The Casualness of Discipleship

Introduction

Matthew 4:18–22 NASB95

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. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they 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; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Many times when one looks at the life of Jesus, it just seems so casual. However, as one looks at the results of those “casual” actions, one sees intention, purpose in what Jesus is doing.

In this section of Scripture the topic of disciple appears. The topic of disciple has caused, at times, heated debates. The reason for these debates centers around how one defines disciple. Wilkins describes five popular definitions of a disciple in his book Following the Master: A Biblical Theology of Discipleship. They are:

Disciples are Learners (Wilkins 1992, 26)

Disciples are Committed Believers (Ibid. 27)

Disciples are Ministers (Ibid. 29)

Disciples are Converts; Discipleship Comes Later (Ibid. 30)

Disciples are Converts Who are in the Process of Discipleship (Ibid. 31)

The point is not to develop a theology of discipleship, but to look at this text, understand what is happening, and apply it to our lives.

Casually Jesus Walked v. 18

Jesus was “walking” in Capernaum. Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee. It just seems so normal and natural what Jesus is doing. However, we know from how the story develops that Jesus is not casually walking.

Jesus takes the initiative to go out for a walk. Jesus is not sitting on the couch in His home in Capernaum watching Netflex and saying “if the people want to be my disciples then they have to come and find me, ask me to disciple them and then I will consider it.”

Jesus takes the initiative to go out. He walks along the Sea of Galilee. From the fact that He runs into people, we can deduce that Jesus is walking where there are people. Jesus does not, in this case separate from people. He is looking for disciples, so He goes where the are people.

Casually Jesus Looked v. 18

I have never been to Israel or Galilee. However, one can imagine that being by the lake one would see a lot of things. The water, the hills surrounding the lake, the business of people doing their work, birds, nature in general.

But it seems that Jesus is not focusing on all the wonderful surroundings but rather is focussing on people. He is looking for individuals to follow Him. Jesus has the intention of going about His Father’s business.

Many times we are looking too. However, our desires of our heart pushes us to look past people and we only see what our heart desires. We see sales, cars, homes for sale, we see people that can help us get a job, people who might provide some security, or people who make us happy. We are motivated, many times by selfish desires. Because we desire certain things, we only see those things that are beneficial to us.

Jesus is looking for people who He can invest His life into. Looking at those who He invites to follow Him, Peter is not a wonderful “catch” of a minister. Andrew has his positive side in that he is consistently bring people to Christ. Jacob we do not know too much about and John is the beloved apostle. While all of them enjoyed the meal when feeding the five thousand, only John is present at the cross. In the time of “need” none are present to help Jesus.

Jesus does not pick these men because they have something to offer Him. Rather, Jesus picks these men because He is going to invest in their life.

Casually Jesus Invited v. 19

“Follow me” is a imperative, and literally means “walk behind me.” But it seems so casual. It seems that Jesus does not even consider the fact that Peter and Andrew are working. They were busy about making a living, providing for their families, growing their business and it seems that Jesus just doesn’t even care what they are about. He just casually walks up to them and invites them.

John and Jacob are with their father. They are cleaning their nets. They are busy working with their father. Jesus does not seem to care that by asking them to follow Him, they will have to leave their father behind. The implication of following Jesus will be a familiar separation.

Immediately They Follow v. 20, 22

For some, following Jesus has a contract that goes a long with it. The person says, I will follow you, but you must make sure my family is safe and sound and that we are always together, maybe even on the same piece of property. Following Jesus comes with a list of demands. But it does not seem from our text that Peter, Andrew, Jacob and John made demands. They seems to just start going after Jesus.

From Jesus’ perspective, the whole thing seems very casual. But at the moment that it comes to make a decision, they obey immediately. There is no casualness, there is no “let’s go to Starbucks and consider what it means to ‘follow Jesus.’” Many of us will never follow Jesus because we sit around all day contemplating what it means to follow Jesus and we never get up and start following Him!

There are examples where this was a failure. For example, the rich young ruler could not follow Jesus because he had to many things. There was another guy who had to burry his father and then he would follow Jesus. Both cases, it seems like they never did follow Jesus.

Jesus looks for obedience. Many of us have to many things that tie us down to follow Jesus. Many of us are wrapped up in this world that we will not follow Jesus. Matthew concludes his Gospel by saying that Jesus wants us to go into the whole world to baptize and teach individuals to obey God’s Word. But the world will not be reached by people who are too focused on their careers, on their family that they cannot follow Jesus.

Conclusion

From God’s perspective, God seems to be casually walking, looking, inviting. But from our perspective we need to immediately start following Jesus.