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MATTHEW 4:18-20
Just a word of background on our passage this morning. Jesus hadn’t been long into His public ministry. According to the Gospel of Matthew, we know that Jesus had already been baptized by John the Baptist. After that, Jesus was led away by the Holy Spirit to be tempted in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. Then Jesus set up His home base in Capernaum and began His public ministry. Matthew 4:17 says that, “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” By looking at a comparison of the four Gospels, we see that Jesus had already met Peter and Andrew once. As a matter of fact, it was when Jesus met them the first time that they believed Him and were saved. We talked about that when we were in John 1 and 2. Peter’s brother Andrew was a follower of John the Baptist. After John baptized Jesus and publicly declared Him to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, he sent some of his disciples off to follow Him. Andrew was one of them. Andrew quickly went and got his brother Simon and took him to Jesus. John 1:42 puts it like this, “And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.” Cephas is the Aramaic word for the Greek word Peter. So that is when Peter first met Jesus. Later on in John 2, we see where Peter actually became a believer in Jesus. He had heard the teaching of Jesus and the testimony of his brother. But he didn’t actually become a believer until after he saw Jesus turn the water into wine. John 2:11 says, “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.”
Now, don’t be confused by the things you see in the different Gospels. Some people have the tendency to see all the times that Jesus called disciples in the four Gospels and squish them into one event. They’re not. As a matter of fact, when you look carefully, you can see that there were actually several times that Jesus called the same guys.The first time He called them was when He called them to salvation in John 1. John 2 says that’s when they believed. The second time Jesus called them was in our passage this morning. He called them to be fishers of men. Later on, we’ll see what that means. Then even later on, Jesus called His disciples to an even more committed level of service in Luke 5. Finally there are two more callings in Mark 3 and Matthew 10. Those times, Jesus calls His disciples to even more focused and specific areas of ministry. With each of those calls, we see how the disciples’ obedience and faithfulness to the call led to more and more responsibility. Faithfulness to one call led to the next one. And each one became more and more focused and specific. Each one bore more responsibility. And each one had more potential for impact on the Kingdom of God. So, when we compare the Gospels we draw lines where we can, and we don’t draw lines where we shouldn’t. The line we can draw is that Peter was a believer before Jesus called him in our passage this morning. He was a believer, and he followed Jesus some. He hung around and picked up some teaching. He listened to the preacher. He heard the Word. But that was it. When he finished listening to the teaching, he went back to his normal routine of life. Even though he was saved and had picked up on some of Jesus’ teachings, life was the same. The same old routine. Back and forth, day after day, night after night. Fish in the nighttime, sleep during the morning, mend nets and catch bait in the evening. That was what they were doing when Jesus came walking up in verse 18. Zebedee and his two boys and their hired crew were sitting at the dock in their fairly large fishing boat. They were all working hard getting ready for the evening’s trip by checking and repairing their nets. This wasn’t some small john boat. This was a large scale commercial fishing operation. Zebedee and Sons was a big operation. They had a large boat—at least large enough that a crew of three couldn’t handle it. According to the account in Mark, they had a hired crew to help them. It’s even possible that Peter and Andrew were part of that crew. But here they were in the evening. They were docked and were mending their nets to get ready for that night’s haul. Peter and Andrew weren’t in the boat, though. They were either on the shore or on the dock. I imagine that they were on the opposite side of the dock from the boat. Verse 18 says that they were “casting their net into the sea”. That means they had to be on the shore or the dock, because that’s the only place you can use a cast net. When we lived in Mississippi, I used to go down to the Back Bay and watch shrimpers use a cast net. They used it the exact same way that Peter and Andrew were using theirs. Cast nets are about 9 feet around. To cast them, they would draw up the very center of the net and put it in their teeth. From that point, they would grab the edge of the net and toss it with a circular motion. When somebody is good at it, the thing spins out like a giant Frisbee and lands in a big circle in the water. When I tried it, I ended up with a tangled mess. Then, they would let it sink to the bottom and would draw it up. It would be full of shrimp or mullet or bait that they were going to use for big fish. That’s what Peter and Andrew were doing when Jesus walked up to them. They were preparing for a money making operation. But Jesus called. Jesus called Peter and Andrew and James and John. Jesus called them, just like He calls everybody He saves. Just like He’s calling you. In these three short verses, we see how Jesus calls. He calls us to a person. He calls us for a purpose. And He calls us to a response. First, let’s look at how Jesus calls us to a person.
