Tag: Disciple

Episode NT42 – Stephen

Story 42 – Stephen – (told by Philip)

Based on Acts chapter 6, verse 8 to Acts chapter 8, verse 4.

We’d been prayed for and commissioned to look after believers who were in need so that the apostles could concentrate on teaching the people about Jesus and on prayer. But that didn’t mean that the likes of Stephen and me, Philip, gave up telling people about Jesus ourselves! We got on with what we’d been called to do, making sure everyone was treated fairly and had what they needed. But, when we had the time and opportunity, we also told people about Jesus, the Messiah, the risen Lord, ascended and seated at the right hand of God.

You know, Stephen was a man filled to the brim with God’s grace and power. In fact, it wasn’t only the apostles who performed healings and miracles. Filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom, Stephen performed amazing and miraculous signs and great wonders. (P) Maybe that’s where the trouble started? I don’t know! But, as Stephen travelled around the various synagogues, the meeting places for Jews from various different areas of the world when they arrived in Jerusalem, he talked to them about Jesus, the Messiah. However, when he started to talk to one particular group in a synagogue called ‘The Synagogue of the Freedmen’, some of them started to argue with him. At first, it seemed good-natured as they talked about God and what the Bible meant, but then a group of them got a bit hot under the collar in their discussions, which soon turned nasty! But, as I said before, Stephen was filled with wisdom and the Holy Spirit and, because of that, they couldn’t argue against him – the Holy Spirit helped him to show them where they’d got it wrong. But they were proud men and, instead of admitting they were wrong, they started to think of Stephen as their enemy and tried to find ways they could make it look like he was wrong – even if that meant resorting to lies!

That’s when things got out of control, as Stephen’s enemies persuaded some men to tell tales about him. ‘We heard that man Stephen say lies and evil things about what Moses taught and about God!’ they whispered to the people.

The more the lies were uttered, the more stirred up the people became. And, in no time at all, the lies were whispered to the elders and the teachers of the Law. (P) Almost immediately, Stephen was arrested and brought before a meeting of the high council – the same high council that had arrested and punished the apostles. But this time, even though God was still in control, the outcome wasn’t going to be what we’d hoped for. (PAUSE)

Stephen’s enemies wanted him out the way, they wanted to stir up hatred against him, and so, as the council started, the liars were called forward to give their ‘evidence’.

For the Jews, everything to do with God is sacred. So, as the false witnesses stood to speak, they looked at the leaders and deliberately lied to get Stephen into maximum trouble. ‘This man never stops speaking against the Temple and against the Law!

They said this because Stephen taught the same things Jesus had, that both the Temple and the Law were really signposts that pointed to Him. (P) The Temple in the heart of the capital city was a symbol that God was with His people. But, now that Jesus was in heaven and had sent the Holy Spirit, no matter where God’s people went, Jesus would always be with them through the Holy Spirit, and there was no need for the Temple any more. And the Law? God is perfect, and if we want to see Him, we must obey His Law and be perfect too – something none of us can do! But Jesus came and obeyed the whole Law and opened a new way for us to see God, not by obeying all the rules, but by loving and trusting Him. Jesus met all the requirements of the Law when He died on the cross as a sacrifice to God to take the punishment we deserve for our sins. And, because of this, the sacrificial and the ceremonial requirements of the Law had been satisfied in Jesus.

The charges against Stephen were serious. And yet, I think Stephen understood that, no matter what he said, most of the people in the room hated Jesus and would never accept the truth that he was telling them – that the Temple and the Law both pointed to Jesus. I think he also understood that these people would stop at nothing to silence him.

As he stood to speak in his defence against these serious charges, God showed the people that what Stephen taught was the truth. For, as they looked at him, his face shone like that of an angel or, maybe, like the face of Moses after he came back from receiving the Law of God on Mount Sinai? Whatever it was, they should’ve taken notice. Yet their hatred for Jesus and anyone who followed Him made them ignore this miracle. So, Stephen answered these charges, although he didn’t speak to save himself. (PAUSE)

He spoke of Abraham – who was called by God when he lived in another land that wasn’t Israel! Of the people of Israel loved by God when they lived in Egypt. He then reminded them of Moses who was spoken to from a burning bush – which God Himself called ‘holy ground’ – but, again, not in Israel but in another country. He pointed out how the Lord had travelled with the people of Israel in the wilderness. And then how He’d come with them into the Promised Land, living with His people in a tent! Stephen finished this section by pointing out that, even though a Temple had been built for Him in Jerusalem, nothing can hold God, for He is the creator of all things. (P) They thought of their Temple in Jerusalem as evidence that God was with them, but Stephen showed them that God was always with His people, no matter where they were.

