Through the Apostle Matthew, the Holy Spirit has introduced us to our Lord Jesus. We saw His genealogy and then to His mother and step-father in chapter 1. Then came His birth and some very early events in his life – described in chapter 2. Chapter 3 introduced us to John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin and forerunner. Chapter 4 began with Satan’s unsuccessful temptation of the Son of God and then the actual beginning of His earthly ministry. “From (the time of John’s imprisonment) Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.”
Matthew doesn’t describe every event related to be beginning of Christ’s ministry. He was not a biographer or historian. He was authorized by God to educate us in specific events, while other events were given to other men to describe and much was not given to us at all. When Matthew catches up to Christ again here in our text, our Lord has returned to Galilee.
Here is a question for you thinkers and theologians to consider: Ignoring all those years before His baptism – His years as a child and young person – Now that Christ has begun the ministry of building His first church, instructing His first disciples and through them teaching all the rest of us what it is to be a Christian – Did Christ Jesus ever do anything without a specific purpose – a divine purpose? Did He ever go to the library, not knowing what book He wanted to check out? (Of course, I’m being silly in my example, but I hope that you understand what I mean.) Did Christ ever go to the store, without knowing exactly what He was going to buy? Did He, in His somewhat limited omniscience, ever leave His house without knowing exactly who it was that He’d meet on the street? I don’t know the answer to these questions, so I’ll leave it up to you who are smarter than I am. But of this specific walk on this specific day, I don’t have any doubt that He knew exactly what He was doing and what was going to happen.
Christ was not bored, or restless, or confused when He chose to walk along the banks of the Sea that day. Without saying it was or wasn’t always the case, on this day Jesus went to fisherman’s wharf on purpose. He knew that Peter and his brother Andrew were fishermen by trade, and that the father of John and James was also a fisher. So He was not hoping to see these four men, he was expecting to see them. And it wasn’t just to say “hello” – it was with the purpose of calling them into the gospel ministry.
These five verses give us the opportunity to consider three kinds of relationships which some people have to the Lord Jesus. I admit to possibly stretching the point, but if it is not exactly the meaning of Matthew, I am convinced that the Lord will forgive me and use it. The three relationships that I have in mind are: brethren of Christ, disciples of Christ and fishers for Christ.
“Brethren.”
It may not have been Matthew’s intention to direct our hearts in this way, but have you ever noticed the little verbal quirk in verses 18 and 21? “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother… And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother… “ There is a single Greek word (“adelphos”) given to us twice in each of these verses. The double duplication seems a little redundant or excessive, unless there is a special purpose in it. That Peter and Andrew were sons of the same father and mother made them brothers. And the same was true of James and John – they were brethren to one another. But could the first use of “adelphos” in these verses be a declaration of an additional kind of brotherhood?
For the sake of argument – for the sake of point #1, let me add an expository comment to these verses. “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two Christian brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother… And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren – saints of God – James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother… “
The word “adelphos” is a very common New Testament word, and it is used is several ways. But one such way is in reference to those men whose faith was in the Lord Jesus Christ. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” “Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth.” “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” “Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.” I could multiply those references ten fold if you needed more examples to understand their meaning.
I am convinced that the four men whom Jesus went to meet that day were saints of God, Christians, brethren. And that isn’t merely a guess, because we have more information given to us in John 1. Please turn to John 1:36 – “Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
I will grant to you that there is no reference to John and James here in chapter 1, but I believe that is due to John’s reluctance to mention his own name in his record of Christ’s ministry. By extrapolation, I believe that down in Judah, Christ had called John and James as well as Andrew and Peter, Philip and Nathanael. I believe that each of them spent a short period time with Christ. And based on the record found in John 1, I believe that these men all believed the message of the Baptist and accepted the fact that Jesus was the Messiah In other words, I think that they had been born again – they were saints of God. But Jesus had not actually begun his ministry, and was not at that time calling disciples to himself, so these six men returned to John. And then when John was arrested by Herod, they returned to their homes – perhaps because they couldn’t immediately find Jesus. That day, when Jesus was walking along the beach or wharf or shore of the Sea of Galilee, it was with the purpose of calling these saints – these Christian brethren – to join Him in His ministry.
You may have noticed that I have been trying to address some of you differently in recent weeks. Every believer in Christ is in the family of God, and in a sense is a brother or sister to every other believer. God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity is the Father of this Heavenly family. Christ Jesus, the Second Person of the God Head is described in the Bible as our elder Brother. And all of us men who have been saved by the grace of God are Christian brethren.
You may have noticed that I have been trying over the last few months to address some of you differently. I have no problem addressing the men of this church as “brother so-and-so.” But Brother Terry Gaston pointed out that I have been being inconsistent in not calling you ladies “sister.” It has always been with the utmost respect that I called you “Mrs.,” but perhaps I should I be consistent. I hope that none of you will be offended if I call you “Sister” followed by either your first name or your married name. You ladies are just as much members of this heavenly family as the gentlemen.
These four men were Christian brethren as well as two pairs of brothers. And even though that is a great privilege – an important privilege – an eternal privilege. Even though it is a great privilege to be one of the brethren, the Lord – obviously – wants more of us.
Christ wants us all to be “disciples.”