Jesus calls us to a person. We don’t know the whole scene of what went on here. Matthew was only interested in what recording what was relevant to his purpose. And background scenes and conversation wasn’t part of it. But I can imagine that there was some conversation when Jesus came walking along the shoreline. Peter and Andrew were preoccupied with casting their nets. They might have even had a mouthful of net when they looked up and recognized Jesus coming their way. But when they looked up and saw Jesus, the first thing He said to them in verse 19 was, “Follow Me.” When I was in recruiting, we went to several high level corporate professional selling skills seminars. Out of those, I met some very successful, well-paid headhunters. Headhunters are recruiters for high dollar corporate positions. Based on my conversations with them and the training we got, I can tell you how they would never start a recruiting conversation. They would never start one the way that Jesus did. A typical recruiting pitch starts with an introduction of the company. It outlines all the greatness and grandeur of the business. Then it moves to how all of that greatness and grandeur will benefit you. Then you’re hooked. If anybody has greatness and grandeur to advertise, it would be Jesus, wouldn’t it? But that’s not what He was marketing. As a matter of fact, Jesus doesn’t market at all. Jesus mostly does the opposite of marketing. What did Jesus say? Did He say, “Here are all the wonderful things that can happen to you if you’re a part of my team?” No—all Jesus said, was “Follow Me.” When Jesus calls, He doesn’t offer prosperity. He doesn’t offer personal benefit. He doesn’t offer a movement or organization or team. What does Jesus offer when He calls? He offers Himself. Jesus said, “Follow ME.” He calls us to Himself. That’s not to say that there aren’t tremendous benefits from following Jesus. But He doesn’t call us to the benefits. He calls us to Himself—regardless of the benefits. If there was no heaven or hell, would you follow Jesus? If all you are looking for is the benefits, you will never enter the ministry. If all you are looking for is the benefits, you will never enter the mission field. If all you are looking for is the benefits, you will never be a witness in your community. If all you’re looking for is the benefits, you will never follow Jesus. Jesus is the treasure that’s worth selling everything you have to obtain. Jesus is the pearl of great price. He alone is of greater value than everything. One thing I want you to notice about the way that Jesus called Peter and Andrew to Himself. What were they doing that caused Jesus to call them? Did Jesus need good net casters? Did Jesus need people who could fish in order to make His ministry work? Of course not. Peter was completely unqualified for what Jesus called him to do. He hadn’t done anything to deserve being called by Jesus. I’m sure that there were other people around who didn’t have a hot temper and smell like fish. But Jesus chose Peter. Jesus called Peter. Jesus reached out in His boundless grace and mercy and called Peter to salvation. And then He reached out once again and called him to do a job for Him. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” The grace of God is what saves you. And the grace of God is what calls you. He graciously calls you to nothing other than His person. If Jesus has called you to salvation, He has called you to Himself. Have you answered? Or are you still just hung up on the benefits? But that’s not all that Jesus calls us to. He calls us to a person and He calls us for a purpose.
Jesus calls us for a purpose. In verse 19, Jesus said, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” What is God’s purpose for your life? What does He have planned for you to do? Did you know that God has a plan for your life? Do you remember the old Four Spiritual Laws tracts? That’s how they started out. They started out by saying, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. I saw a few weeks ago where somebody took that same line and made it the caption under a picture. The picture was of a Christian standing in the Roman coliseum as hungry lions were bearing down on him. God does indeed have a wonderful plan for your life. We just don’t know what it is. Did Jesus have a wonderful plan for Peter’s life? Yes He did. Later on in Matthew 16:18-19, Jesus told him, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” That’s a pretty awesome plan, isn’t it? And later on in Acts, we see that when Peter preached at Pentecost, 3000 souls were saved. And then after that, day after day, the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. That’s a marvelous plan, isn’t it? But Peter was also put in jail. He was also beaten. And according to church history, he was also crucified upside down after being forced to watch his wife crucified in front of him. That’s a pretty wonderful plan, isn’t it? Jesus said in Matthew 5:11-12, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” All of those things were part of the wonderful plan and purpose Jesus had for Peter’s life. So Jesus told him all about it up front, right? No, Jesus only told him two things about His plan. He gave him the broad overview. Jesus purpose for Peter was the same purpose He has for all of us. We are to fish for men. We are to be about the business of catching people for the kingdom. What are the specifics? Does that mean missionary work? Does that mean ministry? Does that mean martyrdom? Or does that mean opening your mouth and witnessing to everyone you know, right where you are? I don’t know. Jesus usually doesn’t tell us up front. He just tells us to fish. He’ll let you know the pond as you go along. But that’s just one thing Jesus told Peter about His plan for him. Because Jesus told Peter how it was going to happen. Jesus said, “I will make you...” Now that is a wonderful plan for your life. The one who makes the plan for you... will make you for the plan. I am called to be a fisher of men just like Peter was. So are you. But Jesus calls us to fish in different waters and in different ways. But the same Jesus that equipped Peter equips you and me. Jesus will make you for the plan that He has made for you. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” God has made a plan for you from before the beginning of time. He made you specifically for that plan. He’s not going to tell you what it is up front. But He will let you know that He will make you ready to accomplish it. Jesus has called you for a purpose. Jesus calls us to a person and He calls us for a purpose. But finally, He calls us to a response.
Jesus calls us to a response. Notice what Peter and Andrew did in verse 20. The King James says that they “straightway left their nets and followed Him.” That means they immediately followed. They dropped everything and went. Did it cost them anything? It cost them everything. Peter talked about that in Matthew 19:27. He said to Jesus, “We have left everything and followed you.” It cost them a lucrative fishing career. It cost them money. It cost them stability. It cost them financial and emotional security. Can you imagine the conversation Peter had to have with his wife? Honey, I quit my job today. Why? To follow Jesus. What are you going to follow Him to? I don’t know. How are we going to pay the bills? I don’t know. What about Zebedee? What’s he going to do for a crew? I don’t know. Well, Peter, is there anything you do know? I know that He said, “I will make you.” He’s got the plan. He made me, so that means that He will sustain me. All I have to do is follow Him. He’ll take care of the details. His Word will be a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I don’t have to see the whole thing. Just my feet and where I’m taking the next step. That’s what Jesus’ call is. That’s what it was to Peter. And that’s what it is to you. The thing about Jesus’ call is that it’s a continual call. It begins with a call to conversion. Peter heard that call, believed and was saved over in John 2. But that’s not where Jesus’ call stops. So many times, we walk an aisle or make a profession of faith or get baptized and think that’s it. Conversion is just the first call Jesus makes. His call continues. Conversion begins with a commitment, but it takes a lifetime of answering the call. Are you answering the call? Are you following Jesus? Or did you leave Him at the altar or in the baptistery? Jesus is calling you. He has a plan for you. All He wants you to do is follow Him. Will you answer His call and follow Him today?
