart, soul, and strength. Most of this trip has been Ben and Stacie leading us and telling us little to no information, because plans change quickly. This morning was a little different, we went into the hike knowing that it was going to be difficult, so once we pulled into the place, we saw what was coming. Once we got to the mid-top, Stacie, gave us a sermon on making God number one and how we can encompass that today specifically. She also stated the question, why here? Why did Jesus choose to leave Nazareth and come to Capernaum? Which she said, this is the middle, of the middle, of the middle, etc. (Matthew 4:12-16 explains more of this.) We continued our hike up, which was unlike any hike we have done. This portion involved handles screwed into rocks so that we could grab them and pull ourselves up the cliff edge. Around this time, Lauren Grimes, challenged us to think about the statement, “my strength comes from the Lord”. So, the entire time up the mountain, especially the rock part, I had that on repeat because honestly, this hike was hard and a pretty scary at times. By the time we got to the top, we were exhausted, but quickly reminded of how beautiful God’s creation is as we looked out over the Sea of Galilee. We talked about how Jesus would climb to a high place, like a mountain, and sit alone and pray. After another sermon, we too got time to sit alone on top of a mountain and pray and reflect before getting on the bus again. The second location was St. Peter’s Primacy in Tabgha. This is where the story of Jesus calling out to Simon and Peter to be his disciples occurred. This sermon hit me hard. We talked about what it took to be a Rabbi student and the different education levels to get there, most of which involved memorizing the Torah between ages 12-15. As a Rabbi student, you have to fully emulate your teacher, that is why it was important for the students to pick which Rabbi they wanted to study under. Jesus followed this timeline of a Rabbi student education. At age 30 he began his ministry, which just leaves us with one question…who was his Rabbi? During this sermon, we had an incredible discussion of what it looks like to be a disciple of the Lord and what a blessing it is that Jesus picked each and every one of us to be his disciples. He could have very well picked people who better fit the job, but he CHOSE US. This is a major thing, because normal Rabbi don’t pick their disciple, the disciple picks the Rabbi. This just shows the intentionality Jesus has with us, He hand-picked us and said, “son/daughter I CHOOSE YOU. You are enough, you are perfect, you have what it takes to be LIKE ME”. He believes in us, He loves us, and He shows us grace, even when we don’t feel like we are good enough. He picks us not because of who we are, but because of who He is. One big take away I got from this sermon was this, Simon and Peter so easily dropped what they were doing and left to follow Jesus…with no hesitation. Can we do the same? Are there things in our lives that would make us hesitate to just up and leave if Jesus called us to? As disciples of Jesus, do we reflect His image with everything we do? Do we have the passion to follow Him? How bad do we want to live like Him? As a group we discussed how life brings distractions which ultimately pull our sight from Jesus, so, how can we have such a strong faith to not waiver every time distraction comes our way? At the end of this sermon, Ben challenged us to think about how we can be disciples who make disciples. We then hiked to where the Sermon on the Mount happened. This is where many students spoke Matthew 5,6 and 7. Not only was this powerful because Jesus did most of his ministry here, but also because it was very convicting. A couple things that stuck out to me were, being the salt and light of this earth, being the light of the world, and how our treasure is where our heart is. (If you have time I HIGHLY recommend reading these passages). After this, we walked to see a natural spring, which was beautiful, then we walked a mile to Capernaum, the same walk that Jesus made when we moved from Nazareth. Capernaum is the place where Jesus healed a paralyzed man who was lowered by his friends from a ceiling to a room where Jesus was (Matthew 8:5-17). We saw the location that is believed to be St. Peter’s house, a synagogue, and then we sat under a tree looking out to the Sea of Galilee as we heard our last sermon of the day. In the synagogue we heard Luke 7:3-5 and discussed God’s ability and authority to forgive. To finish the day, we heard Psalm 103 and began a time of reflection and prayer over any aspects of our lives that are in need of healing or forgiveness.

While reflecting the entire day, I was constantly reminded of how God brings us to a state of exhaustion, or even feelings of emptiness, whether that be physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, but with that, comes this beautiful image of utter reliance on Him and Him alone. He provided just enough for us, just when we needed it. Just enough energy to take our last steps up the mountain. Just enough strength to endure the extreme heat. It is a true testament of God and his faithfulness. Today gave me this feeling of being “chosen” by Him and is challenging me to work on how I can be a better disciple and reflect Jesus in my life with everything I face.
-Ali Hukill

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