Smoodock's Blog

We need to keep in mind, as we read the Gospel of Matthew, that ancient biographies didn’t have to be chronological. They were written for different purposes. Matthew’s Gospel seems to have been written specifically for Jews in order to prove Jesus was the Messiah, and it was arranged in five specific sections or books, which have an introduction and a climax or conclusion. This was done for easier memorization. First, he presented an overview of Jesus’ first year of ministry, and then mentioned that his ministry turned from the nation to the individual. How did that come about?

At this point, Matthew returns to the beginning of the first year, just after his baptism, but before he began to choose his disciples. We know that something like this had to have occurred, because before John was cast into prison, Jesus was in Judea with his disciples, and they were baptizing more folks than John did (John 3:22-26), it was immediately after this that Jesus had to flee Judea (John 4:1-3) and return to Galilee (John 4:3, 43-45), and at that time he began preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 4:12). Yet, after he finished revealing all this, Matthew begins to tell his readers how he chose his twelve Apostles. Therefore, it seems obvious, that he returns to an earlier time, much like some of the books we read in our own modern era!

Matthew begins this portion of his narrative by telling us Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 4:18). However, he doesn’t mention why he was walking by the sea, but Luke does! John even takes us back further to just after Jesus’ baptism, John pointed Jesus out to two of his disciples, and one of them was Andrew (John 1:40), who shortly afterward went and told Peter (John 1:41-42), and they walked together toward Galilee. Jesus found Philip, who then found “Nathanael” who is most likely James the Less,[1] who later wrote the Epistle of James, and three days after his baptism Jesus was with his disciples in Cana of Galilee, which was Nathaniel’s home town (John 2:1; 21:2).

Thus, it is important to read the reports of all the witnesses, if we wish to come to a reasonably accurate understanding of how or when events transpired in Jesus’ life. Luke unveils what Matthew left out of his account of the calling of Jesus’ first disciples. Jesus was preaching to the crowds, and they were pressing him into the sea. When he saw two boats, he entered Peter’s (Luke 5:1-3) and asked him to “thrust out a little from the land” (Luke 1:3). After preaching to the people, Jesus had Peter go out into the deep for a catch, because Peter and his partners fished all night and caught nothing. Peter reluctantly accommodated Jesus, and when they threw out the “net” the catch was so great that the net began to break. Peter was astonished and begged Jesus to leave him, because he was a sinful man (Luke 5:4-10). This is the context behind Matthew’s mention of the calling of Jesus’ first disciples.

Thus, Matthew testifies about events after the miracle, making it seem that Jesus had some magical force in his words, saying to perfect strangers: “Follow me!” However, this isn’t true, and Luke offers us the context of Matthew’s statement. Jesus already knew these folks, when he told Peter to follow him, and he would catch men. So, both Peter and Andrew left their nets to become the first two of Jesus’ close disciples (Matthew 4:19-20).

When Jesus came to Peter’s partners, James and John, they were mending their nets (Matthew 4:21). Prior to the miracle, which Luke’s Gospel discloses, they were washing their nets (Luke 5:2), and it was they, whom Peter called, to help bring in the catch (Luke 5:7, 10), so, when Jesus called them, they, too, left their father’s business and joined Peter and Andrew to become Jesus’ closest disciples (Matthew 4:21-22).

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[1] See and earlier study of mine: The Calling of Jesus’ Leading Apostles. There, I suggest that Nathaniel is so named, instead of James, because the author of the Gospel of John hid his identity to protect him, vis-à-vis Jamse was still alive and the leader of the Jerusalem church, when the Gospel of John was written.