Light of the World

A young John and his older brother James hear a story from their mother of God’s plan to bring a Messiah into the world to free his people from darkness, but their father Zebedee doesn’t believe. The family sees the father of their neighbors Peter and Andrew get taken away by the Romans. Zebedee tells his sons to obey the Romans and pay their taxes. John is seen as too young to fish, but is sent off to sell fish and bring the money back to Matthew, the tax collector. While at the market, John meets a carpenter who tells him to take a way back home that gets John in trouble with the Romans. When John returns to his family, he has only a single coin, and Matthew demands the family pay double in three days. John decides to get Andrew to help his family catch fish. Andrew is off seeing if The Baptizer is the messiah. John meets the Baptizer, who tells him that Jesus is the messiah. Andrew and John meet Jesus at a wedding where Jesus turns water into wine. John and Andrew bring Jesus to help Zebedee catch a miraculous amount of fish, thus enabling them to pay their taxes.

John, James, Peter and Andrew decide to follow Jesus, along with other men, and Mary Magdalene, who is healed by Jesus. When word of Jesus’ healings spreads, a man is lowered into a room through the ceiling for Jesus to heal. The Roman centurion asks Jesus to heal his servant, which Jesus does. His disciples wonder why he helped a Roman centurion, as they believed he would fight the Romans, but he tells them to love their enemies through the parable of the Good Samaritan. John decides to be kind to Matthew, who joins Jesus as a disciple.

Jesus performs other miracles, such as the feeding of the 5,000. The Pharisees, including Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, plot with high priest Caiaphas to get rid of Jesus. They kidnap and kill John the Baptizer, and come after Jesus, while the disciples flee by boat. Jesus walks out on the water and invites Peter to walk out with him. The disciples prepare to triumphantly enter Jerusalem, but Jesus is overcome with burden and prays for his disciples. They enter Jerusalem with Jesus riding a donkey as crowds cheer, and Joseph of Arimathea is healed of blindness. The disciples have their last supper with Jesus, before Jesus is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus is brought before Pilate as Peter denies knowing Jesus. The Pharisees stir the crowd against Jesus, and the crowd has Barabbas freed. Jesus is led up a hill and crucified. The sky darkens and the temple falls into ruins. Joseph and Nicodemus bury Jesus. Later, Mary Magdelene discovers the tomb empty. Jesus appears as the disciples are fishing and they have another miraculous catch of fish. Jesus ascends to heaven. Zebedee, inspired by his son’s faith, decides to follow Jesus.

Last Updated: October 07, 2025 at 08:05