Left the ship and their father, and followed him ( ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ ) St. Matthew emphasizes the facts that they left both natural relations and means of livelihood, and that here their continuous following of Christ began. St. Mark rather lay stress on their leaving the old life ( ἀπῆλθον ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ ) read more
Left their father - This showed how willing they were to follow Jesus. They showed us what we ought to do. If necessary, we should leave father, and mother, and every friend, Luke 14:26. If they will go with us, and be Christians, it is well; if not, yet they should not hinder us. We should be the followers of Jesus. And, while in doing it we should treat our friends kindly and tenderly, yet we ought at all hazards to obey God, and do our duty to him. We may add that many, very many children,... read more
Matthew 4:21-22. Going on from thence Mark says, A little further thence, He saw two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother The reader will observe, there was another James, the son of Alpheus, or Cleophas, commonly called James the Less. In a ship, with Zebedee their father By the sea-side, mending their nets Which had been broken by the vast draught of fishes they had taken just before. And he called them Not with his voice only, but by his Spirit... read more
27. Call of Peter, Andrew, James and John (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11)From the hills of Nazareth the story moves to the fishing villages of Capernaum and Bethsaida on the northern shore of Lake Galilee. The fishermen brothers Peter and Andrew had already met Jesus and accepted him as the Messiah. So too, it seems, had another pair of fishermen brothers, James and John (see notes on John 1:35-42). Jesus now asked the four men to take the further step of leaving their occupations... read more
Matthew 4:21-22. Ship— Bark, or boat. read more
22. And they immediately left the ship and their father—Mark adds an important clause: "They left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants" (Mark 1:20); showing that the family were in easy circumstances. and followed him—Two harmonistic questions here arise: First, Was this the same calling as that recorded in Mark 1:20- :? Clearly not. For, (1) That call was given while Jesus was yet in Judea: this, after His return to Galilee. (2) Here, Christ calls Andrew: there, Andrew... read more
A. The beginning of Jesus’ ministry 4:12-25Matthew gave much prominence to Jesus’ teachings in his Gospel. The first of these is the so-called Sermon on the Mount (chs. 5-7). To prepare the reader for this discourse, the writer gave a brief introduction to Jesus’ ministry (Matthew 4:12-25). In it Matthew provided a résumé of His work. read more
II. THE AUTHORITY OF THE KING 4:12-7:29Having introduced the King, Matthew next demonstrated the authority of the King. This section includes a narrative introduction to Jesus’ teaching and then His teaching on the subject of His kingdom. read more
3. The call of four disciples 4:18-22 (cf. Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11)The calling of these four men shows Jesus’ authority over people. The response of these disciples was appropriate in view of their summons by the King. They obeyed "immediately" (Matthew 4:20; Matthew 4:22). From here on in the Gospel of Matthew we will not read stories about Jesus alone; He is always with His disciples, until they desert Him in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:56). read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:18-22
The ministerial vocation. The Sea of Galilee, on the shore of which Jesus walked, was an inland lake of about six miles broad and seventeen long. It was surrounded by a varied scenery of mountain and valley, amidst which were embosomed several populous villages and towns. Henceforth this region was destined to become the theatre of many a wonderful history. The history before us invites attention to a vocation, a voice, and persons called. I. THE VOCATION . 1 . The call was to... read more