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.
Jewish children were taught at a very young age to memorise the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. They would learn every sentence and would be able to repeat them word for word. After this foundational Jewish education, they would then leave school and learn a trade. Perhaps they were to become sowers or smiths.
However, the best students would be invited to remain and they would continue to study all the Jewish scripture, the whole of the Old Testament. Memorising every single word. At this point a Jewish Spiritual leader, a rabbi, might come and ask them about the meaning of the words and their thoughts around the scripture. Most of them would be sent home to learn to fish or farm but to the best of the best of the best, the rabbi would lean forward, look at them in the eyes and say, ‘Come and follow me.’ This was the invitation to become a disciple.
What this meant was, ‘You can become a rabbi too. I think that you can do what I do. I think that you can understand what I understand.’ This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The disciple would follow the rabbi everywhere he went, watching every aspect of his life and learning everything from him. He would imitate him and become like him in every way. There are stories of disciples watching their rabbis poop because they wanted to be so much like him.
So, when Jesus looks at these fishermen, they are men who have already failed. They were not the spiritually elite. They did not do a good enough job at memorising the scriptures or they would not be fishermen. They are basic, everyday guys, working class guys. Yet, he calls them and gives them the rabbi’s invitation. ‘Come and follow me.’ You can not just know me but that you can become like me and do the same things that I have done.
This is the same invitation that Jesus gives to us. We are to follow him, to watch him, to imitate him, to become more like him and to do the things that he did. We are to become disciples. They could not believe it! They were chosen by a rabbi. It is no surprise that they immediately dropped their nets and followed. These nets were the most important thing in the world five minutes ago but compared to Jesus they became meaningless. They dropped it all to become like Jesus.
Jesus wants you to become like him, to live like him and to learn to do what he did. It will cost you everything. Will you drop your nets?
