Kingdom: Calling
“Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”” Matthew 4:19
The end of Matthew 4 sees Jesus call His first disciples. He is on the shore of the Sea of Galilee when He calls two fishermen – Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, and He issues them with a radical calling. He calls them to leave everything and follow Him. With just thirteen simple words Peter and Andrew’s lives are turned upside down.
They were fishermen from Galilee, which meant they were working class citizens. They weren’t the well educated types who received lessons from the Rabbis. They weren’t tipped for greatness. They didn’t have a healthy bank account. In fact, Luke reveals to us in his gospel they weren’t even that great at fishing – they had fished all night and not caught a think before Jesus turned up to call them (Luke 5:5-7).
Fishermen weren’t the people you would pick if you were picking a team to advance a new kingdom. Especially not fishermen who couldn’t even catch fish. Common wisdom would have told you that the people to choose to for building the Kingdom of God on earth would be the high flying city religious scholars, not a bunch of teenage working class fishers. But that is the way of the Kingdom. God delights in using those the world overlooks. He picks those no-one else would so that it is clear that what is accomplished is accomplished by His power at work in us, not our own skills or abilities.
The same call that Jesus made to those first disciples is the call He gives to all of us who would be His disciples and seek to be a part of the Kingdom advancement project He began with that invitation to Peter and Andrew. We have to follow their example and “drop our nets” – leaving all that holds us back behind and committing fully to living to fish for people. No turning back. We are to be disciples who make disciples. That is how the Kingdom grows.
To Ponder:
- Do you believe this is a call Jesus has made to you, or is it just for other people?
- What nets do we need to drop in order to fully follow Jesus?
- What people do we overlook that God could use for Kingdom advancement?
Core verse
“Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.” 1 Corinthians 1:27
