In the Life of Christ
“Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” —Matthew 4:19–20
When Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee and called Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John, He did not begin by examining their qualifications. He did not ask for educational credentials, theological experience, or evidence that they possessed leadership potential. He simply stepped into the ordinary setting of their lives and said, “Follow Me.” Matthew presents these men as fishermen working with nets, boats, and family businesses—not as spiritual elites waiting for an important assignment.
That is where the grace of discipleship begins. Jesus takes the initiative.
In the first-century Jewish world, a hopeful student commonly sought a rabbi under whom he wished to study. In this scene, however, the Rabbi seeks the students. Jesus sees them, approaches them, and calls them. Later, He tells His disciples, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit” (John 15:16). The call begins not with their ambition but with His grace.
That is encouraging because most of us know how unprepared we really are. We see our inconsistencies, limited knowledge, recurring fears, and unfinished character. We may wonder why Christ would entrust anything meaningful to people like us. Yet the disciples themselves were living demonstrations that Jesus does not wait until people are finished before calling them. He calls them so that He may begin forming them.
The Greek expression translated “Follow Me,” deute opisō mou, carries the sense of coming behind someone and placing oneself under that person’s direction. Jesus was not merely inviting these fishermen to walk along the shoreline with Him. He was asking them to rearrange their lives around His presence, teaching, mission, and authority.
Then Jesus added an essential promise: “I will make you fishers of men.” He did not say, “Follow Me after you have remade yourself.” He said, in effect, “Follow Me, and I will do the making.”
Matthew Henry observed that those who would serve Christ “must first learn Christ, and learn of him.” He also emphasized, “It is Jesus Christ that makes them so.” The disciples’ usefulness would not arise from natural talent alone. Christ Himself would qualify, shape, correct, strengthen, and send them.
That distinction matters in our Christian walk. We often place so much emphasis on what we should accomplish for Jesus that we overlook what Jesus intends to accomplish within us. Peter could not yet preach at Pentecost when he left his nets. John was not yet prepared to write about the love of God. James was not ready to drink the cup of suffering that discipleship would eventually place before him. Nevertheless, Jesus saw not only who they were beside the sea but who they could become through continued fellowship with Him.
Following Christ is demanding, but it is never meant to become a desperate attempt to earn His approval. Christian obedience grows out of joyful dependence upon grace. We surrender our nets because He has called us, but we depend upon His power because only He can make us fruitful.
Jesus explained this dependence through the image of the vine and branches: “Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in Me” (John 15:4). A branch does not produce grapes by straining harder. It bears fruit because it remains connected to the source of life.
R. C. Sproul expressed the relationship between grace and fruitfulness clearly: “We are justified by faith apart from works, [but] justified by faith unto works.” Our works do not create our relationship with Christ. They grow from that relationship.
The Greek word translated “remain” or “abide” is menō. It means to stay, continue, dwell, or remain connected. Abiding in Christ is not passive inactivity. It is a continuing life of trust, prayer, obedience, Scripture, repentance, worship, and dependence. We keep returning to Jesus because every lasting work of discipleship flows from Him. Ligonier’s commentary notes that believers abide in Christ as they trust His gospel promises and obey His commands.
This changes how we view weakness. Weakness does not necessarily disqualify us; it can become the place where reliance upon Christ begins. The fishermen were not chosen because they already possessed everything the mission required. They were chosen by the One who possessed everything they lacked.
Peter’s impulsiveness did not prevent Jesus from making him a preacher. John’s early desire to call down fire did not prevent Jesus from teaching him love. Thomas’s doubts did not prevent Jesus from making him a witness to the resurrection. Their histories remind us that Christ’s call includes Christ’s commitment to continue His transforming work.
We should therefore ask ourselves a different question. Instead of continually asking, “Am I capable enough for Jesus to use me?” we should ask, “Am I remaining close enough to Jesus for Him to shape me?”
Christ still enters ordinary places. He calls people in workshops, classrooms, kitchens, offices, hospital rooms, patrol cars, churches, and quiet homes. He does not merely call pastors or missionaries to participate in His mission. Every disciple is called to make Christ known through faithful speech, compassionate service, consistent character, prayerful witness, and love.
The encouraging truth is that the One who calls us also makes us. We bring Him our imperfect lives, and He patiently forms them into instruments of grace. We bring Him our limited understanding, and He teaches us. We bring Him our fear, and He strengthens us. We bring Him our ordinary days, and He fills them with kingdom purpose.
The Christian life is not the story of exceptionally qualified people accomplishing great things for God. It is the story of graciously chosen people remaining near Jesus while He accomplishes His work in and through them.
Further study: Matthew Henry’s commentary on Matthew 4:18–22 offers additional reflection on Christ’s call to the first disciples and His promise to prepare them for service.
FEEL FREE TO COMMENT, SUBSCRIBE OR POST SO OTHERS MAY KNOW