Responding to Jesus’s Call

Matthew 4:18-22

a. Responding to Jesus’s Call is to listen to Christ (4:18-19)

b. Responding to Jesus’s Call is to follow Christ (4:20-22)

2. INTRODUCTION

3. BODY

a. Responding to Jesus’s Call is to listen to Christ (4:18-19)

i. Jesus was calling for people to repent for the kingdom of Heaven was at hand. We saw that the prophecies were fulfilled through Christ and now the message of the prophets were being preached by Jesus as well.

ii. This now leads us to the section where Jesus was now calling disciples to follow Him. So verse 18 begins with Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee. We know from 4:13 that Jesus had left Nazareth and come to Capernaum. By 4:13, we can understand that Jesus had settled there, he moved there. Matthew 9:1 tells us that He came to His own city. This city was Capernaum, so this was His home to some degree.

iii. So as Jesus was walking, He saw two brothers. The names of these brothers are Simon, who was called Peter and his brother Andrew.

iv. So here are some interesting facts about brothers and locality of the Sea of Galilee. According to John 1:44, Peter and Andrew were from Bethsaida. Bethsaida is roughly 6 miles east of Capernaum so it can be understood that Peter and Andrew were fishing on the Sea of Galilee considering that was the largest body of water near them. We see that the Sea of Galilee was also known as Gennesaret according to Luke 5:1.

v. So when we read verse 18, we can get bogged down by the location and the brothers, but the emphasis lies on the fact that Jesus saw the two brothers. Why is this important? Because it shows who is choosing who. Jesus saw them and chose them. It goes to show us a picture of salvation in which it is not us choosing God, but rather, God choosing us. The men have done nothing to earn His favor. The men were merely working. But as Jesus was walking, He saw the two brothers.

vi. Then following, in verse 19, Jesus says to them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. This is a profound and practical statement by our Lord. We have to consider the context. Remember, that Jesus had withdrew from Nazareth to Galilee because He had heard that John had been betrayed and arrested. This caused Jesus to recognize that John’s arrest would end his ministry and that would allow Jesus’s ministry to start.

vii. But on top of that, Jesus uses a phrase that is so practical. How is it practical? Remember the men here are fishermen. They understand that their job is to catch fish. So in verse 19, when Jesus tells them to follow Him for He will make them fishers of men, they understood that their job was to find men and draw them.

viii. Now this is extremely important for us. Many of us think that when we become believers, the call is to follow Jesus. Now this is true. We are called to follow Jesus and walk with Him. We are called to grow in our sanctification and grow in our love for Him and grow in our understanding of Him.

ix. But the part that many Christians fail is exactly what Jesus is mentioning here. Christians are good to do the application of becoming a believer. It is absolutely true that we are to grow in our understanding and love for Christ. We can only do that by reading our Bibles and praying. That is the Christian life. But there is a part of the Christian’s life that many people fail. Jesus’s command here in verse 19 is to follow Him. Jesus literally says, “Follow after Me.” He commands us to follow after Him to do what? If we follow Him, we will be made fishers of men.

x. It’s interesting that in verse 18, it says that they were fishermen. The idea of fishing is an important profession. At first, we might think it is not an important profession but the more we learn, we realize how important it is.

xi. Interesting that being fishermen and being fishers of men are total opposite. If you think about what fishermen do, it’s interesting. Fishermen catch fish so that they would be caught and eventually eaten. Fishers of men actually do the opposite. Fishers of men are to catch men so that they would be saved from being eaten. It’s the reversal effect. What Jesus was calling for these apostles to be fishers of men were to be the fishers who would go out and catch fish so that they would not be eaten.

xii. In being called by Jesus, the disciples were not being invited to study Torah or practice it. Rather were they being called to rescue the lost, to help in the work of announcing and preparing for the kingdom of God. Reading the Bible and praying are important to the life of the Believer. But what we see clearly here is God’s calling of us is so that we can be fishers of men.

