Matthew 4:20-22

Matthew 4:20-22

And after continuing on from there He saw another two brothers – James the son of Zebedee and John his brother – in the boat with Zebedee their father while mending their fish nets.  And he called to them.  And immediately the ones who left the boat and also their father followed Him.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

I do want to stop here and point out the people that Jesus has picked to be His disciple.  So far we have four fishermen.  Fishermen were respected for having a good job in society, but they certainly weren’t the cream of the crop.  They weren’t the elite, or the wealthy, or the smartest, or the best people trained in logic.  They were just ordinary men with ordinary skills who were capable of understanding the world around them.  They were willing people who desired to have their skills augmented by God so that God’s power would flow through them.  That’s the point.  God doesn’t need us to be great; God needs us to be willing.  He doesn’t need our skill; He needs our submission.  He doesn’t need our reputation; He can be great through us.

Are you an ordinary person?  What can you do for the Gospel?  Are you willing? How does this passage help us to remove the excuses we often feel?

Second Thought:

Yesterday I spent a great deal of time talking about the nets and making an analogy to ministry.  I’m going to make another analogy here, but not about the nets.  James and John are in the boat making repairs.  Here are two men who understand the process of life.  New things work well, but as things age they will need repair.  This is true about everything, not just nets:

• As relationships experience time, the can become familiar and less exciting.  Occasionally they need repair from wounds.
• Our faith life with God often seems new and exciting at the beginning but often goes through lulls where it seems dull or ordinary and can use some time for mending.
• Our ministries often seem new and exciting at the beginning, but like faith can grow dull and tiring after a while.  They can often use a period of mending and repair.

What good thing in your life can use some repair?  Are you good at repairing or do you typically leave it behind and move on to something new?  Do you think our culture is good at promoting the concept of repair or is it good at promoting throwing things away and moving on to the next best thing?

Third Thought:

Look at this picture that we have with Zebedee’s boys.  James and John didn’t just leave their livelihood behind.  They left their father behind.  Matthew is very clear to spell this out.  Matthew uses a participle construction in the Greek in order to make James and John become “the ones who left the boat and their father.”  Matthew isn’t just telling us what they did; Matthew is telling us their identity.  Matthew is giving us another name for them.  Matthew is telling us they left occupation and family behind in order to obediently follow the call of their Lord.  James and John had their identity correct.  As much as we love family, we should love the call of God more.

Are you able to leave family for the pursuit of God?  Do you have what it takes to be like James and John – or Peter and Andrew before them – and abandon what used to drive you and instead follow Christ?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 4:23-25