Following after Jesus #35

Today we switch over from John's Gospel to Matthew's in chapter 4: 

18 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. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 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. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

First, we note that whereas John tells us what things looked like from the perspective of John the Baptist, who saw Jesus walking by, Matthew tells it from Jesus' side of things: while He was walking by, He saw these men fishing.  These men had met Him earlier, and were drawn to Him, but now His call to follow was much more involved, much more specific: He was not only calling them to follow Him to discover new life lived with Him, where they would learn from and obey Him; they were going to be in business with Him. They were going to switch from fishing for fish to fishing for me: to draw men to God. Let's think about that calling. Most people we know fish for fish with a hook and bait, for one at a time, in a sense deceiving these poor fish to lose their life for our entertainment or dinner, or both. But professional fishermen use nets, catching the fish alive and uninjured. Sometimes these fish are together; sometimes they are alone. The fishermen don't care which way they get them; in fact getting too many at one time can be a problem, tearing their nets. They just keep on casting their nets. In this case, they are casting their nets to bring them to the truth and grace of God.  Notice how they respond. Both pairs of brothers follow Him immediately.  That word would not faze me if it were in Mark's gospel, who uses it all of the time, but this is Matthew. He was struck by the fact of how quickly these men followed Jesus, because later on the same thing happened to Him: Jesus came to his tax booth, called Him to follow, and he immediately left all to follow Him for a new kind of life and business.  How quickly do you follow when Jesus calls?