And then, having shown them that God is Lord of all the earth and goes with His people wherever they may be, Stephen spoke the words that sealed his fate. They were words that needed to be said, words that confronted the leaders of Israel with their own sin of forever listening to what God wants, but never doing it. ‘You stubborn people!’ he exclaimed. ‘Even though you say you’re good, you’re evil inside and refuse to listen to the truth! Must you keep on ignoring what the Holy Spirit is showing you forever? Was there a single prophet that your ancestors didn’t mistreat? They even killed the prophets who predicted the coming of the Righteous One! And, just like them, now you have killed the Messiah, you have betrayed and murdered Him. You have deliberately disobeyed God’s Law, even though you received it from the hands of angels!’

Everything Stephen said was true. But these men had no interest in truth, only in trying to make everyone else think they were holy and wonderful! So, on hearing Stephen’s words, the leaders became furious beyond reason. Grinding their teeth in wordless rage they seemed more like wild animals than men, like wolves circling their prey, intent only on killing it. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed up, and God gave him a wonderful vision of heaven – where he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right-hand side of God. Unable to hold back the joy of what he saw, Stephen shouted out, ‘Look! I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’

This was probably the worst thing, humanly speaking, that Stephen could ever have said. And yet it was the right and proper thing to say. The leaders of Israel had thought they’d brought Stephen to the council to condemn and judge him. However, through Stephen, the Holy Spirit had turned the tables on these so-called judges. It was now Stephen who condemned them as people who refused to believe what God had said and as people who were condemned by God for what they’d done to Jesus. For it was to these same people that Jesus had said, ‘You will see the Son of Man seated at the right-hand side of the Father in glory’. Words for which they’d condemned and executed him! And now, here was Stephen, proving that what Jesus had told them was true, as he shared his vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father, no doubt standing to welcome His faithful servant Stephen home.

The leaders could take no more. Their refusal to believe both Jesus and Stephen boiled over as they covered their ears and, screaming as loudly as they could to stop themselves hearing another word, they all rushed at him and violently dragged him out of the city. Then, leaving him a little distance away, they started to hurl stones at him in their rage, intending to do away with him and the message about Jesus once and for all.

Meanwhile, those who were doing the stoning were so keen not to let anything hold back their rage that they took off their coats and left them with a young man named Saul for safekeeping. This ‘Saul’ had probably been part of the ‘Synagogue of the Freedmen’ who’d argued with Stephen. Now, he watched the stoning of Stephen, giving his full approval to what was happening to this follower of Jesus!

It was only a matter of time as the rocks and stones found their mark again and again. But, even as he stood there being battered by the rocks, Stephen prayed. In this time of immense danger and imminent death, Stephen prayed, just like Jesus had prayed to His Father when He was on the cross. ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,’ Stephen asked. While Jesus had prayed, ‘Father, into Your Hands I entrust My Spirit’. And then, falling to his knees he cried out, ‘Lord, don’t hold them guilty of this sin.’ Again, just like Jesus had prayed, ‘Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.’ And then … and then … Stephen went to be with Jesus, because this was the time Jesus wanted to call him home. For Jesus was going to use Stephen’s death, the death of a dearly loved child, to continue what He had called His people to do – to take the good news of Jesus to all peoples everywhere.

Of course, us disciples, we didn’t understand any of that. Because, to us, it seemed that everything was falling apart. Stephen had been killed! And that very day, a terrible persecution of the disciples – of the new and young church – spread like wildfire right across Jerusalem and nearly all of us ended up fleeing for our lives! I found myself no longer with all my friends and the other believers, but running away to the north of Israel.

