Gone Fishing – Matthew 4:1-25

I attended a men’s retreat one year, a fishing retreat, and was paired with a older boy and a fishing pro in a boat on the river. The pro told us exactly where to cast our lines and sure enough we began catching fish. At one point I said, “I’ve got one” and began reeling it in. The pro said, “Is that as excited as you can get about catching a fish?” Yeah, it was. It doesn’t ring my chimes.

Does fishing for people ring your chimes? It sure excited Jesus.

While walking 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. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 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.

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. (Matthew 4:18-25, ESV)

The Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, so called because they present the same basic outline of Jesus’ life and ministry in contrast to John’s Gospel, collapse the calendar of Jesus’ ministry into what appears to be a year or so.  But John’s Gospel makes clear that he ministered 3 years, the first in relative obscurity, the second in tremendous popularity, the last with increasing opposition resulting in his death.  In the Gospel of John we learn that Peter and Andrew and others of the early disciples were first disciples of John the Baptist who attached themselves to Jesus when John baptized him.  Matthew is here showing how they became full-time followers of Jesus, living with him, serving with him, entirely dependent upon the offerings of others for their livelihood.

Jesus’ call to them was to follow him and he would develop them into soul winners, those who would seek the lost and offer lost people the kingdom through repentance and faith in Jesus as Messiah King.  By extension Jesus is offering us the same thing.  It may not mean full-time service for him in all instances but it is service he is calling us to and to fishing for humans otherwise lost.

As they traveled with Jesus the disciples saw amazing things in this proclamation of the gospel.  Jesus was able to heal every disease and to rid people of every demonic spirit (and the two were always distinguished).  A demon might cause some physical malady, but disease in itself was something different than demon oppression.  This kind of ministry brought a great deal of popularity to Jesus’ ministry, as might be expected.  People were awaking to the possibility that Jesus might be the Messiah.

Does it surprise you that one of Jesus’ first actions upon the inauguration of his ministry was recruiting disciples to become fishers of men? It should show us just how important to Jesus that he continue to be proclaimed in the world, rescuing hopeless people from this darkness and making them children of light in his glorious kingdom. Are we doing our part?