Lesson 1—John the Fisherman
I would like to welcome everybody that came out here tonight; to a study which I am hoping will help us all to understand one of the New Testament’s major “characters” (if you will) a little bit better. Our study is going to dig a little bit into the life of the Apostle John, and hopefully, we will all see how practically beneficial digging into his life is for our own. This study will be spread out over 3 weeks, and each week will deal with John from a different facet. Tonight, we will look at “John the Fisherman,” and study the call of John to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Next week, we will deal with “John the ‘Son of Thunder,’” and speak of John’s sinful tendencies—even as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Finally, we will learn together of “John the ‘Beloved Disciple,’” and the transformation which took place as John encountered Jesus personally.
Tonight, we will look at “John the Fisherman.” We are going to see together that John was called from his “normal” life to be a disciple of Jesus. We will also see, this week as well as the next two weeks, that John’s encounter with Jesus was life-changing. For a look at John’s call to be Jesus’ disciple, let’s look at Matthew 4:18-22. Now, before we read, you’ll notice, and may remember, that this is actually where Jesus calls four of the disciples to follow Him. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were all called in this passage to be the disciples of Jesus. Luke 5 indicates that they were all partners in the fishing business, and so they were all likely somewhat close to each other at the time that Jesus called them.
Let’s look at the passage together now—it says, “While walking 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. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And 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.”[1]
Immediately, as I said a moment ago, we can see that John is not the only disciple called to follow Jesus at this time. Peter and Andrew were called by Christ, and then James was called by Christ along with John. Jesus is beginning to build his team of Apostles whom He will send out with His message of the Kingdom of Heaven and the forgiveness of sins. Apostles, according to Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, “are sent on a definite mission in which they act with full authority on behalf of the sender and are accountable to the sender.”[2] But, before He can send them out, He must train them and equip them to spread the message. So, He recruited disciples—some He called, and some followed Him without a “calling.” This is an instance where Jesus called some of His disciples.
For our study’s purposes, we are going to simply make note of the fact that Jesus called Simon, Andrew, and James when He called John to be a disciple, but we won’t dig any deeper than that into their calling by Jesus. Instead, our focus is going to be on John’s calling, and the circumstances surrounding his calling. The way that we are going to do this is by looking at three different roles in which we can see John in this passage. These three roles are the Family Man, the Fisherman, and the Follower.
Alright, for the first role of John as family man, I would like you to look at verse 21. Verse 21, again, says, “And 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”. It is noted that John was the brother of James and the son of Zebedee. John was found with his brother and his father when Jesus called him to follow Him into ministry. I believe that this says a lot about the relationship that John had with his father and brother. As we continue to follow the Gospel narratives, we notice that there are three disciples that are almost always with Jesus—Peter, James, and John. John and James also approached Jesus together to ask him things on more than one occasion. The brothers must have had a very close relationship. John also must have spent a lot of time in close quarters with his father and brother as a fisherman in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Zondervan’s Commentary notes, based on a boat found from around the time when Jesus was alive, that the boat was, “approximately 26.5 feet long, 7.5 feet wide, and 4.5 feet high, and equipped for both sailing and rowing. A crew of at least five was needed to handle the boat (four rowers and one rudder man), but it was able to carry as many as eight to sixteen).”[3] This was not a large ship, and so the men would have spent many hours out fishing together. Yet with all of this time that they spent together, John was not a “prodigal son”. He continued to work with his father as fishermen. In fact, John would probably be akin to the “older brother” in the parable of the prodigal son. John stayed at home with his brother and father rather than deserting them for a “more successful life.” Yet with all of the closeness John maintained with his family, John still needed to have a personal encounter with Jesus. John needed to encounter Jesus for himself despite the fact that he was not a “rebellious” son.
The second role in which we find John in this passage is that of a fisherman. Note, again, in verse 21, that John was found with his father and brother “mending their nets”. Zondervan’s Commentary notes, speaking of the nets used, “It is a compound net of three layers, five units each over a hundred feet long, used by at least two crews of boats throughout the night when the fish cannot see the entangling nets.”[4] This would explain very well why John and James would have had Andrew and Peter as “partners” in the fishing business. They would have needed the help in hauling in the nets of fish. When Jesus found James and John, they were “mending their nets”, most likely so that they would be prepared to go fishing again the next night. This was not a glamorous job, but Matthew Henry notes, “Diligence in an honest calling is pleasing to Christ, and no hindrance to a holy life. Moses was called from keeping sheep, and David from following the ewes, to eminent employments. Idle people lie more open to the temptations of Satan than to the calls of God.”[5] This is just what Christ called them to—a higher calling. Jesus called them—along with Andrew and Peter—to become not just fishers, but “fishers of men.” Jesus’ actual words when calling James and John are not recorded, but it is safe to assume that it was the same call that He gave to Andrew and Peter—“ Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus had a different type of “fishing” that He wanted John to do, and John would discover this throughout his time spent with Jesus.
This leads us to the third role in which we see John in this passage—as a follower. Verses 21b-22 says, “and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” Jesus called James and John to follow after Him, and they were willing to leave everything—even their father—to follow after Jesus. There must have been something about Jesus’ call that was irresistible to these fishermen. R.T. France notes, “By adding immediately and mentioning the abandonment of the boat and their father separately (cf. Mk. 1:20) Matthew emphasizes the extent and the readiness of their renunciation.”[6] Myron Augsburger notes that Jesus’ call was out of the ordinary for rabbis of His day, “Jesus called them, rather than waiting for them to come and apply to study with Him.”[7] Jesus called together His disciples, and John was more than willing to leave everything to follow after Jesus. Mark’s account of this passage says that John left his father “with the hired servants,” which may have indicated that they had a somewhat successful venture as fishermen. Regardless, John was willing to give up everything that he knew in order to follow after Christ as His disciple.
In this passage, we have seen that John was a family man and a fisherman whom Jesus called to be a follower and a “fisher of men.” How does this apply to us? Well, I think for one thing, it shows us that even the “good kids” need to have their own encounter with Jesus. John would probably been considered a “good kid” in his day, and yet he needed to experience Jesus’ ministry personally in order to be changed by it. In the same way, we can’t rely on our parents’ faith to make us followers of Christ. We must obey the call of Jesus to “Follow me” for ourselves. We can’t be content with the fact that we are “church kids” to make us followers of Jesus Christ. We need to pursue Jesus for ourselves every day! This is the message that I believe John would want us to hear from his life exhibited for us in this passage. Next week, we will see that John’s walk with Christ was not perfect—which will hopefully be an encouragement to each one of us.
[1] Matt. 4:18-22 (English Standard Version)
[2]Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001. pg. 85.
[3] Arnold, Clinton E. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002. pg. 31.
[4] Ibid
[5] Henry, Matthew. Commentary on the Whole Bible. e-Sword, 1706-1721. Matt. 4:18-22.
[6] France, R.T. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Matthew. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1985. pg. 104.
[7] Augsburger, Myron S. The Communicator's Commentary: Matthew. Waco: Word Books, 1982. pg. 55.
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