One night Jesus did not go into a house to rest, He wanted to be alone with God; He stayed out of doors on a mountain where it was quiet, and He spent the night in prayer to God.
When it was day He called His disciples to Him, and out of them He chose twelve to be apostles. The first of the twelve was Simon Peter; Andrew, his brother, was chosen too, and so were James and John.
A disciple is one who learns and follows, but an apostle is one who is sent forth. Jesus Himself was the great Apostle, because He was sent forth by God His Father. The twelve whom Jesus chose to be His apostles did not leave off being disciples, they were still often spoken of as “the disciples,” or just “the twelve”; but after they had been with Jesus for some time, hearing His words and seeing the things He did, He called them together “and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases, and He sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.” He told them that they must not take anything with them for the way, not even an extra coat. And He told them what to do about lodgings, and how to behave if the people would not listen to them; and then they started out. They had been chosen to be apostles that day on the mountain, and now they were really apostles, for Jesus had sent them forth.
When they came back they told Jesus all that they had done, how they had preached to the people in the villages and told them they must be sorry for their sins and leave off doing wrong things; they must repent, because the kingdom of God was at hand. They had cast out many devils, and they had anointed many sick folk with oil and healed them; and they told Jesus all about it.
Peter and Andrew and the other apostles thought that because the kingdom of God was at hand, Jesus was going to reign as king in Jerusalem, and that they would share in His glory and hold high offices in His kingdom. But after a time they found that, though Jesus spoke words such as no other man spoke, and did such mighty deeds that they knew He must indeed be the Christ, the Son of God, yet the chief men of their nation refused to receive Him. And then, little by little, they heard from His own lips that instead of going to a throne, He was going to a cross; instead of speaking of reigning in Jerusalem, He spoke of suffering and dying there.
Did Andrew and that other disciple we read about in our first chapter think of the words, “Behold the Lamb of God,” when Jesus told them He was going to be put to death? We are not told; but years afterwards, after Jesus had suffered and died, after He rose from the dead and went back to heaven, long years after the Holy Spirit had come down to tell of His glory there, John was shown a wonderful vision in which he saw a city which was lit up with the glory of God, and the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Yes, little as they knew it at the time, Peter and Andrew, and James and John and the others, were chosen to be apostles of the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain, the Lamb who is King of kings and Lord of lords.