Chapter 30 – Follow Me

Chapter 30

Follow Me

(Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:16-20, Luke 5:1-11)

One day Jesus was teaching a large crowd near the Sea of Galilee. The crowd was so large that it was pressing in on him, so he got into the boat of Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, who were cleaning their nets after returning from an unsuccessful night of fishing. Jesus had met Peter and Andrew in Judea (see Chapter 20), where Andrew had been a disciple of John the Baptist. After the Baptist’s arrest, the two brothers had returned to their fishing business to make a living.

When Jesus finished teaching, he told Simon Peter to go back out into the lake and try fishing again. Though skeptical, Simon agreed to do so, and the resulting catch was so great that he had to call his partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, to bring their boat to help —and the catch of fish still almost sank both boats.

The Sea of Galilee is really a large lake—indeed, Luke 5:1 calls it “the lake of Gennesaret.” This lake is eight miles wide, thirteen miles long, and 680 feet below sea level. The fish in the lake usually feed near the surface only at night, retreating to the cooler, deeper water during the daytime. Thus, Peter was understandably skeptical of Jesus’s suggestion that he try fishing again, and the huge catch of fish was truly miraculous.

Sometime thereafter, as Jesus walked along the shore, he encountered the four fishermen again. Simon and Andrew were casting their nets into the sea, while James and John were mending their nets. Jesus invited them to “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.” (Matthew 4:19) All four left their families and businesses and followed him. This does not mean that they never saw their families again, but that they traveled with Jesus throughout Galilee, Judea, and beyond.

Questions to Ponder or Discuss. Peter reacts to the miraculous catch of fish by falling at Jesus’s feet and proclaiming, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8) This reflects a common attitude of the time—that the righteous should not mix with sinners. This is why Jesus was criticized for associating with tax collectors and sinners.^{^[i]} Do we still see that attitude reflected in the behavior of Christians today? Explain your answer.

Peter, Andrew, James, and John left their families and their livelihoods to follow Jesus. What have you sacrificed to follow Jesus?

Endnote for Chapter 30:

[i]. See Matthew 9:11, 11:19; Mark 2:16; Luke 5:30, 7:34, 15:1-2.