Calling the disciples. Matthew 4:12-20.

 I have been asked questions like, where will the Battle of Armageddon occur, how many battles Israel will fight during these last seven years, or how much time will there be between the rapture and God’s wrath being unleashed on the earth?

I have very few clear answers on things that the Bible is NOT clear on. As I mentioned in the last post, my understanding has gaps, and most of those gaps came from the things I was taught and how those teachers taught.

In a way, I am your teacher, but all I can legitimately do is show you what the scriptures say while directing you to scripture to figure it out for yourselves.

The Chronological Bible adds this commentary.

“According to the Synoptics, Jesus did not begin His ministry until John (the baptizer) completed his. Matthew’s and Mark’s gospels place Jesus ministry in Galilee after the arrest of John the Baptist.”

Suppose you are new to Bible Study and do not know what the word Synoptics means. According to Webster’s dictionary: “SYNOPTIC or SYNOPTICAL means a view of the whole, or of the principal parts of a thing; as a synoptic table.”

So we are looking at the whole gospel to build an adequate picture.

With the 40+ days of temptation completed, has Jesus started His ministry yet?

The answer is not exactly.

How do I know that?

After the testing, Jesus began showing up as John continued to baptize.

"It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
John 1:27-29 NASB

Again Jesus shows Himself to John the Baptist.

"I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God." Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"
John 1:34-36 NASB

John 1:34-36 is where we see Andrew and “that other disciple” whom we accept as John, the disciple. These two followed Jesus. How extensively they followed, we do not know.

“The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.” John 1:37 NASB

If we can make a logical presumption, they did not fully follow Jesus. We know this because we will shortly see that they returned to fishing with John’s arrest. We are told Andrew went and found Simon and brought him to Jesus.

“One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He *found first his own brother Simon and *said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).”
John 1:40-42 NASB

Before we show Jesus moving on, I need to show you something.

“The next day, He purposed to go into Galilee, and He *found Philip. And Jesus *said to him, "Follow Me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip *found Nathanael and *said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael said to him, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip *said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him and *said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael *said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel." Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these." And He *said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
John 1:43-51 NASB

What happened when Jesus said, “The next day He purposed to go into Galilee.”?

He purposed to go to Galilee. This is the same word as determined.

“On the next day, he was determined to go out into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
John 1:43-45 WEBA)

The word determined demonstrates a strong motivation. Being prematurely subjected to death could have been a motivator. 

The Amplified Bible used the words desired and decided to convey His motive to go to Galilee, while the American Standard Version tells us that He was minded to go forth into Galilee. The word minded has a country feel to it, and I do not expect Jesus to be in any hurry like the Amplified and many others imply. Notice that John's account doesn't explain the reason for the rapid migration to Galilee, where He found Philip, but Matthew's does.

When did John the Baptizer see these things he is now testifying about?

At the baptism and, at this point, we could be several days beyond the time of testing.

So when the disciple John, speaking about John the Baptizer, begins telling us about challenges from the Pharisees to the Baptizer, John tells us that Jesus began to pop into the scene where the Baptizer is. You see one of those instances in John 1:34-35.

For those who must have evidence,

“Now when Jesus heard that John (the baptizer) was delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee.”
Matthew 4:12 WEBA)

Since you have a grasp of Biblical things, what would be the thing that would bring John the Baptizer's mission to an end?

Bluntly, his arrest and most certainly his death, but if you have been paying attention, you know there is a time between the Baptizer’s arrest and his head being cut off.

Did He go directly to Galilee?

The answer is no, and Matthew, at least, took Him to Nazareth first.

Why Nazareth?

That was where His mother was.

Why would I suspect that His mother played a role in His travel plans?

“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, "They have no wine." And Jesus *said to her, "Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come."”
John 2:1-4 NASB

How did Jesus know to be here, joining His mother at this wedding?

She brought Him up to speed, told Him who they were, and insisted that He be there. She was a mother, and these were friends.

This interaction with Mary throws another wrench into my understanding. Since we do not see Jesus summoning disciples until He reaches Capernaum, fishing, what are they doing here at this wedding, where Mary has invited them to come? 

This piece of information, especially since much of it came out of (the disciple) John’s mouth, then he would know best if their coming to the place where Jesus had been staying and then spent what appears to be an excess of a day with Him, constituted a commitment on their part. Consider that we were made aware that Simon joined them, and Philip, who appeared out of nowhere, went and convinced Nathanael to come and join.

How many disciples could have potentially been with Jesus at this wedding?

Five

When Mary learns that they have run out of wine, she brings the problem to Jesus. 

Now why would she do that?

