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B. The Founding of the Messianic Community (4:18–22)
¹⁸As Jesus was walking beside the Lake¹ of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon
(also called Peter) and his brother Andrew, throwing their casting-net into the
lake; for they were fishermen. ¹ He said to them, “Come and follow me,² and I
will send you out to fish for people.”³ ² Immediately they left their nets, and
followed him. ²¹He went on from there, and saw two other brothers, James son of
Zebedee and his brother John, who were in the boat with their father Zebedee
preparing⁴ their nets. He called them, ²²and they too immediately left the boat
and their father, and followed him.
Hitherto Jesus, while briefly involved with John and others by the Jordan, has
been presented as operating alone. But it is significant that his first recorded
action is to gather a group of followers, who will commit themselves to a total
change of lifestyle which involves them in joining Jesus as his essential support
group for the whole period of his public ministry. From this point on we shall not
read stories about Jesus alone, but stories about Jesus and his disciples.
Wherever he goes they will go; their presence with Jesus, even if not explicitly
mentioned, is assumed. While the Twelve will not be formally listed until 10:1–
4, the stories from here on will assume a wider group of disciples than just these
first four. They will be the primary audience for his teaching (5:1–2) and
witnesses of his works of power, but they are also called to be his active helpers
in the task of “fishing for people,” as we shall discover in ch. 10. The first time
Jesus will be left alone after this point will be when eventually the disciples
desert him in the garden of Gethsemane (26:56). Until then, Matthew’s story is
not only that of the Messiah, but also of the messianic community which is being
formed around him. The placing of this incident right at the beginning makes it
clear that that was Jesus’ intention.
Within that close-knit group of disciples it will become clear that three of the
four whose call is recorded first will form an “inner circle,” chosen to be with
Jesus in moments of special significance (17:1; 26:37), and mentioned by name
from time to time whereas the rest of the Twelve receive little or no individual
mention beyond the listing of their names in 10:2–4. The proximity here of the
two pairs of brothers suggests (as Luke 5:7, 10 states explicitly) that the four
were already colleagues in the fishing business. The association of the mother of
James and John with the other women at the cross according to 27:56 (see
comments there), as well as her intervention on their behalf in 20:20, has led
some to suppose that the family of Zebedee was in some way related to Jesus’
own family,⁵ so that this sudden summons may not have come quite so much out
of the blue as it appears, but the inference of kinship is very uncertain, and
Matthew does not indicate it. Rather, the suddenness with which Zebedee is left
behind in the boat suggests an unpremeditated action. Matthew betrays no
awareness of the previous meeting of some of this group with Jesus by the
Jordan which is mentioned in John 1:35–42.
This call-story portrays a sudden and complete change of lifestyle, involving
“leaving” both work and family. Details later in the story suggest a modification
of this impression of total renunciation,⁷ but in 19:27–29 we shall be reminded
of the radical dissociation which their discipleship entailed. The repetition of
similar language with regard both to the call of Matthew in 9:9 and to the
abortive call to the rich man in 19:21–22 shows that Matthew’s understanding of
discipleship was ideally of “giving up everything” to follow Jesus. Cf. 8:19–22
for Jesus’ uncompromising demands on would-be followers. While Matthew
does not record the call of any others of the Twelve except Matthew, we are left
to assume that all of them were similarly expected to give up everything to
follow Jesus (as indeed Peter will assert in 19:27).
If the announcement of “God’s kingship” in v. 17 might lead the reader to expect
some dramatic development in world history, the character of these first recruits
offers a different perspective: four local fishermen do not sound like a world-
changing task-force. The parable of the mustard seed (13:31–32) will spell out
the paradoxical character and insignificant beginnings of the kingdom of God.
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