It seemed like Satan had won a great victory. That young man Saul – the one who’d looked after the coats – steamed with hatred and did all he could to devastate the church, to ruin it, to destroy it once and for all. He even went from house to house arresting and dragging away both men and women to throw them in jail – and even to face death! Of the whole church, a massive number of people, only the apostles managed to stay in Jerusalem! The rest of us ran, thinking at first that it was a failure and only slowly realising that this was God’s plan to build His church. (PAUSE)

Godly men buried the broken body of Stephen at great personal risk and mourned deeply for him. But even though it looked like all was lost and that Satan had won, we were to discover that God was still fully in control. For, as we ran from Jerusalem, just like Stephen had said about God always being with His people, Jesus went with us! And, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we preached the Good News of Jesus everywhere we went. After all, hadn’t Jesus said that we’d be His witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria until the ends of the earth? (P) Jesus had allowed this attack of Satan to happen. And, in His love and grace, He was using it – using it as if it was the trigger of a massive cannon, firing His disciples out from Jerusalem and into the world. And as we were fired out of Jerusalem, we took the Good News about Jesus, unable to stop talking about all the wonderful things God had done through Him. The end result was that many more, who wouldn’t otherwise have had the chance to learn about Jesus, heard the Good News that Jesus saves sinners, just like you and me.

Episode NT35 – Peter & Jesus

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on John chapter 21 verses 1 to 23

Story 35 – Peter and Jesus

(PETER) ‘Although I was overjoyed that Jesus’ death on that cross hadn’t been the end of it all, inside I was feeling uncomfortable. Uncomfortable about all those things I’d said the night before He’d been … murdered. How He’d told us all that we’d desert Him and leave Him, and then how I – Peter the brave – Ha! – had told Him I’d never leave Him even in the face of death.’

‘Of course I’d been really embarrassed when He’d said in front of everyone that before the night was through I was going to deny even knowing Him – three times. I just couldn’t believe I’d ever say anything against Him – not after all we’d been through together over these last three years. (P) But the truth was even worse than I could’ve imagined ‘coz, (sniff) when His enemies arrived to arrest Him and take Him away, I ran for my life. Oh yeah, I followed at a distance and managed to get into the courtyard to see what would happen – trying to prove I wasn’t a coward, but then, some of them started to say I was one of Jesus’ disciples. I know I should have admitted it, but I was terrified, and I heard myself lying to save my own skin. ‘Me? I’m not one of His disciples, I don’t even know the man.’ (sniff – deep breath) Three times I said it, each time more emphatic, each time denying that I even knew the One person who really mattered. I even swore an oath that I’d never known Him! And then the cockerel crowed and I remembered what Jesus’d said … that I’d do what I’d just done. So when I heard that sound – the sound of the cockerel crowing – and realised what I’d done, how I’d failed Him when He needed me most, I ran out into the darkness and wept bitter tears – crying as if my heart would break.’

‘And then I had to live with my failure. Jesus was alive, and we were overjoyed that even death couldn’t hold Him, but every time we met, I knew – He knew what I’d said and done.’ (PAUSE)

‘A little later we went back to Galilee. Jesus wasn’t with us then and I wasn’t really sure what to do with my time so, as night began to fall, I told those with me, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John and a couple of the others, that I was going out to fish. ‘Coz if there’s one thing I do know – it’s how to fish! Anyway, the others wanted to come too so we set sail and – not t’put too fine a point on it – we had the worst night’s fishing I’ve ever known. It was a complete disaster – nothing – not a thing. Anyway, the dawn arrived and we headed back to land. It was then that we saw someone on the shore. Well, I say we saw him, we actually heard him before we saw him as he called out to us, ‘Hey, friends, have you caught anything?’’

‘‘No!’ we shouted back, not really wanting to talk about how bad our night had been and not knowing it was Jesus speaking to us. Then he called out, ‘Try throwing your net over the right-hand side of the boat, then you’ll catch plenty of fish!’ Oh right – now this stranger’s giving us advice on how to fish. But instead of telling him just what we thought of his idea, we shrugged our shoulders and threw the net over the right-hand side of the boat, like he’d said. (P) Then suddenly, it was nearly pulled out of our hands as it filled with fish! I can remember thinking, ‘What going on?’ And then John spoke, He wasn’t really holding the net too tightly, he was looking at the shore where the stranger was. ‘It’s Him, Peter,’ he said. ‘It’s the Lord!’’

‘Suddenly it all fell into place. This catch was too big to be by chance; it was a miracle! Anyway, when I realised who it was standing on the shore, I forgot about the fish, tied my jacket around me, jumped into the water and swam to shore.’

‘Now, the net was so full of fish, the other disciples dragged it behind the boat and followed me as we were only about 90 meters out at the time. When they got to shore, they tied off the net on the boat and we all went to find Jesus. Seeing us, He beckoned us over and we saw a charcoal fire burning with fish cooking over it and some bread. Jesus squatted by the fire and called over, ‘Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught.’ So I went onto the boat, untied the net and dragged it to shore. The net was full, but even so it hadn’t broken. A little later we counted the fish, including the ones we’d eaten – 153, all of them massive – it was truly a miraculous catch.’