Because she knew what He was capable of doing. His response to her answers our question about whether Jesus had started His ministry or not, "what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” So, Jesus tells us He has not officially started. Now, I do believe that His start is only moments later, but that is another story.

How does one get from Nazareth to Capernaum?

You come real close to Galilee.

“Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,” Mark 1:14 NKJV)

Mark leaves out the family visit in Nazareth but adds something that few of us associate with the wedding that John details, He preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. Considering the amazing impact He made with the wine and the fact that people will talk, He may have had few options but to preach.

When we last saw Jesus in the previous post, He was leaving Nazareth and heading to Capernaum.

What did Matthew tell us?

“And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES: THE PEOPLE WHO SAT IN DARKNESS HAVE SEEN A GREAT LIGHT, AND UPON THOSE WHO SAT IN THE REGION AND SHADOW OF DEATH LIGHT HAS DAWNED." From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."”
Matthew 4:13-17 NKJV)

A chronological point of view would have Jesus getting,

• Being baptized in the Holy Spirit – associated with the baptism by John in the Jordan.

  The Holy Spirit did fall upon Him, filling Him with the Holy Spirit and staying, but that did not throw Him into His ministry.

• The temptation in the wilderness by Satan.

  This lasted forty days plus a little bit, but the testing still needs to be finished.

• After the forty days, an overview from the synoptic gospels has Jesus passing by John the Baptist at least two more days.

  Is it during this time that Andrew and that other disciple paid attention to Jesus and, for at least a day, followed Him. Some might think this would be the thing that initiates Jesus being launched into His ministry, but it is only part of the fuel. Becoming empowered by the Holy Spirit could do it for me, but where is the action that you might associate with His ministry? So merely being baptized in the Holy Spirit is not the launch pad.

• What if it is the imprisonment of John that moved Him forward?

  Then realize that it is a relatively short time after Jesus' entrance into the ministry that this happens.

Though Andrew and (John, the disciple) followed Jesus and spent the day with Him after the temptation of Jesus, we still see Jesus calling them when He finds them further North in Capernaum.

“And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him.”
Matthew 4:18-20 NKJV)

Considering the two places that we see John baptizing, one being South of Jerusalem, Matthew’s account suddenly puts the “new” recruits in the Northern regions of Lake Galilee near Capernaum. This is a stretch of the imagination.

If you were a new Christian and had asked where you should start reading in this new Bible someone just gave you, and they told you to start reading in Matthew; at this point, what could you, with confidence, say that you know?

Wow, there is a lot to know.

• Without someone telling you that the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John are Jewish-oriented books, what would you do with the genealogical information?

• Did you grasp that the Jewish leaders refused to accept scriptural evidence (Micah 5:2) that Jesus Christ had been born in Bethlehem?

• Were you, like Herod, alarmed that the Magi (Wise men), because of a star, came to Bethlehem to see the Messiah?

  Now you should be asking why such a powerful man was alarmed? 

  There were several reasons: One is that the Magi, who were many in number and included a relatively large entourage, were known to be kingdom changers. Herod may have feared this large group that would have been well-armed. The other reason is that Herod lived in fear of an overthrow and killed off several family members for these very reasons (Much of this information is rejected by many as it is extra-biblical. (You have no idea how many things make up our “doctrines,” which are all extra-biblical.)

  The chief priests and elders, having been ordered to stand before Herod because of the presence of these Magi, testified to their knowledge of this fact. In response to what the Magi told him, Herod killed all boys aged two and younger in that region.

• Did you pick up on the idea that the lowly, disrespected “temple” shepherds had the angels alert them so that they were aware that the Messiah had been born and those shepherds fell before Him in worship?

• Did you hear enough before you started reading to understand that there would be twelve inner circle disciples that followed Jesus?

• Andrew and quite probably John (the disciple) and Simon (Peter) were among the first to join Jesus, and they were fishermen. 

• We were made aware that Andrew told Simon (Peter) that he was sure Yahshua was the Messiah that all of Israel had been looking for. This information was convincing enough to get Simon on his feet and see for himself. 

If you were to ask me why it is necessary to know whether Jesus began to gather disciples near Jerusalem or Capernaum 40 miles North, I would tell you that, more and more, people with a “religious” background will try to challenge the Bible you hold fast too.

“And a person's (this is you) enemies will be those of his own household (How do I define what my household is?).”
Matthew 10:36 ESV Emphasis mine.

Household is the Greek word oikiakos. It is the Strong’s number G3615, pronounced oy-kee-ak-os’. The meanings are familiar, that is, (as noun) relatives: - they (them) of (his own) household.

It is easy to see that familiar people can easily be seen as the person seated next to you in church.

Why would I identify these hostile people as religious, as though they sit by me in church?

