Mark 1: 14 20; Luke 5: 1 11 And Matthew 4: 12 22 – Jesus Calls Four Fishermen
Scripture texts
Mark 1:14-20
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Luke 5:1-11
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
5 Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Matthew 4:12-22
Jesus Begins His Ministry in Galilee
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15 “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light has dawned.”
17 From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
18 As he walked 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. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
World of the text
In Mark 1:14-20; Luke 5:1-11 and Matthew 4:12-22 Jesus calls four fishermen. They are two pairs of brothers: Simon (later renamed Peter) and Andrew and the sons of Zebedee, James and John.
In the ancient world, it was common for students/disciples to seek out a teacher (cf. Lk 9:57-62) but Jesus often reverses the dynamic, calling people to become his disciples. As an itinerant (wandering) preacher/teacher, Jesus' disciples literally had to follow him around (Mk 8:34; 10:21; Lk 9:57-62; Jn 1:43) but Jesus was not the only teacher who had disciples; the NT also mentions "disciples of John the Baptist and disciples of the Pharisees (Mk 2:18; 6:29; Mt 9:14; Lk 5:33).
By Jesus’ time, there was a flourishing fishing industry in Galilee. The lake teemed with fish to such an extent that it was possible to catch them by throwing a weighted circle of net (the cast net) from the shore and then hauling it in. The usual procedure was to suspend a seine net with weights below and corks above between two fishing-boats and trap the fish in a circle of net in the shallows. Some were sold straight away, but others were salted to preserve them.
Dragnet fishing, spear fishing and even rod and line fishing were in use. The work was often dangerous because the lake could become stormy almost without warning. Sometimes this was caused by cold winds rushing down from the snow-covered slopes of Mt Hermon; sometimes by hot air rising from the below-sea-level lake and mixing with the cooler air coming over the hills from the Mediterranean.
Recent archaeological evidence has shown that the fishing industry based on the Sea of Galilee was huge. Thousands were engaged in it, both as fishermen and as workers in support industries like boat building, salting and transport. There are and there were enormous quantities of fish in the Lake. Eighteen species were caught, of which ten were commercially important. Among these some three species may be identified in the Gospels.
In the winter of 1985/6, there was a serious shortage of snow falling on Mount Hermon. This meant that the Jordan was deprived of water which had a dramatic effect upon the level of the Sea of Galilee. By mid-January the level of the lake was so low that a wide rim of mud circled it.
However, the unusual circumstances produced a discovery of great importance. As the water receded even further, two members of a lake-side kibbutz spied a strange structure out in the mud. It turned out to be the remains of a very ancient fishing boat. Pottery found in the boat, plus details of the craft's construction confirmed that it dated from the time of Jesus! It was 8.5m long and 2.5m wide. Close examination has revealed that although the boat is made of cedar and oak, many different kinds of wood were used to repair it. Carpenters would have used whatever wood was to hand.
Scripture uses a variety of terms to describe those people who shared in the mission and ministry of Jesus. These include: follower, disciple, apostle and more specifically, “the twelve”. It is helpful to understand how these terms are used.
Disciple
This word when traced to its Greek origin means “pupil” or “learner”. It refers to someone attached to a teacher, group or movement who not only "learns" academically but also lives a prescribed lifestyle, sometimes even in a community setting. This term is used 261 times in the New Testament. "Disciple" usually refers to the immediate followers of Jesus, but there are also disciples of John the Baptist (Lk 11:1, Jn 1:35), of the Pharisees (Mk 2:18, Mt 22:16), of Moses (Jn 9:28), or of later Christians (Acts 6:1-7).
Follower
Sometimes this verb simply means physically following someone or something else (Mk 10:32, 11:9), but at other times it is used for "those who follow" in the sense of discipleship (Mt 8:10, Jn 8:12).
Apostle
Again, when traced from the Greek, this term means "someone sent out; a messenger, delegate or missionary". It is from the verb apostello, which means, "to send out". In the New Testament this term sometimes refers to "the Twelve" (Mt 10:2, Mk 3:14, 6:30), but is also used of Paul (in all his letters) and other Christian missionaries like Barnabas (Acts 14:14). In Hebrews 3:1 Jesus himself is called an "apostle" sent by God.
The Twelve
This term refers to a core group of Jesus' disciples. Their names are listed (with variations) in Mark 3:13-19, Matt 10:1-4, Luke 6:13-16 and Acts 1:13 but not in John. It is important to note that these twelve are not the only disciples or apostles in the NT; the number is symbolically derived from the ‘Twelve Tribes of Israel’ (Mt 19:28).