Bird's-eye view
In this brief but foundational narrative, Matthew shows us the kingdom of heaven breaking into the ordinary lives of working men. Jesus, having begun His Galilean ministry, does not start by forming a committee or establishing a school. He walks along the shore and calls His first disciples with a simple but absolute authority. This is not a negotiation or a job offer; it is a royal summons. The men He calls are not scholars or priests, but fishermen, men of business, entangled in the daily affairs of nets, boats, and family. The central theme here is the sheer, unadorned authority of Jesus Christ. His call is creative and effective. When He speaks, reality rearranges itself around His words. The response of these men, immediate and total, is not so much a testament to their personal virtue as it is to the irresistible power of the one who calls them. They leave everything, not because they are reckless, but because the King has appeared, and His claim supersedes all other claims. This event establishes the pattern for all true discipleship: it begins with the sovereign call of Jesus, demands a radical reordering of all priorities, and promises a new and greater vocation.
This passage sets the stage for the formation of the Twelve, the foundational group of witnesses who will carry the gospel to the world. The calling of these two sets of brothers, Simon and Andrew, James and John, is a picture of how the kingdom advances. It is personal, it is authoritative, and it results in a complete life transformation. The mundane business of catching fish is elevated into the glorious mission of catching men. This is the beginning of the new creation, where Christ speaks, and new realities come into being.
Outline
- 1. The King's Authoritative Summons (Matt 4:18-22)
- a. The First Pair Called: Simon and Andrew (Matt 4:18-20)
- i. The Setting: Ordinary Work (Matt 4:18)
- ii. The Command and Promise: "Follow Me" (Matt 4:19)
- iii. The Response: Immediate Abandonment (Matt 4:20)
- b. The Second Pair Called: James and John (Matt 4:21-22)
- i. The Setting: Family Business (Matt 4:21)
- ii. The Response: Immediate Allegiance (Matt 4:22)
Context In Matthew
This passage immediately follows Matthew's summary of the beginning of Jesus' ministry in Galilee. Jesus has just heard that John the Baptist has been arrested, and He has moved from Nazareth to Capernaum, by the sea, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 9 concerning "Galilee of the Gentiles" (Matt 4:12-16). His core message has been announced: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt 4:17). The calling of the first disciples, therefore, is the very first action Matthew records after Jesus begins this public proclamation. It is the initial gathering of the citizens of this kingdom. This is not just Jesus collecting a few helpers; it is the King constituting His inner circle, the men who will be the foundation stones of His church. This act of calling is a demonstration of the kingdom's power. The kingdom is not just a message; it is a power that invades the world and claims men for its own. This scene flows directly into a summary of Jesus' widespread ministry of teaching, preaching, and healing throughout Galilee (Matt 4:23-25), a ministry for which these newly called disciples will be the primary apprentices.
Key Issues
- The Authority of Christ's Call
- The Nature of Discipleship
- The Meaning of "Fishers of Men"
- The Immediacy of Obedience
- The Supremacy of Christ Over Vocation and Family
The Royal Draft
We need to get our modern notions of volunteerism out of our heads when we read a passage like this. This is not a scene where Jesus posts a sign-up sheet for anyone interested in a new spiritual adventure. This is a royal draft. The King is walking by the sea, which in Scripture often represents the churning sea of the Gentile nations, and He is claiming His men. His call is not an invitation that can be mulled over. It is a creative command, like "Let there be light." The power that elicits the response is located entirely in the one who calls, not in the ones who are called.
The authority on display here is absolute. Jesus doesn't negotiate. He doesn't present a five-year plan. He doesn't talk about benefits or retirement packages. He simply says, "Follow Me," and the magnetic power of His person and His office is such that these men are immediately pulled out of their old lives and into His. This is the authority that will later command demons, heal the sick, and raise the dead. And here, we see it commanding the hearts of men. All true discipleship begins with this kind of sovereign intrusion. We do not find Christ; He finds us. We do not choose Him; He chooses us and calls us out of our own particular sea.
