16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
Two things stand out to me in our verses for today – Jesus called and there appears to be no hesitation from those He called. Leaving work and family and friends behind these four fishermen began to follow Jesus at His Word – they believed Him. Our Lord begins His selection process of His twelve disciples – His core group of comrades – His intimate circle of friends and followers while His feet walked this dusty earth and He begins with the call of four meager fishermen. How perfect – they had a transferable skill set - switching from being fishers of fish to becoming fishers of men. His Words must have had a wooing and familiar ring to their ears and they readily related. How interesting that Jesus did not go to the “religious” Pharisees and Sanhedrin of His day to gather His inner circle rather He picked precisely from among the nets by the Galilean seashore. He so often chooses the weak and foolish things of this world to demonstrate His power through so that there will be no question from whence the power comes – treasure in jars of clay. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians:
26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 1 Cor 1:26-29 (NIV)
Interestingly, during those days the pupils were the ones to choose the Rabbis they would follow under and glean from rather than vice versa. But Jesus came with a different authority – one where He does the calling. Jesus was constantly shaking up the tradition of man – to say the least! There was and is no relationship with Christ apart from His call and to be sure it was and is no ordinary call. What He invited His original disciples to (as well as every subsequent one) was and is a relationship with Him that is radical in its nature. He wants priority – priority over our friends and families – priority over our careers – priority over our stuff – priority over ourselves - He wants first place - all else is to be second. He will share His throne with no other. Our Lord wants us loosely attached to this world and the things of it – forsaking what is inconsistent to our duty of following hard after Him. Jesus is never tender over anything that will ultimately ruin a man in the service of God. We find Jesus’ Words in Luke emphasizing the correct priority and cost for His followers and it is anything by moderate:
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:25-27 (NIV)
This, of course, is no active hate rather in comparison to the love we have for Him all else is to be second. Jesus is to be our passion, our goal, our priority – He is to be our sufficiency and strength. The Gospel, unlike religion is not about following advice but all about following the King. I find it also very interesting the definition of “Followed” appearing in verses18. It is translated from the Greek word “Akoloutheo” meaning: “Attendant, accompany; the individual calling to follow Jesus involved abiding fellowship with Him, not only for the sake of learning as a student from his teacher, but also for the sake of the salvation known or looked for, which presented itself in this fellowship. The first thing involved in following Jesus is a cleaving to Him in believing trust and obedience, those cleaving to Him also following His leading and acting according to His example. Hence the constant stress laid by the Lord Jesus upon the need of self-denial and fellowship with Himself in the cross. Thus following Jesus denotes a fellowship of faith as well as a fellowship of life, sharing in His sufferings not only inwardly but outwardly if necessary.” Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible – New Testament Lexical Aids.
“The nature of Christ’s salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Saviour from Hell rather than a Saviour from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived...there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness.” A.W. Pink
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. Matt 16:24-27 (NIV)