And going on thence a little, he saw James the [son] of Zebedee, and John his brother, and these [were] in the ship repairing the trawl-nets;
The Lord has just called Simon and Andrew from their nets. He walks a little further along the shore and finds two more brothers at work in a boat. The scene looks ordinary. Yet commentators find in it a picture of the men He chooses, and a hint of the work He gives them.
Scripture says little about Zebedee, the father in the boat. One writer gathers up that little:
He worked as a fisherman on the lake of Galilee... He was a man of some means, since he had hired servants under him (Mark 1:20). Even so, he took part in the fishing himself. The Lord walked on the shore of the lake and spoke the words no one could resist. Those words made his two sons give up their ordinary trade. Zebedee was in the boat with them, and they were all busy mending their nets. The words of Christ were few and simple, and they carried no promise of earthly reward. Yet they were enough.
The Lord passed by the religious leaders and chose working men. He found them busy at their trade.
We then learn the grace of the Lord that identifies others with Himself in service. He passes by the official priests, the learned scribes, and the religious Pharisees, and takes up humble fishermen... Having no riches and no human learning does not stop a man from being a companion of the Lord, or from serving Him. Still, however humble the daily work of those the Lord takes into His service, they are not out of work. These simple men were pursuing their occupation of fishermen, when the Lord called them to become fishers of men. The Lord's service is not for people who have nothing else to do.
The word behind "mending" is katartizo. It appears again in the New Testament, with a spiritual sense:
We find the word in Galatians 6:1. Believers who are spiritual are told to restore, in a spirit of gentleness, a man who is caught in some offence. They are to bring him back into fellowship with God, and into happy working with the saints. I take this to be the force of the word (katartizo) used there. It is a word applied to mending nets (Matt. 4:21). The broken ends are joined and restored to their proper place and function in the whole.
One writer reads the mending as a hint about the service these two brothers were called into:
The Lord went a little further and called James and John while they were in the boat mending (or "restoring") their nets. This also points to the work He called them into. Nets must be kept in good repair if they are to be useful in catching fish. Does this not speak of pastoral work, of restoring souls so that they might continue to be useful in the Lord's work? They left their father, because natural ties must give place to the Lord's authority. Yet they did not leave him without help, for there were servants in the boat as well. When the Lord calls, He does not ignore the proper needs of a person's relatives.
The Gospels show four things done with nets. One writer, commenting on a parable in which a net is drawn in, sets them in order for anyone who carries the gospel:
Both here and in Mark 1:16, we read of them casting a net; in Mark 1:19, we read they were mending their nets; in Luke 5:2 we read they were washing their nets; and in this parable they drew the net. Regarding this as a picture of the going out of the gospel, I would put mending first; be sure the gospel you preach is capable of catching men for Christ. Then in regard to the washing, keep the gospel clean from worldly sayings and worldly influences. Further, no matter how good a net may be or how clean, if it is not cast we cannot hope to catch men.
The account gives no background and no credentials for these two men. One writer explains why:
God does not choose His workers because they are uniquely fit in themselves. He chooses them because He sees material that He can make fit for His purpose... We have only this: the Lord walking by the sea; the fishermen at their work; His call, holding out no attractive prospects; their immediate response. Such simplicity was a deathblow to the pride of the Jew... poor and simple as they were, we can only glory in the Lord (1 Cor. 1:26-31).
- Mending. The word means restoring: broken ends joined and put back to their proper use. Scripture uses the same word for restoring a believer who has fallen.
- Mending first. A net must be sound before anyone washes, casts or draws it. Make sure the gospel you carry can catch men.
- Mending hands. The Lord found James and John repairing nets. Repair work — pastoral care, restoring souls — marked the service He called them into.
- Mending men. He passed by priests, scribes and Pharisees and took up fishermen. A man needs no riches or learning — only material the Lord can make fit.
