Matthew 4
Jesus and the Fishermen Brothers
MATT 4:18-22 MARK 1:16-20 LUKE 5:1-11 (Compare to John 1:35-42)
MATT 4:18 – And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. {Similar to Mark 1:16 & Luke 5:2}
[walking by the sea of Galilee] – People pressed upon him to hear the word of God as He was by the lake of Gennesaret (Luke 5:1). Luke always refers to the Sea of Galilee as a lake.
[Simon called Peter] – Which is the same as Cephas, meaning “a stone” or “a rock” (John 1:42).
[Andrew his brother] – John the Baptizer’s disciple (John 1:35-42).
[casting a net into the sea] – Luke’s account is different, and records, “but the fishermen were gone out of them (the boats), and were washing their nets” (Luke 5:2). To escape the crowds, Jesus got in Peter’s boat and taught them from a comfortable distance. Afterwards, He told Peter to cast his net into the sea and he caught a miraculous amount of fish (Luke 5:3-9).
MATT 4:19 – And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. {Similar to Mark 1:17 & Luke 5:10}
[I will make you fishers of men] – “thou shalt catch men” (Luke 5:10), which means that Jesus would teach these disciples how to turn the hearts of the people back to God by doing His works so that the people would enter the Kingdom of God.
MATT 4:20 – And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. {Similar to Mark 1:18}
[left their nets] – They hadn’t just forsaken their profession; they had forsaken all (Luke 5:11 & Matt 19:27).
MATT 4:21 – And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. {Similar to Mark 1:19 & Luke 5:10}
[Zebedee their father] – Zebedee was the husband of Salome (Mark 15:40), same as the mother of Zebedee’s children (Matt 27:56). Nothing more is known of Zebedee except that he was a fisherman.
MATT 4:22 – And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. {Similar to Mark 1:20 & Luke 5:11}
[left the ship and their father] – “with the hired servants” (Mark 1:20); they had a fishing business. “they forsook all” (Luke 5:11). They left home, family, and lands (Matt 19:27-30).
