Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 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. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus grew up, and spent his ministry among people who knew Scripture by memory, debated its application with enthusiasm, and loved God with all their hearts, all their souls, and all their might (Deut. 6:5). God prepared this environment carefully so Jesus would have exactly the context he needed to present his message of Malchut Shamayim, “The kingdom of heaven” and his followers would understand and join his new movement. He fit his world perfectly. This helps us understand the great faith and courage of his followers who left Galilee and went to the whole world to bring the good news. Their courage, their message, the methods they used, and their complete devotion to God and his Word were born in the religious communities in Galilee.
Matthew teaches that Peter and Andrew didn’t hesitate for a moment. Andrew had already served as a disciple under John the Baptist. The brothers believed Jesus to be the Messiah, the promised Christ who would bring the kingdom of heaven to earth. They did not even pack up their work. They left their nets behind and immediately began to follow Jesus, demonstrating full commitment to whatever path He would lead them on. Their faith in Jesus is remarkable, though they did not yet have any idea what they were getting into.
So in the verses above when Jesus asked Peter, Andrew, James, and John to “follow him”, it was a statement that Jesus had confidence that they could be like him. The fact that Jesus came and asked . . . they couldn’t refuse.
It would be awesome if Jesus physically walked up to us and said “Follow me.” It doesn’t mean that God will lead us to quit our jobs, sell our houses, and head out into the mission fields overseas….but he might. It might mean that God has already led us to our mission field to be the light where we work today, where we live, in our own community and neighborhoods. He may be leading us to be like him with our co-workers, our friends and our families. We just need to be prepared to follow him wherever he leads.
Deb Hill
Assistant to Pastor Ryan