And walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers;
Bu ayetin yorumu
I have enough material from Kelly, Darby, Hole, and Mawson. Writing the commentary now.
The Call of the First Disciples
"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. And He saith unto them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:18-19)
This was not the Lord's first meeting with these men. As F. B. Hole observes, the call at the seashore presupposes an earlier acquaintance recorded by John:
F. B. Hole"This being so, the calling of Peter, Andrew, James and John was not the beginning of their acquaintance with Him. That came earlier, and is recorded in John 1. Evidently also there were times when they or other disciples went about with Him before they were definitely called to leave their secular occupations and give all their time to Him. Following Him, He would make these fishermen to be fishers of men. By diligence and study men may make themselves into good preachers, but fishers of men are only made by Him. He was supreme at this Himself, and walking in His company they would learn of Him and catch His spirit."
A Second, Deeper Work of Christ
William Kelly draws a critical distinction between the saving faith that first brings a soul to Christ and the further faith by which the Lord calls a disciple into His service:
William Kelly"It is one thing for Christ to reveal Himself to a soul; it is another to make that soul a fisher of men. There is a special faith needed in order to act upon the souls of others. The simple saving faith that appropriates Christ for one's own soul is not at all the same thing as understanding the call of Christ summoning one away from all the natural objects of this life to do His work."
Kelly insists that this call overrides every natural claim, however legitimate:
"They had already believed in Him, and had everlasting life; but even with everlasting life a man may be following a good deal of the world... Many that are godly still continue mixed up with the world; but in order for the Lord to make them to be the companions of His own service, and to fit them for carrying out His own objects, He must call them away. But they have got a father: what is to be done? No matter; the call of Christ is paramount to every other claim."
And he traces the trust such a call requires. James and John leave father Zebedee in the boat:
"No doubt it was a struggle... but they immediately left their nets and their father, and followed Him. And for this reason: they knew who Christ was... The very same faith which gave them to follow Jesus, not alone as a giver of everlasting life, but as One to whom they now belonged as servants, could enable them to confide all that they had pertaining to them in this world into His keeping. Surely, if the Lord called them, His call must be superior to their natural obligations."
Forming a Remnant in Galilee of the Gentiles
For Kelly, the setting is no accident. Having just quoted Isaiah 9 ("the people which sat in darkness saw great light"), Matthew now shows the Messiah forming a little company of His own from among the despised of Israel:
"Now He wants to have persons who are suited to be the representatives of this godly remnant in Israel. Therefore He calls first two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother... The Lord is presented here as thus forming this godly remnant for Himself from the very beginning. 'Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel.'"
J. N. Darby reads the same movement as the Messiah withdrawing from the proud center of the nation to its poor fringes, and there binding Satan so that He may spoil his goods:
J. N. Darby"The people (so far as centred in Jerusalem, and boasting in the possession of the promises, the sacrifices, and the temple, and in being the royal tribe) lost the presence of the Messiah, the Son of David. He went away for the manifestation of His Person, for the testimony of God's intervention in Israel, to the poor and despised of the flock... He thus really became the true stock, instead of being a branch of that which had been planted elsewhere."
"He then gathers around Him those who were definitively to follow Him in His ministry and His temptations; and, at His call, to link their portion and their lot with His, forsaking all beside. The strong man was bound, so that Jesus could spoil his goods, and proclaim the kingdom with proofs of that power which were able to establish it."
The Paramount Claim
J. T. Mawson, tracing the Lord's successive dealings with Simon Peter, sees in Matthew 4:18 the moment when the divine authority of Christ is felt and owned:
J. T. Mawson"Simon was no loiterer but a hard working man; the living of his family which included his mother-in-law depended upon his labours... But now a greater claim than that of his family confronts him. The One who had given him a new name claims him and commands him. What shall he do? I am sure that he did not understand the full significance of the call, but he did not hesitate. He admitted the claim and abandoned all that his living depended upon and followed the Lord. But who is He whose claim is thus paramount, that must come before wife and children and home and self? God alone has that right. In this second interview the divine authority of the Lord appears, and I should call it submission. Simon bowed to the rights of the Lord over him."
Synthesis
Matthew 4:18 marks a turning point. The wilderness temptations are past, the forerunner is silenced, and the Messiah — refused by Jerusalem — walks by the Sea of Galilee to gather around Himself the first members of a godly remnant. He finds Simon and Andrew not in a synagogue or at the temple but at their trade, casting a net. The call is addressed to men who already knew Him from earlier days (John 1), yet it asks something new of them: to leave every natural tie and become His companions in service. The verse therefore holds together three things that should not be separated — the sovereignty of Christ's call, which overrides even the claims of family and livelihood; the dignity of the work to which He calls them, a fishing for men which only He Himself can make them fit for; and the character of the kingdom He is about to unveil, beginning not with the great of Israel but with fishermen in Galilee of the nations. The answer to such a call is the answer Peter, Andrew, James, and John gave: they "straightway left their nets, and followed Him."