Recruit First Disciples

Here, we read the four Evangelists’ accounts of how Jesus recruited his first disciples.

In the nearly identical first two versions of Matthew and Mark, the four fishermen appear to be naively docile; therefore, Jesus’s task is a ridiculously easy.

In the two following versions of Luke and John, Jesus appears to have sweated a bit, being obliged to exhibit his impressive fishing skills to entice (or maybe bribe) his first followers.

In the final passage, we read John contradicting all the above reports, including his own. He leads us to believe that neither the naivete of the time’s laymen nor miraculous fishing techniques could prove sufficient reasons for Jesus to start growing his following. But he instead needed to resort to the aid of an already well-established prophet of the time to do so.

Matthew 4:18-22

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.