“Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him.”
Mark 1:16-18 ESV
“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. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.”
Matthew 4:18-20 ESV
Just a quick timeline here: Jesus has already been baptized, been tempted in the wilderness, spent an afternoon with Andrew, renamed Andrew’s brother Simon to Peter, called Philip and Nathanael, performed the miracle at Cana, cleansed the temple for the first time, predicted His death and resurrection, had an incredible discussion with Nicodemus, went with His disciples and had them baptize believers, went to Samaria and spoke with the woman at the well, John the Baptist got put in jail, Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God and began His ministry at age 30, healed an officials son without even being present, and announced Himself as fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah in His hometown of Nazareth and nearly got thrown off a cliff.
(Don’t worry, we will cover all of this in 2025)
So not much happened between His baptism and calling Simon and Andrew to “Follow Me” (lol)
And this is only the stuff we have recorded and kept for us!!
We have two gospels that match up here regarding this next event. Matthew and Mark both record this event.
Jesus is walking alongside the Sea of Galilee and again, Jesus saw them.
He saw Simon and Andrew.
He saw them casting a net into the water in the hopes of catching a fish or many fish. It wasn’t really up to them if they caught a fish or many fish.
They went to many different places in the lake to cast the net and see what they caught - if anything.
They were fisherman by trade. They were trained and knew how and where and when to catch fish.
Being a fisherman was not a highly esteemed job or one of great education. It was blue collar work.
Jesus saw them.
“And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.””
Jesus saw them and then called them to “Follow Him”
To be called by a Rabbi or teacher to follow them was a big deal!
To be called by the Messiah was life changing!
Look at the long list of recorded things we have that Jesus already did before He called them.
Andrew already announced Him as the Messiah.
John said “Bohold the Lamb of God!”
Simons name was changed to Peter.
They already went with Him and witnessed some of His works.
And now Jesus randomly walks by and calls them - a couple fisherman
But this call is different
To be “fishers of men”!
He’s talking to fishermen to become fisher(s of)men
Their response to being called by Jesus is incredible
They leave it all and follow Him
no clue where they are going or for how long
No cares as to what happens to their “stuff”
No worries about how they were gonna make it or what their retirement account looked like or how much they had in savings
No concern over what people were gonna think
They immediately left their nets and followed Him
Is Jesus worthy of your time?
Is He worthy of being the Lord of your life?
Are you willing to let go of “control” and walk with Him…
No matter what He says or where He leads you?
Are you willing to drop everything - all your spiritual baggage
All the traditions and religions and opinions and ideas
All the “things” in this life that can never fully bring you joy
Are you willing to trade in worry and fear and anxiety and anger for peace and patience and kindness and love?
Jesus is the way - drop your nets - stop casting your nets into waters with nothing in them and just walk away
Fish will feed you for a moment but you will be hungry again
You already know that
Have you ever gone all in on Jesus?
Have you ever given Him a chance to fill you instead?
Why not now?
When He says “Follow Me” and is looking at you, what will your response be?