‘After I’d pulled the net ashore, Jesus called out, ‘Come and have some breakfast!’ And so we sat with Him, and He served us fish and bread.’

‘We didn’t say much as we sat with Jesus. I had mixed feelings; there weren’t words to describe how I felt about Jesus being alive – it was so wonderful. But at the same time there were those things I’d said and done on the night they’d arrested Him – how I’d left Him, how I’d run away and lied an … and … failed Him. So I sat in silence, concentrating on my food until we’d finished eating and started walking and I found myself with Jesus.

As we walked side by side, with the other disciples ahead and behind us, Jesus spoke to me, but He didn’t use the name He’d given me all that time ago – He didn’t call me Peter. Instead, He used the name I’d had before I met him – Simon, son of John. It was almost like He was reminding me who I was before, and asking me if I still wanted to be that man.

(PAUSE) ‘Simon, son of John’, He started, ‘do you love me more than they love me?’ As He said this, He indicated the other disciples walking with us.’

‘I guess I deserved that, after all, wasn’t it me who’d told Jesus that if everyone else deserted Him I wouldn’t? But now I realised I had no idea if I loved Him more than they did. But I knew I did love Him, so I said, ‘Yes, Lord, you know I love you.’’

‘’Then feed my lambs,’ He said to me. And we carried on walking.’

‘But a few moments later, in the hush that followed, He asked me again, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’’

‘Why did He ask me again? I thought I’d answered that already. So I repeated myself because, even though I had failed Him, I still loved Him. ‘Yes, Lord,’ I said, ‘you know I love you.’

‘’Take care of my sheep,’ Jesus replied looking straight at me.’

‘It was an uncomfortable walk. The others were no doubt listening in, but I kept my eyes down until … until I heard His voice again. ‘Simon, son of John,’ I looked into His eyes, a feeling of pain and sadness overwhelming me, as He asked a third time, ‘Do you love me?’’

‘What could I say? He’d already asked me twice if I loved Him and I’d told Him I did, so I simply answered, ‘Lord, you know everything. You know I love you.’’

‘’Feed my sheep,’ Jesus said. But this time He carried on, ‘When you were young you were able to do what you liked and go where you wanted. But when you’re old, you’ll stretch out your hands, and others will tie you up and take you where you don’t want to go.’ Then He added, ‘Follow me.’’

‘I looked at Jesus, dumbstruck, as I began to understand what He’d just said. Three times I’d denied knowing Jesus in public, and now three times in the presence of my closest friends, His followers, He’d forgiven me. But now, had He really just told me about the day of my death? About being taken to a place I didn’t want to go. (P) I was humbled to think that even after my terrible failing – He had work for me to do – to look after His people! And He knew, that with His strength this time and not mine – I’d remain His even to the day of my death!

‘Shaking my head at the wonder of it all, I caught sight of John following behind us. Jesus had told me about my future, so I asked, ‘Lord, what about John?’’

‘’That’s not your concern,’ He said. ‘If I want Him to remain alive until I return, what’s that to you? What matters is that you follow Me!’ Jesus wasn’t saying that John was going to stay alive until His return, He was just telling me, telling all of us, that what really matters is that WE are following Him, trusting Him and being the people He wants us to be right the way to the end of our lives.’

Episode NT6 – Water at a Wedding!

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on John chapter 1 verse 29 to chapter 2 verse 11

Water at a Wedding!

‘Look’, said John as Jesus walked towards him. ‘There’s the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. I didn’t know He was the One, but my work of baptising people was to point to Him! You see, God told me that when I saw the Holy Spirit come down and rest upon someone, that person would be the One I was waiting for. I didn’t know it was Jesus until I saw it happen – the Spirit of God came down and rested on Him! He’s the One you’re looking for. He’s the One who’ll baptise with the Holy Spirit – I saw this happen to Jesus, so I can say with absolute certainty that He is the Son of God,’

Next day as John stood with two of his followers, Jesus walked by. ‘Look,’ said John. ‘The Lamb of God!’ At this, the two followers turned and started to follow Jesus. When Jesus looked round and saw them he asked, ‘What do you want?’

‘Teacher,’ they replied, ‘where’re you staying?’

