Seeds for 05/10/2023 - Matthew 4:18-22
Scripture: 18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed Him.
21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.
Observation: One of the distinctive features of Matthew’s Gospel is duplicating things—stories, or elements within a story. Perhaps it’s how he underlines the idea he’s wanting to convey.
Biblical writers are never simply reporting facts. They aren’t journalists or strict history writers. They’re apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers. They aren’t Candice Millard, David McCullough, and Stephen Ambrose; they’re Beth Moore, Tony Evans, and Timothy Keller. They are proclaiming Jesus through the literary stylings they use to convey these historical happenings. A style unique to Matthew is repetition or duplication.
Here he tells the two stories back to back with rather bare facts. Ok, what to notice here? What might Matthew be emphasizing through this repetition of similar episodes?
In both stories, Jesus calls these men to follow Him in pairs. No one follows Jesus alone, not even for one second. Together they are called into a community of disciples.
Both pairs of brothers are fishermen by trade. In the first story, Jesus tags onto their profession for an analogy: “I will send you out to fish for people.” Jesus is going to leverage what they know (fishing) to illustrate what they will learn from Him and how they will serve God’s kingdom mission. For them, it was fishing. For us, we can learn from the fishing analogy, but perhaps there are ways that our professions in the world can inform and illustration aspects of our universal calling as Christians to follow Jesus and reach new people.
Finally, in both cases, the response is immediate. Their work was important; following this rabbi was imperative. May Jesus be so captivating to us.
Application:
How has God, or might God, teach you about following and serving Him through the work you do?
What role has community with other Christians played in your walk with Jesus?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, help me follow you wherever you may lead me, with whomever you will lead me, and to whomever you may lead me. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
If you liked this post from Seeds of Faith, why not share it and/or subscribe?
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Jesus has set the example for us as Christians to be fishermen of men, to share our faith and help others come to faith by spreading the Good News. John Wesley’s method of classes and bands is a good example of how we grow stronger in faith together and share our faith with others.