Jesus' First Disciples | A Sermon on Matthew 4:18-22

The First Disciples – Introduction
Today, we continue our study of the first few chapters of the Gospel of Matthew.  Here’s a quick outline of what we’ve studied so far in Matthew:
Chapters 1-2: Jesus’ Birth & Escape to Egypt
Chapter 3: Jesus & John the Baptist
Chapter 4: Jesus’ Ministry Begins

Today, we read the story of Jesus calling the first disciples.

Matthew 4:18-22
¹⁸ One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. ¹⁹ Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” ²⁰ And they left their nets at once and followed him.

²¹ A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. ²² They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.

Along the Shores of the Sea of Galilee
In Jesus’ time, the Sea of Galilee was a bustling center of life, work, and trade in northern Israel. The large freshwater lake was a vital hub for fishing, with towns like Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Tiberias lining its shores.  It’s about 33 miles to walk all the way around the lake, which would take several days of hard walking.  But one could use a boat to cross the 8-mile-wide lake in about 3 hours. 

It was along the shores of the Sea of Galilee that Jesus would do the majority of His ministry.  And it was along these shores that Jesus called His first Disciples.  First, He found two brothers, Peter and Andrew, who fished for a living.  “Come follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”

“And they left their nets at once and followed him.”
Peter and Andrew immediately left their nets to follow Jesus.  Leaving their nets means they left behind their careers and livelihoods.  Fishing wasn’t a fun weekend hobby for them—this was how they put bread on the table so their families could survive.  Jesus asked them to walk away from their nets and come follow Him.  And they did.

I want to point out that Peter and Andrew (and James and John) probably already knew Jesus (or knew of Him).  Jesus grew up in Nazareth, which is only about a day’s journey from Capernaum.  And before He began His ministry, Jesus was a carpenter (actually a better translation is craftsman or construction worker).  And Jesus likely worked in Capernaum and probably knew the fishermen.  At the very least, they knew something about the rising fame of this new teacher.

Peter and Andrew answered the call to leave their fishing careers to follow Jesus.  James and John not only left behind their careers, they left their father’s family fishing business.  The fact they were mending the nets on their father’s boat seems to indicate Zebedee’s fishing business was a whole enterprise—not just a small business.  And they left it all behind to follow Jesus.

Jesus Doesn’t Need Our Help. We Need to Help Jesus
Now I want you to think about something.  This seems like a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice.  Jesus was asking a lot.  Leave behind your career, your ability to make a living, to provide food for you and your family and keep a roof over your head.  Leave your father to take care of his fishing business all by himself.

 And here, Jesus is supposed to be the Messiah, the Chosen One who will save the world.  Even more, the Bible tells us Jesus is the son of God.  That He is God. He was there when the universe was created.  Nothing was created except through Him. He gave life to everything.  He is the Light of the world!

But if Jesus is so great and so powerful, why did He want people to help Him save the world? 

Jesus didn’t need people to help Him.  But we need to participate in the salvation of the world in order to be saved ourselves.  Helping Jesus is part of our salvation. Jesus doesn’t need our help, but we need to help Jesus. Somehow, through helping Jesus, we find healing and restoration for our soul.

There’s a powerful principle in Alcoholics Anonymous that speaks directly to our life of faith: helping others is essential to healing. In AA, those who find freedom from addiction are taught that one of the best ways to stay sober is to help someone else on the same journey. It’s not just a good deed—it’s part of their own recovery.

In the same way, as followers of Jesus, we are not just saved from sin so we can sit back and enjoy the blessings. We are saved to serve. Our healing deepens when we help others find their healing in Christ. We grow stronger in our walk when we walk alongside someone else. Jesus doesn’t need our help in a cosmic sense—He’s the Lord of all. But in His mercy, He invites us to be part of His work in the world.

Helping others isn’t a bonus part of Christianity—it’s part of our transformation. When we serve, give, pray for, and walk with others, we’re reminded of what Jesus did for us. We live out our faith. And in that, we recover more fully from the grip of sin and step more deeply into the life of the Kingdom.

What “Nets” Do You Need to Leave Behind?
So Jesus comes and He calls each of us:  “Come follow me…” He chooses us before we choose Him.  And He chooses all of us.  No matter what you’ve done.  No matter who you are. You are never too good or too bad or too broken for Jesus to choose you. Jesus chose you to be His follower, His disciple, to fish for people.  But that leaves two questions for you:  Will you choose Him?  And What nets do you need to leave behind?

Some of the "nets" we may need to leave behind to follow Jesus aren't made of rope—they're the things that entangle our hearts. It could be the comfort of routine, the pursuit of success, unhealthy relationships, guilt from the past, or even our own pride and self-sufficiency. Like the disciples who dropped their fishing nets to follow Jesus, we’re called to let go of whatever keeps us from fully trusting Him. Leaving those nets behind can be scary, but it’s the first step toward a life of greater purpose, peace, and freedom in Christ.

Closing Ceremony – Leave Your Nets
When Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John, He didn’t just give them advice—He gave them a choice: Leave your nets and follow Me. Those nets weren’t bad in themselves, but they were holding them back from the life Jesus had for them.

Today, I want to invite you to do something simple, but powerful. Ask yourself:
What net is God calling me to leave behind?
Maybe it’s fear. Maybe it’s a habit, a distraction, or something good that’s just taken first place in your life instead of Jesus.

Write it down on a piece of paper—just between you and God—and when you’re ready, come forward and leave it at the altar as you kneel for a time of prayer.  Let that act be your way of saying, ‘Jesus, I’m ready to follow You more faithfully.’"

