Matthew 4:18-22

The following are text excerpts from Volume II, chapter 4: “By the Sea of Galilee and at Capernaum” pp. 90-95.

Click here if you would like to download the actual page excerpts from Volume II in a .pdf format.

Matthew 4:18-22 Jesus calls his first followers

18As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea-for they were fishermen.

19And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” 20Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

21As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

  1. What differences do you notice between Mark’s version and Matthew’s? What significance might these differences have?

Mark’s and Matthew’s versions of this text are quite similar. Yet there are variations. Matthew, who is often the more focused writer, makes some changes that appear to be stylistic. For example, Jesus is “passing” along the Sea of Galilee in Mark and “walking” along it in Matthew. Other changes may reflect the author’s priorities. Unlike Mark, Matthew does not mention John and James having left their father with “hired men.” There is some scholarly thought that Matthew intended this omission to focus more attention toward Jesus by limiting biographical information about his followers.

We will use our commentary on Matthew to elaborate on the individual players in this setting. Peter, John, and James are the most prominently featured disciples as the synoptic gospel stories unfold. The best example of their enhanced role is their presence as witnesses to the transfiguration. Otherworldly vistas are opened to them, but remain closed-for a time-to others.

Though Andrew is given less attention than the other three in the synoptic accounts, he is usually listed among the first few names of apostles. In the Gospel according to St. John, Andrew is depicted as one who shows good judgment and takes initiative.1

Tradition also assigns him an important role in the early church. Andrew is said to have performed mission work among the Scythians, a group of barbarians who, from time to time, rode out of their native land in the Caucasus to loot the civilized world. Harper’s Bible Dictionary tells how they were a people known for their cruelty. While Andrew was eventually martyred, his life’s work provides an example of courage.

The abiding image, though, is of Jesus. By calling Andrew and three other fishermen, he establishes his ability to influence others. This story also distinguishes the Jesus movement from other schools of thought. The contemporary practice was for prospective disciples to seek out rabbis, not the other way around. Philosophers of the Greco-Roman world also received, rather than sought, prospective disciples.

Jesus-never much of one to respect social mores-departs here as well. He actively seeks and chooses followers who respond favorably to his call. The exchange serves the twin purposes of showing Jesus’ compelling personal magnetism and showing how God uses it actively to seek out his people. The four join Jesus immediately, becoming “fishers of men.”

  1. Is it easy or difficult to identify with the first followers of Jesus and the choices they make? What does it say about their character? Their lives?
  2. Does the way Jesus departs from social norms affect your impression of him? Of his people? What does it say about him as a leader and a teacher? What guidance does it provide to us?
  1. See, e.g., John 1:40–42 (introducing Simon to Jesus); John 6:1–14 (telling Jesus of a boy with loaves and fishes that are used to feed the 5,000); and John 12:20–26 (leading Greek inquirers to Jesus). [↩]