Once again, I’m going to extrapolate a couple of the statements contained in these verses. If on the second day that Peter and Andrew returned from Judah and following John the Baptist they had gone fishing… If their little boat had been neglected for several months and unknown to its owners, it had become unseaworthy… If on the second day of the brothers’ return they were in the middle of the lake when a storm hit and their boat sank, those two men would have drowned redeemed – saved – Heaven bound. My heart is convinced that they had been given grace to repent and faith to believe on the Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Like children in Sunday School they had been taught about who this Jesus was. They had believed Him to be the Messiah whom many in Israel were expecting. They had also heard John’s message demanding repentance for personal sin, and they did repent. Their repentance and faith in Christ, though still somewhat immature, was God-given and God-blessed. Those men were children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, and if they had died before Jesus met them again in Galilee, their souls would have winged their flight into Abraham’s bosom – Paradise.
But to be saved “yet so as by fire” is not the ideal Christian life, and the Lord is not satisfied with that alone. Jesus went to the sea shore that day not to gather sea shells, but to call four mere saints to follow Him as disciples. Christ intended to build a church – beginning with these men. By the way, the word “church” is “ekklesia” in Greek – which literally means “a called out assembly.” And what the Lord Jesus did to John and James was “kaleo“ – He “called them.” I don’t believe Jesus has established His church quite yet, but He is assembling some of the ingredients. The Lord was going to use these four men in a very special way. And similarly, we may assume that since the Lord has not yet taken us to Glory – to Heaven – it means that He has some reason to leave us here on earth.
Here is my point – Christ wants, expects, calls, and even orders His “brothers” to follow Him and learn of Him. He is not interested in merely saving souls – saving you – with a design of taking you to Heaven when you finally agree to leave this world. It is the intention of the Lord that all of the “brethren” be “disciples” and “followers.” I won’t pretend that the word “follow” in this scripture is the Greek word “mathetes” (math-ay-tes’) – “learner, pupil, disciple,” but I believe that is what following Christ is all about.
The Lord doesn’t want a bunch of people sitting on the back row of His churches, enjoying all the bounties of life under God’s grace, but wasting that substance with riotous living until they die. The Lord isn’t interested in merely saving us and then eventually taking us to Heaven to spend eternity with Him – from that point on. He is not a silly biologist who catches baby birds, bands their legs and puts radio collars on them so that he’ll know where their carcasses are when the coyote catches up with them. Those people may actually be fooling themselves into thinking that they are “brethren,” when they are actually reprobates.
God wants us to follow Christ and to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” He wants us to know more about Him than we do about our hobbies, our sports and our politics. He wants us to follow him more closely than we do what is happening in the news, the World Series or the National Republican Presidential Race. I believe that He wants us to study and have a basic understanding of the Book of Matthew and the rest of the Bible. I believe that He wants us to learn about Heaven and to set our affection on that place. The best way to accomplish this is to follow Christ closely – not from afar. I believe that we are commanded to constantly “look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”
In the mind of Christ, it was not enough that John and Peter were brethren – He wanted them to be disciples. And I am convinced that Christ wants the same from us. But there is something more….
Christ wants “fishers.”
I have plans to deal with this again next week – whether more fully and accurately is yet to be determined. So that I won’t be repeating myself later, I won’t say much about this point this evening. But obviously, Jesus was pointing out a parallel between fishing for perch and fishing for people. Christ was looking for brethren and disciples who would be willing to look for other brethren and disciples. He was wanting disciples who would be willing to toss out the net of the gospel, or the seine of Christian doctrine with the intention of pulling other people back to Christ. As I say, I’d like to save this theme until next week.
But like each of the first two points tonight, I’d like to make an extension and inference. Every believer could be and should be a fisher, but if we extend that thought to Christian leader, Christ is not calling all His brethren or even all of His disciples. Ideally all the “brethren” ought to be “disciples” of Christ – close adherents and followers. The number of the one ought to be the same number for the other. But that number is not the same when we compare disciples to pastors, missionaries and even deacons.
There are a great many things which help the Bible believer to know that we are living in the last days. The signs of the times are all around us, and even though I can’t say with absolute assurance that the Lord will return for us tonight, I would not be surprised or disappointed if He did. Politics indicates the Lord’s soon return, as do many things in nature. The openness and pervasiveness of what used to be hidden sin tells us that God will soon judge the world. There are a multitude of things which remind us that we are not long for this world. But one of the most glaring is the growing rarity of God’s churches in the world and men to lead them.
Where there may be many “brethren” and quite a few “disciples,” there are almost no young pastors and other “fishers of men.” Where are you going to find another pastor to replace me when I am gone? I’m not trying to boast or to unjustly puff up my importance; I’m asking a simple, logical question – Where would you look for someone who believes as you do – as this church does? You may think that you’d look back East – to Kentucky, Tennessee or the deep South. But let me remind you that even Bryan Station Baptist Church, a church steeped in history, resources and influence, had to borrow their new pastor from another of the Lord’s ministries. Where are the young men – the newly saved Andrews, Peters and Johns – today?
Is the lack of young fishers due to the days in which we are living – the last days? Or is it that few of the brethren are listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit as He walks upon the shore and calls them to become disciples and then fishers? To be a fisher of men may not be the most glorious, financially rewarding or prestigious of all “jobs.” But it is rewarding beyond most people’s understanding; it has its honors; and “henceforth there is laid up for (such a man) a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give (him) at that day.” I am convinced that there are good, qualified, capable young “brethren,” whom the Lord would graciously use for His glory, as He did Peter, Paul and John, but they are wasting their lives as Demas did in their love for this short-lived, short-term world.
These verses remind us that there are several special relationships that we can have with Christ. Three which are mentioned here are – simple “brethren,” more important “followers” and critically important “fishers.” When the Lord calls, it is to everyone’s benefit to respond. Sadly, not everyone who is called is listening.