xiii. We need to listen to what Jesus is saying here. Jesus does not call these men to a Bible study and convince them they need to know their Bibles more. No, we understand they will know their Bibles through their conversations with Jesus and spending time with Jesus. But what is the result of our growth? Is it so that we can fill our heads with knowledge about Jesus? No. The purpose of our growth in Christ is so that we can become fishers of men. The reason for our sanctification is so that we would be able to do the work of evangelism. Our piety should lead to telling others to repent and that the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

b. Responding to Jesus’s Call is to follow Christ (4:20-22)

i. So after that calling, verse 20 tells us immediately, they left their nets and followed Him. John 1:35-41 shows us that they followed Jesus after he heard John speak regarding the Messiah. Remember, this comes after 1:29 where John sees Jesus and says that He was the Lamb that would take away the sins of the world. Then in 1:41, Andrew finds his brother Simon and tells him that they have found the Messiah.

ii. So most likely, they knew who Jesus was and followed Christ. But it doesn’t take away from the magnitude of that decision. One of the phrases that we can forget to highlight is simply that the disciples immediately left their nets. Why is this important? Because this shows us that following Jesus means leaving our old life. It highlights a radical commitment. It highlights their willingness to leave all and follow Jesus.

iii. Then going from there, Jesus sees two other brothers, James and John. Again, we see Jesus see the two brothers and it’s specific that He had them in mind. It doesn’t say that Jesus was looking around because He didn’t know who to look for. It makes no mention that Jesus was looking into the crowd, but rather, He saw two other brothers. He knew who they were because Jesus is not confused about whom He is saving. Jesus knows exactly who He is saving.

iv. Here we see that these brothers were mending their nets. So we saw that they were done fishing and now folding their nets to put them aside. As they were cleaning their nets, Jesus calls them. We can understand from verse 21, that the call was similar to verse 19.

v. One huge important fact is that they were in the boat with their father Zebedee. This probably indicates that the two sons weren’t as old as Peter and Andrew which is why they were with their father. At the same time, it’s important to notice that Zebedee was not called, but rather, the two sons. The purpose of Jesus’s calling is not to tell us who is saved and who isn’t saved, but rather the significance of the fact that it is God who calls.

vi. Another point to take into consideration is the fact that Zebedee allows Jesus to speak to his sons and call them to follow Him. Zebedee was most likely a devout man as well as most likely they had heard John’s preaching and known of the Messiah as Andrew had mentioned in John 1:41. It is significant that Zebedee allows Jesus to speak to his sons despite the fact that He doesn’t extend the invitation to follow Him to Zebedee.

vii. That isn’t to say that Zebedee is saved because I think that misses the point. The point is that Zebedee knew of the Christ and allows his sons to leave him to follow Jesus. As I thought about this scenario, I was able to understand the heart of every parent. All parents want the best for their children because we love our children and that’s exactly what Zebedee must have felt when he saw the Messiah calling His sons to follow Him.

viii. When we consider the similarity between Peter and Andrew with James and John, we see that James and John don’t simply leave their professions. They are leaving their personal family ties to follow Jesus. Why? Because it shows us that our relationship with Jesus is personal. It is not our relationship with our parents that gets us to the kingdom of God. Everyone’s walk is personal with Christ. This is why verse 22 makes more sense.

ix. Verse 22 tells us that immediately, these sons also leave their boat and their father and followed Him. It’s important that Matthew connects their nets in verse 20 and their father to the same category. The disciples are giving up what they own and everything that is important to them to follow Jesus.

x. One of the great lessons here is that listening to Jesus isn’t simply listening to the words and moving along. It’s not good enough for us to simply read the Bible, and move on with our lives. What the disciples show us is that, we must listen to what Jesus is saying and obey. We must follow His calling. Listening to Jesus is good, but listening and learning the truth is not good enough. You must listen and then obey.

4. CONCLUSION