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Christ Ordains Twelve Apostles
173
prayer for them, while they were sleeping at the foot of the mountain.
With the first light of dawn He summoned them to meet Him.
John and James, Andrew and Peter, with Philip, Nathanael, and
Matthew, had been more closely connected with Jesus in active
labor than the others. Peter, James, and John stood in still nearer
relationship to Him, witnessing His miracles and hearing His words.
The Saviour loved them all, but John’s was the most receptive spirit.
Younger than the others, with more of a child’s confiding trust, he
opened his heart to Jesus. Thus he came more into sympathy with
Christ, and through him the Saviour’s deepest spiritual teaching was
communicated to His people.
Slow to Believe
Philip was the first to whom Jesus addressed the distinct com-
mand, “Follow Me.” He had heard John the Baptist’s announcement
of Christ as the Lamb of God. He was a sincere seeker for truth,
but was slow of heart to believe, as his announcement of Him to
Nathanael shows. Though Christ had been proclaimed by the voice
from heaven as the Son of God, to Philip He was “Jesus of Nazareth,
the son of Joseph.”
John 1:45
. Again, when the 5000 were fed,
Philip’s lack of faith was shown. It was to test him that Jesus ques-
tioned, “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” Philip’s
answer, on the side of unbelief, grieved Jesus: “Two hundred penny-
worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may
take a little.”
John 6:5, 7
. Philip had seen Jesus’ works and felt His
power, yet he had not faith.
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When the Greeks inquired of Philip concerning Jesus, he did not
seize the opportunity of introducing them to the Saviour, but went
to tell Andrew. Again, in those last hours before the crucifixion, the
words of Philip were such as to discourage faith. When Thomas
said, “Lord, ... how can we know the way?” the Saviour answered,
“I am the Way... . If ye had known Me, ye would have known My
Father also.” From Philip came the response of unbelief: “Lord,
show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.”
John 14:5-8
.
In happy contrast to Philip’s unbelief was the childlike trust of
Nathanael, whose faith took hold upon unseen realities. Yet Philip
was a student in the school of Christ, and the divine Teacher bore