Verse by Verse Commentary
18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
The scene is one of mundane labor. Jesus is walking, a common activity. He is by the Sea of Galilee, a real place. He sees two brothers, Simon and Andrew, engaged in their trade. They are fishermen, which means they were not idle men. They were businessmen, likely strong, hardworking, and occupied with the constant demands of their profession. They were casting a net, an action requiring skill and effort. Matthew emphasizes their ordinariness and their rootedness in the real world of commerce and labor. The kingdom does not break in upon men in ivory towers, but upon men up to their elbows in their work.
19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
The call has two parts: a command and a promise. The command is simple and total: "Follow Me." In the context of that day, this meant leaving everything to become a traveling disciple of a rabbi. It was a call to a new allegiance, a new lifestyle, and a new identity centered entirely on the person of Jesus. The authority is breathtaking. The second part is the promise: "I will make you fishers of men." Jesus takes their current profession and transforms it into a metaphor for their new one. They know how to catch fish; He will teach them how to "catch" men. This is not a call to a quiet life of contemplation. It is a call to a mission, a productive and strenuous task. They are being drafted into the great work of evangelism, of gathering citizens for the kingdom of heaven. He does not say, "You will become," but rather, "I will make you." Their effectiveness will not come from their innate abilities but from His transformative power working in them.
20 And immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
The response is as stunning as the call. Immediately. There is no hesitation, no questioning, no request for time to consider. The word highlights the power of Jesus' call. It was an effectual call. When the King speaks, things happen. They left their nets, the tools of their trade, their source of income, their livelihood. This was an act of total economic abandon. And they followed Him. The verb is in the continuous tense; they began to follow Him and kept on following Him. Their old life stopped, and their new life began in that instant.
21 And 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; and He called them.
Jesus continues down the shore and repeats the process. He sees another set of brothers, James and John. They are also at work, mending their nets, which indicates a family business of some substance. They are not just employees; they are with their father, Zebedee. This detail is crucial. Matthew is showing us that the call of Christ is not just disruptive to one's economic life, but also to one's familial life. And once again, Jesus simply "called them." The same sovereign summons is issued.
22 And immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
The response is identical in its swiftness. Immediately. But here, the cost is stated even more starkly. They left not only the boat, the primary capital asset of their family business, but they also left their father. In a patriarchal society where honoring one's father was a central duty, this was a radical, even shocking, act. It demonstrates a foundational principle of the kingdom: allegiance to Jesus Christ is the highest allegiance, superseding all other loyalties, whether to career or to kin. The call of the King reorders every human relationship. They did not dishonor their father; rather, they honored the supreme Lord of heaven and earth, who has a greater claim than any earthly father.
Application
The call of Christ to every believer is fundamentally the same as the one He issued to these fishermen. It is a call to follow Him, which means orienting our entire existence around His person, His word, and His mission. For most of us, this does not mean physically leaving our jobs and families. But it does mean that our jobs and families are no longer our ultimate loyalty. We are Christians first, and then we are employees, fathers, sons, Americans, or whatever else.
This means that we must hold our nets loosely. Our careers, our ambitions, our financial security, these are tools, not idols. When the command of Christ conflicts with the demands of our job, we must be ready to drop the net. This means we must hold our boats and our fathers loosely. Our family relationships, as precious as they are, are subordinate to our relationship with Christ. We are to love our families in Christ, for Christ, and under Christ. When family loyalty would cause us to compromise our obedience to the King, we must be ready to leave the boat.
And what is our new vocation? We too are to be fishers of men. Jesus has not called us to huddle together in a holy club. He has commissioned us to the task of gathering souls. This means we must be involved in the lives of unbelievers, not as judges, but as fishermen. We are to speak the gospel, live out the gospel, and adorn the gospel, praying that God would use our clumsy efforts to draw men and women out of the dark sea of unbelief and into the bright boat of His church. The call is just as authoritative today as it was then, and it demands the same immediate and total allegiance.