Reproduce & Buddy Up (#11)

Up until now, Jesus has been working alone – teaching & healing.   Now he reproduces by asking Peter, James, John & Levi (Matthew) to follow him.  He is rescuing them from their lives of slavery to sin and a religious system – to become fellow workers with Jesus for God.  From now on, they’ll be working together as a team.  They will often leave the religious people to mix with the “sinners.”    We must also understand these principles: we are to leave the religious people and go to the lost, the sinners.  We ought to join them where they are, rather than asking them to ‘clean up’ and come to church with us … instead, we seek to reach out to them.    In this lesson we also introduce the “person of peace,” who is one we will find that belongs to a social group other than our own.  Allowing that person to be a representative for God within his or her own culture is the right way to make disciples.