‘Come and see,’ He replied. And they stayed with Him for the rest of the day. (PAUSE)

One of those two followers was a man named names Andrew who had a brother called Simon Peter. As soon as he could Andrew rushed off to find his brother. ‘Guess what?’ he said. ‘We’ve found the Messiah! Come on, come and meet Him.’ So Andrew took Simon to meet Jesus who looked closely at him. ‘You’re names Simon, son of John,’ He said. ‘But you will be called Peter.’

Next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and as he prepared to go He found Philip. ‘Come on,’ He said. ‘Come and be my disciple.’ And then, just like Andrew had before, Philip rushed off to find his friend Nathanael. ‘We’ve found the person Moses and all the prophets wrote about long long ago.’ He said, ‘His name’s Jesus, Son of Joseph, from Nazareth!’

‘Nazareth!’ Nathanael answered. ‘Nazareth? Surely nothing good can come from that place?’

‘Come and see for yourself,’ Philip answered, and took Nathanael to Jesus. And as they approached Jesus He looked at Nathanael and said, ‘Now here’s an honest man – a true son of Israel.’

This took Nathanael by surprise. ‘But you don’t know me.’ He replied.

‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip came to you.’ Jesus replied.

This was mind-blowing for Nathanael. How could Jesus have known about him if He wasn’t who Philip had just said He was, and so he spluttered out. ‘T-T- Teacher, you really are the Son of God – the king of Israel!’

Jesus smiled. ‘You believe that just because I told you I saw under the fig tree? Well, you’re going to see far greater things than that!’ He said. ‘One day you’ll see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down upon the Son of Man.’ (PAUSE)

Not long after this Jesus and His close followers, called His disciples, were invited to a wedding celebration in the small village of Cana. Mary, Jesus’ mother, was also there as a guest. Now, in those days wedding feasts could last anything up to a week – so they had to be planned well in advance – so the host didn’t run out of food and wine for his guests. To run out of things would be a great embarrassment to the bridegroom who’d find it hard to live down –a very bad start to your married life! Now, maybe they hadn’t counted on Jesus and His disciples turning up, or maybe they’d just made a terrible mistake! But whatever the cause, the wine supply began to run low and was in danger of running out completely!

And as it ran out, Mary called Jesus to one side for a chat. ‘Son, they’ve run out of wine!’

‘How does that concern you and me?’ He asked. ‘ My time hasn’t come yet.’ (P)

Mary new her son, and she knew that He could help. But Jesus wanted Mary to understand that the power God had given Him wasn’t simply to get His own family out of trouble. It was given to show people who He was and how much God loves them. But instead of getting cross and upset at His reply, Mary understood that she should leave it with Jesus and trust Him to do whatever was best and right. And so turning to the servants she said. ‘Whatever He tells you do, just go ahead and do it.’ And at that, she left.

Now, it was customary in those days for the people at the wedding feast to wash their hands before they ate. To do this properly, special stone jars, each capable of holding anything from 75 litres of water upwards, were made available to the guests. As there were lots of guests at the celebration, there were six of these stone jars standing close by. ‘Fill those jars with water.’ Jesus told the servants. And just as Mary had told them, the servants did as He asked, filling each to the brim.

When the jars had been filled Jesus called one of the servants over and said. ‘Now fill a cup from one of those jars and take it to the master of ceremonies.’

The servant wasn’t at all sure about this – he was going to give the most important person at the celebration – a cup of water! But because Mary had said to do it, and because there wasn’t anything else to serve, the servant dipped the cup into the filled stone jar and took it to the master of ceremonies.

‘Thank you,’ said the man as he took the cup. ‘I was wondering where all the wine had gone!’ (P) The servant didn’t say a word but stood there staring at the man as he put the cup to his lips and began to drink. And as he tasted the liquid, a look of surprise came over his face and then looking first at the servant and then at the contents of the cup, and then at the bridegroom, he called him over for a chat. ‘A word in year friend.’ He called.

When the bridegroom’d come over the master of ceremonies took him to one side. ‘Usually,’ he began. ‘A host will serve the best wine first – when it matters when everyone’s able to appreciate the taste. And then, when most people have had a few drinks and aren’t so able to notice the difference, the host brings out the cheaper wine. But not you! For reasons best known only to yourself you keep the finest wine until now!’

The servant could hardly believe his ears. The water that had been put into the stone jars had become wine! And not just any old wine, but the finest of all wines! And as Jesus’ disciples learned of this, they believed even more strongly that He was the Son of God.