Jesus Picked Who?
Matthew 4:18-20 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. (19) And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. (20) And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
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There is a gospel hymn that we often sing: “Why Did My Savior Come to Earth”. The answer to that is found in the first chapter of the New Testament.
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Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
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The mission of Jesus was to save his people, and for that matter, all people from their sins. The mission was fairly straightforward. The plan, however, was much more complicated. It would include Jesus teaching and preaching for 3 years, dying on the cross to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins, and ultimately establishing an organization that would carry on his mission. In our text today, we see the beginning of Jesus putting together the core group that would carry on after is death, burial and resurrection.
1. Jesus’ Choice in Followers:
The concept of establishing the church that would carry on after Jesus left this earth, was not an afterthought or contingency plan because his original plan fell through. Instead, it was planned from the foundations of the world (Matt. 25:34).
So the ultimate question is: If you had 6,000 years to plan the most important organization in the history of mankind, one that had the most vital eternal consequences for all of mankind hanging in the balance, who would you choose to carry on the mission? The rich and well connected? Lawyers? Doctors? Professors? Business owners? Sales Specialists? If it were me, I would search the world over to find the very best in the world in various disciplines to work together to accomplish this task.
That is not the direction Jesus went. Jesus stayed in his tiny corner of the world and found people from that area. Furthermore, he did not even try to find the “Best”. The first two men that Jesus recruited were Peter and his brother Andrew. They were fisherman. During this time period, fishermen were not the top of the professional pecking order. Most likely they lived “paycheck to paycheck” and were uneducated; maybe even illiterate.
While we do not know the professions of most of the other apostles, we do know that one of them was a Tax Collector. Tax Collectors were the considered to be traitors because they worked on behalf of the Roman government to tax the Israelites. So based on the professions we do know, we have fishermen and tax collectors. No leaders! None proven successful. No professionals! None with influence. None with built in credibility. Just ordinary people. People like you and me. And they changed the world. That gives us hope that we can do it again!
2. Jesus’ Request:
Jesus’ request was very simple. Follow me and I will turn your life upside down. Sorry, that is not the words that he used but in reality, that is the outcome. And to some degree, I think they understood that.
That is still Jesus request for each of us. “Follow Me”! By following him requires that we no longer direct ourselves. By following him we no longer follow the world. By following him properly, it will likely turn our lives upside down. But the end result will be worth it.
So why would they do such a thing? Why would anyone do such a thing? Simply, because they believed in Jesus! Jesus has a lot to offer that the world cannot! If you trust in him, he will improve your life and change your eternal destiny.
Secondly, he told them they would become “Fishers of Men”. They were not currently in the people business. You might even say they had isolated themselves from most people. Certainly by being fisherman, they had not cornered the market on being influencial or persuasive orators. They were not experts on the behaviors of people. We do not need this kind of training either. All we need is a desire to help people and a willingness to SHARE the message of Jesus to others.
3. Peter and Andrew’s Reaction:
I love their reaction. They didn’t tell Jesus they would go home and think about it. They didn’t ask for a brochure to study more on his movement. They dropped their nets and followed him. There was something about Jesus, that they were willing to turn their lives over to him for.
The good news is that we do not need to drop our jobs and abandon all of our lives in order to follow Jesus. Sure over time, we may find things that we need to leave in the past, but we need to be willing to sacrifice all for him!
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Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
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I am thankful that Jesus did not rely on experts to carry out his mission. I am thankful that ordinary people with ordinary skills can be transformed into ‘Fishers of Men’. The first step is that we must be willing to Follow Jesus!
Reflecting the SON,
Dennis Hogan
Questions, comments or further explanation? Contact me at: dennis.hogan@icloud.com
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