Addendum
I realized after preaching this sermon, I probably should have shared more supporting evidence about why I think Peter, Andrew, James, and John may have already known Jesus before He asked them to follow Him.  For example, in John’s Gospel (1:35–42), Andrew was with John the Baptist when Jesus passed by and John said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world…” Later in the Gospel of John, Andrew went and told his brother Peter about Jesus.

Luke 5 also gives more context to the calling of Peter. Jesus gets into Peter’s boat and asks him to put out a little from shore. That kind of request suggests some kind of prior relationship—most people wouldn’t let a stranger just borrow their boat. Plus, Peter calls Him “Master,” a term of respect for a known rabbi or spiritual teacher.

Add to that the closeness of Nazareth to towns along the Sea of Galilee and the nature of small, tight-knit Jewish communities of the time—it seems likely they at least knew of Jesus beforehand. It’s not certain, of course, but I think it’s a fair conclusion to consider.

Jesus Calls His Disciples

Introduction 
This blog series considers the Bible stories we will study with the kids at Vacation Bible School this month--VBS is June 26-29.  Today we will look at the lesson for Day 3 – Jesus Calls His Disciples.   Our theme will be JESUS IS WITH ME.

Matthew 4:18-22
¹⁸ One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. ¹⁹ Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” ²⁰ And they left their nets at once and followed him.

²¹ A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. ²² They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.

Slides – Matthew 9:9-13
⁹ As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.

¹⁰ Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. ¹¹ But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”

¹² When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” ¹³ Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

Who are You?
Who are you? Have you ever thought about it?  How would you define who you are?  WHat is your identity?  A lot of people may describe who they are by what they do for a living.  What did your dad do for a living?

My dad was an entrepreneur.  He did work for the FBI for a short time (fingerprint division), but that's not really who he was.  That was just a job for him.  What he really wanted to do was own his own business.  He and a partner started a restaurant in Maryland called the Georgetown Pizzeria.  When that wasn't successful, he moved to Macon, GA and owned a concessions business at Lake Tobesofkee for a while.  Then he tried to be successful running a KFC franchise in Florida.  Finally, he successfully owned and operated the Fish House in Macon, GA and sold fresh seafood for over 25 years.  

A lot of people define their identity by what they do for a living.  I guess that makes sense, because the average person spends 90,000 hours (or 1/3) of their life at work.  In the Bible, people were often identified by their work.  Jesus was identified as a carpenter.  Jesus called 12 men to follow him and we learn the occupations of five of them from the two passages I read.  Simon, Andrew, James, and John were fishermen.  Matthew was a tax collector.

With the fishermen, Jesus does something interesting. He recognizes their identity—fishermen, but then He alters it.  He says, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”  So He changes their identity.  They’re going to do something so much more important than fishing for seafood.  However, their past identity will still influence their new work.  They will fish for people to be part of God's Kingdom.

Matthew was a tax collector.  No one likes tax collector—then or now.  However, in Jesus’ day, tax collectors worked for the enemy--the occupying Roman official who forced the Jewish people to pay tributes to Rome against their will.  Tax collectors were seen as traitors by their people.  Even their own families often disowned them. Jesus called Matthew to be a disciple.

Simon the Zealot, another man Jesus called to be His disciple, belonged to a radical political/religious sect called he Zealots.  Zealots were dedicated to assassinating people like Matthew, who cooperated with the Romans.  Jesus call Simon the Zealot to be a disciple alongside Matthew the tax collector.  Can you imagine how awkward it might have been for Matthew the tax collector to sit down next to Simon the Zealot (who in his previous occupation would have assassinated Matthew)?

Jesus called all these men and gave them new identities, their true identities—Disciples.  A disciple is a personal follower dedicated to Jesus.  Discipleship is not the same as being a student in the modern sense.  A disciple in the ancient biblical world actively imitated both the life and teaching of their master. It was a deliberate apprenticeship which made the fully formed disciple a living copy of the master.

It was a great honor and a true responsibility to be a disciple.  Usually, Jewish rabbis only called the best of the best of the best to be their disciples.  Yet Jesus chose men whose professional identities were quite ordinary or even despicable—fishermen, tax collectors, an assassin.

Simon the fishermen felt unworthy to follow Jesus.  In Luke 5:8, Simon said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.”  Jesus called him anyway and said I will make you a fisher of men.  Later, Jesus changed Simon’s identity again by by giving him a new name—Peter.  Jesus said, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” (Matthew 16:18).  You see, Jesus is the one who gives us our true identity.

How would you feel if Jesus called you?
How would you feel if Jesus called you like He called the 12 Disciples?  You may be reluctant to follow Jesus or feel like you are not good enough to be among His followers.  You may even feel all alone--like everyone else belongs, but you don't.

However, the call to follow Jesus does not depend on how good you are.  Rather, Jesus invites all people to follow Him.  All people can be transformed into God’s children because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  As we follow His call, Jesus promises to be with us no matter what and He transforms us into the people He wants us to be.

Jesus calls people to surrender their lives and follow Him.  He leads us into the Kingdom of God.  As people become disciples and follow Jesus, we are never alone.  Jesus guides us every day and we find fellowship with others He has calls along the way.  

Being a disciple of Jesus is the greatest honor in life.  Jesus calls all to be His disciples, but not all answer the call.  Will you answer the call?

If you do answer the call to follow Jesus as a true disciple, you will learn to actively imitated both His life and His teachings. You will become a living copy of Christ.  What He did, you will do—and this includes, at times, taking up a cross of suffering.  It is great responsibility to be a disciple, but it is also the highest honor in life.  And the reward is eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.  No amount of suffering in this life--no matter how terrible--can ever compare to the glory we will know in eternal life where there will be no more sin, no more suffering, and no more death.

Closing
Jesus taught in Matthew 7:13-14 – “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”

Which path would you choose to follow today?  Jesus is here today and He says to you, “Come, follow me, and be my Disciple.”  Will you answer His call?