- Mending while working. They were busy at their trade when the call came; His service is not for those with nothing else to do.
and straightway he called them; and leaving their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, they went away after him.
Mark gives only the bare facts: a boat, a father, hired men, and two sons who walk away from it all at a word. Those few details show what the brothers gave up, and how much weight the voice that called them carried.
The hired workers tell us what kind of household James and John came from. They also tell us something about their father, who let his sons go without protest.
Zebedee was a man of some means, since he had hired servants working under him (Mark 1:20). Even so, he did the fishing work himself... Zebedee seems to have been quite content that they obeyed the call of Christ at once. We read no word of complaint or protest from him. He kept his job. He was not called to leave it as they were. Meanwhile his two sons began the career that will lead them to sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
A business with paid staff also corrects a common picture of these men. Their opponents later judged them by the schooling they had not had.
[Peter] and his brother were partners with Zebedee and his sons in what looks like a large fishing business. At any rate, they had "hired servants" (Mark 1:20). So we must not take Acts 4:13 to mean that these men were completely uneducated. "Unlearned and ignorant" would simply mean they had not had the professional training that their religious opponents had.
The Lord's choice of them was deliberate. He walked past the religious leaders of the day.
He passes by the official priests, the learned scribes, and the religious Pharisees, and takes up humble fishermen... Having no riches and no human learning is no barrier to being a companion of the Lord, or to being useful in His service. Still, however humble their job, the people the Lord takes into His service are not out of work. These simple men were busy at their trade as fishermen when the Lord called them to become fishers of men. His service is not for people who have nothing else to do.
Of everything named in the verse, the father is the hardest to leave. One writer sets the call to serve apart from simply believing, then weighs it against every other claim.
It is one thing for Christ to reveal Himself to a soul; it is another to make that soul a fisher of men... They had already believed in Him, and had everlasting life. But to make them the companions of His own service, the Lord must call them away. They have a father: what should they do? It makes no difference. The call of Christ outranks every other claim.
Yet the hired men stayed in the boat with him, and that changes how this leaving looks.
They left their father, for natural relationships must give place to the Lord's authority. Still, they did not leave him alone, without help, for there were also servants in the boat. When the Lord calls, He does not ignore the proper needs of one's relatives.
They did not summon the resolve out of themselves. The same grace that called them supplied what obedience cost.
The grace which called them gave them power to leave earthly things and to come after Him. They left behind boats and nets, their trade as fishermen, and even their father, Zebedee... Note the word "straightway" in verses 17 and 20.
(Older translations read "straightway" where the ESV has "immediately".)
What happened on that shore is not the rule for everyone who believes.
We may not be called to leave everything, as the disciples were when the Lord was here on earth. But we can serve Him only as He becomes, in spirit, the blessed Object before the soul. Not all are called to give up their daily work. That, in fact, is the path of only a few. Most of God's people are clearly told to stay in their ordinary work (1 Cor. 7:20). Still, the Lord has some service for everyone.
On the day it happened, this looked like two men throwing away a safe living. Seen from the end, the trade looks different.
Founders of world-empires there have been; great as the world counts greatness. But where are Egypt, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and their founders? But the names of Simon and Andrew, of James and John, are cut into the rock foundations of that church, and the gates of hell will never overcome it... we can see twelve names only (Rev. 21:14). They include these four — names once scratched on a couple of fishing boats on the Galilean lake to show who owned them.
- Boat — the hired servants show a real business. What James and John left had real value.
- Call — the Lord passed by priests, scribes and Pharisees and took working men. No lack of money or schooling shuts anyone out of His service.
- Cost — even a father's claim gives way to Christ's call. They went at once, because the grace that called also gave the power to go.
- Care — leaving Zebedee was not deserting him. The servants stayed, and the Lord does not ignore the needs of a servant's family.
- Crown — most of God's people are told to keep their daily job. Yet these four, who left the nets, have their names in foundations that outlast every empire.