The Calling of Four Fishermen

In Matthew 4:18-22 we are told that Jesus’ first disciples were Peter, Andrew, James, and John, two sets of brothers who were also fisherman. As I read this passage today, I wondered if these four guys had any idea what they were getting themselves into went they stepped out of their boats and began to follow Jesus around everywhere. I wonder if sometimes we over dramatize things in our modern telling of Jesus calling the disciples. I can just imagine some sweaty, fiery preacher with a serious urgency in his zealous voice wearing high-water pants, white socks, and a short sleeve t-shirt supporting a clip-on tie frequently gasping and using the grunt “ha” saying, “And Peter knew right then ha, that he had a choice to make ha, a choice of life and death, because to choose death ha, would mean rejecting our Savior’s call to follow him ha.”
But what was it really like? In chapter 4 of Matthew at the very beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, we find that after Jesus was baptized by John and experienced temptation in the desert, he moved from his hometown of Nazareth to Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee and began preaching. During this time, and also in the area of Capernaum, he called these four fishermen to be his disciples. Capernaum however, is only about 20 miles away from Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth. One could walk from one to the other in a day. In reality, the area in which the majority of Jesus’ ministry took place is very small, not much bigger than any county in North Carolina. Perhaps Peter, Andrew, James, and John already knew Jesus fairly well when he called them. Maybe they would have said, “Jesus – oh yes, he’s that rabbi carpenter who built a fishing boat for me three years ago.”
It occurred to me today that if someone told me to follow them from North Carolina to Montana, I would have some reservation about it. However, if someone told me to follow them from Lattimore to Polkville (two small towns near my home) I would probably go along easily, especially if I were a first-century Jew and the invitation came from a respectable and friendly rabbi. When these four guys started following Jesus, I bet they had no concern for where they would stay or what they would eat. They were just following Jesus. And after all, they were just going down the road a little ways. Along the way however, they developed a friendship with the Son of God and probably learned more about the Lord than they could have dreamed. They saw miracles. They listened to Jesus’ sermons. It is amazing to think that 12 guys followed one man around an area the size of a county for only 3 years in one of the most insignificant corners of the Roman Empire and the whole world was changed because of it. Only the Son of God could have that kind of impact.
So what is the lesson for us? Maybe these four guys did not know what they were getting into, but they followed Christ right where they were and found God’s plan for their lives. Maybe we should have the mindset and attitude that says “I will follow Christ today, even if I just go down the road a little ways, and maybe I will end up finding God’s plan for my life in the same ridiculously awesome ways the disciples experienced.”