Because most of those who have challenged me have been people, I met in church. If you identify these hostile people as strangers on the street, then know that the “law of God” is written upon their hearts, and they have chosen to ignore and not identify with Jesus Christ. Some of the reasons behind that decision can be their own self-will or it's demonic.

Just writing this prompts a thought.

I often assume that you, having fallen in love with Jesus, consume His Words and, therefore, are familiar with many of the things I talk about. Suppose you have been put in a situation where someone else has taught you improperly or incorrectly. In that case, you, too, like myself, have holes in your understanding of Jesus and the events surrounding His imminent return for His church. We must close those gaps as best we can to stand in the face of senseless arguments.

What did Jesus mean when He said this?

“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

“And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him.”
Matthew 4:18-20 NKJV

Follow Me is two Greek words that work in unison. The first is Strong's number G1205. It is the word deute. It is pronounced dyoo'-teh and means to come hither!. The secondary word, from Strong's G3694, is the Greek word - opisō follow.

So I can see this as Come here and follow!

Fishers is merely a relational term that these men readily understood. As you have purposefully extracted fish from this sea, so shall you draw people to Me – the giver of life.

How did they react to what Jesus said?

“Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.”
Matthew 4:20 TLV

If you had watched the second season of the Chosen series, you would have seen the miracle in which Peter and Andrew, during the Sabbath, tried all night to catch fish in hopes of paying their tax debt. They caught nothing.

Jesus, who was conveniently standing there on the shore watching, instructs the two to throw their nets over on the other side of the boat. This following of directions brought in enough fish to potentially:

• break the nets,

• sink the boat,

• pay their extensive tax debt;

• give several of these guys enough money to take care of their families for several months;

• And, according to The Chosen, it gave Zebedee, the owner of the boats, a retirement. Note, the Bible says very little about Zebedee after this mention in Matthew 4:21-22.

 I enjoyed The Chosen immensely, but I am always aware that it is a creation that takes considerable liberties to hold a movie and television audience. If you try to base your chronological interpretation on the theatrical version given to us by The Chosen, you would again have massive holes in your understanding. An example shows Simon, under threat of imprisonment, becoming more desperate. That seems odd since his initial fishing trip on The Chosen was done on the Sabbath and was against the Torah for a Jew. Frustrated, he and Andrew are headed back to shore when Jesus calls out to throw their nets on the other side of the boat. Why would they respond to a stranger like that unless they had met sometime earlier? The catch was so large that the nets would break, and the boat would sink. Peter called out for help, and part of the crowd that came to help included Zebedee; however, we were only made aware of his presence once this scenario played out.

Only minutes later, after Jesus calls Andrew and Simon, we see this.

“Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”
Matthew 4:21-22 NASB

This is John, initially John the Baptizer's disciple and then a follower of Jesus.

As I explained in the previous post, John, possibly because of how close he was to Jesus, tended not to mention his own name. Notably, this logic falters as you realize that Matthew seems to speak with hesitancy about John's role with John the Baptizer. I say this because we saw Matthew speak of another disciple there with Andrew when Jesus came to be baptized. The assumption is that this other disciple was John, the brother of James.

An important example of this comes from John's recollection of an event. In this setting, Jesus speaks about the one who would betray Him. Peter induced John to ask who Jesus was talking about. Remember that this is John writing about a moment in which he played an important role.

"When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit and testified and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me." The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking. There was reclining on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. So Simon Peter *gestured to him and *said to him, "Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking." He, leaning back thus on Jesus' bosom, *said to Him, "Lord, who is it?"
John 13:21-25 NASB

I need to stop here because I have filled in quite a few of the cracks in my understanding, but I still have gaps, and we will try to fix those as we proceed. 

The writers of the Chronological Bible said this about Jesus’ Baptism and Temptation. (Some we obviously know.) “Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee to be baptized by John the Baptist. John 3:23 tells us that John had been baptizing near Aenon and Salim, and yet the exact location of Jesus' baptism is uncertain. Immediately after His baptism, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness of Judea, (which is) below Jericho.” 

The Chronological Bible also tells us, “The place where the Baptist had been baptizing disciples is reported in John 1:28 as Bethabara of Judea in some Greek manuscripts and as Bethany of Perea in others. Neither place can be located with certainty. Many of Jesus' earliest followers, however, were from areas farther north surrounding the Sea of Galilee, such as Bethsaida.”

What is to say that the Baptist did not move North, and that is where Jesus found him upon His return from the temptation? Nothing would prevent him from doing that, and it makes sense because Andrew ran off to tell Simon, and he came back immediately. The NASB entitles the next section, “Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds.” That tells me that much of what we have seen in Matthew’s gospel, after Jesus’ baptism, lends itself to His gathering of disciples.