39.1 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. Matthew 4:18-22
Here we see Jesus' wisdom. He had to choose well. His disciples would become the founders of His Church. The men He chose to be his disciples were good, hard working, family men. We know more about them from Mark's account. Mark says of James and John...
...they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him. Mark 1:20b
39.2 The fact that James and John along with their father Zebedee had hired servants says a lot about these men. Their small business was successful. That means they had to be hard working and honest, or their business would have failed. Small businesses live and die by their reputation. Honest business dealings are a requirement. They also need to keep their workers happy -- treat them like family. Good workers are hard to find. Then too they would have known some things about money and investments. Taxes were high. In addition to the temple tax of 10% there were the Roman taxes of about 25% -- and dishonest tax collectors who would try to collect even more! Making a living was hard. The fact that they were successful enough to have hired servants tells us that these were excellent men. Luke says that James and John were partners with Peter. (Luke 5:10) So Andrew and Peter were successful business men too.
| 39.3 When Jesus called
His disciples He only said one thing.
|
|
39.4 Skill and knowledge were needed for fishing the Sea of Galilee. The lake is about 134 feet deep. Fish could be anywhere. The fishermen had at least three kinds of nets. There was a casting net thrown by only one man; a dragnet for trawling the bottom, and a trammel net, for surrounding an area close to the shore. Peter, Andrew, James and John were good at using hooks and lines also. They would have to know all of this. They made their living by catching fish in all kinds of weather, and in every season. Competition was fierce. The historian Josephus tells us that there were about 230 fishing boats on the Sea of Galilee in Jesus' day. The lake is only five miles wide by seven miles long.
39.5 Catching men would require the same diligence, perseverance, hard work, knowledge, patience, skill, and stamina. Jesus would train them. They had been His followers; now He called them to be His disciples. A disciple is one who learns by close association with his teacher.
39.6 The disciples left their nets (with the hired servants), and followed Him.
...and immediately they left their boats and followed Him. Matthew 4:22
They owned their boats. Certainly Jesus would not expect them to abandon their boats would He? No, it was not that kind of leaving. They could and did go back to fishing occasionally. But they had left that profession. Now they would catch men.
39.7 It seems apparent that Jesus had planned to move to Capernaum long before He actually did. He also had a plan for evangelism. His plan included the men He already knew. When He got there He was ready to put that plan into immediate action. The first thing He did was to find Peter, Andrew, James, and John and call them to be His disciples. If they answered the call to follow Him, He would do the rest -- and make them to become fishers of men.
Discussion: How many different kinds of evangelism are there? Which is your favorite?
Memory verse: Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. Matthew 4:19
Quiz: