Recently I have felt my appreciation for Peter’s faith grow in seeing an apostle who was both a mix of bold and impulsive at times. Through his rawness we are able to see how Jesus works in his life and calls him to be the rock upon whom Christ will build his church. Peter was an ordinary man, married, and a fisherman alongside of his brother Andrew and also their fishing partners James and John. These four men were among the first disciples to follow Jesus whom He called, but I believe there is something unique we gain through the life of Peter in Scripture. Especially when we explore the events surrounding Peter’s calling in light of each of the four Gospels.
In writing this blog, I will be examining events surrounding Peter’s calling in comparing and contrasting the four different Gospels. I could be faulted for the fact that each of the four Gospels are indeed meant to be studied on their own. However, I believe we also gain a more in-depth perspective of the different people who were in fellowship with Jesus and they experience calling in such a mind blowing way in walking with Him. There is quite the challenge in attempting to write this blog in a concise and clear manner in working to avoid creating more confusion or being brain fried perhaps at the completion of this blog. I can say once I sat down to write this blog it has initially moved in a different direction than I anticipated, but for me I like to express a certain genuineness and adventure in sharing these blogs with you.
In reality, we all experience different revelations of God when we encounter Scripture and my heart is to simply share that with you as we move forward in our journey of faith. I would particularly be in remorse if I did not share my authentic self in my journey of faith with God and the new Scriptural revelations I experience rather than trying to convey a version of myself that I understand what exactly is going on. Having said that, know that these blogs in my mind are geared more towards sharing my journey in faith with you in what I experience of God and feel both inspired and passionate to write about and share with you.
With having said that all up front, what was the Impact of Calling that Jesus had in store for Peter’s life? Let’s start in the Gospel of Luke to see when Jesus first calls him.
One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”
“Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.
When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.
Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.
Luke 5:1-11 NLT
Of the four Gospels (Matthew 4:18-20, Mark 1:16-18, Luke 5:1-11, and John 1:40-42), the calling of Peter in the Gospel of Luke is my favorite for several reasons, one of which being this is the longest passage of the four revolving around Peter’s calling. As a result of this passage being the longest of the four Gospels, there is more we are in turn able to learn from this profound event in Peter’s life.
In contrast to the other three Gospels (particularly Matthew & Mark), in the passage of Luke, in my mind at least, it is more than just Jesus casually taking a stroll along the shore of Galilee where he spots Peter and Andrew and calls them to be fishers of men and they leave their nets at once and follow him. And then the same with James and John who are sitting a little further up the shore in their boat along with their father Zebedee repairing their nets, to which Jesus calls them and they leave. It would take courage and good reasoning to leave everything behind to follow a man you just met. As in the Gospel of John it is Andrew who comes to Peter telling him that they have found the Messiah and no mention of fishing takes place here. There is a reason why I am taking the time to ponder this with you, let’s go back a chapter from Luke 5 to chapter 4 and read what takes place here.
After leaving the synagogue that day, Jesus went to Simon’s home, where he found Simon’s mother-in-law very sick with a high fever. “Please heal her,” everyone begged. Standing at her bedside, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. And she got up at once and prepared a meal for them.
Luke 4:38-39 NLT
As I was studying this passage the past few days in a bit of a detective mindset, I read the beginning of the passage here and see how Jesus “went to Simon’s home.” It left me with this thought, “Why does Jesus just show up at Simon Peter’s home as if He knows exactly where it is at? It almost comes across as Jesus has been here before, as if He has been spending time with them?” So I decided to do some more reading, what was Jesus up to before showing up at Peter’s house? In Luke 4:31-37, I began to read in seeing how Jesus was in Capernaum, a town in Galilee and it is here he cast out a demon and it leaves the people amazed! As a result the news of Jesus spreads through every village in the entire region. I jumped back to verses 38-41 and read them, then go back to verses 31-37 and this is what happened. I began to read verse 31, “Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee…” to which I stopped and it hit me, “Wait, Peter also lives in Capernaum!” Then I resumed reading the rest of verse 31, “…and taught there in the synagogue every Sabbath day.” To which I thought, “Wait, Jesus has been teaching here in Capernaum at the synagogue every Sabbath day and there is only one of those each week… Has Jesus been spending weeks, perhaps months at Peter’s home?!”
This hit me strongly and I drew a new revelation from this passage. Jesus was spending weeks at Peter’s home alongside of Andrew, James, and John while He did his ministry in teaching in Capernaum. In other words the revelation for me was this, Jesus spent time with these four soon to be disciples for weeks in building relationships with them before he calls them to be fishers of men and follow Him. The imagery we get particularly from the Gospels of Matthew and Mark was that this was sudden and out of the blue happening in less than an hour, but in Luke it was not so sudden, it happened in weeks. At least that is what I have discerned so far as each Gospel serves its own unique purpose as each writer wrote in a manner and order that conveyed what the Holy Spirit wanted them to convey. However, I have more to add to this thought in light of a passage in Mark I will share shortly in light of my revelation in this paragraph.
I wondered, “Why have I not noticed this passage in the Gospel of Luke before that conveys Jesus potentially spent weeks with the disciples?” Of course God’s Word is alive and speaks to us in new ways every time we encounter and spend time with Him, but I felt pressed to study more. As I jumped between the different Gospels I looked at the miracle of healing with Peter’s mother in-law as that seemed to be the key passage in all of this.
This is when I learned why I had never looked at this passage in such a way before. It is the placement of certain passages in each of the Gospels that affected how I looked at the calling of Peter. Let me explain. In Matthew 4:18-20 is where we read the calling of Peter and Andrew, however it is not until Matthew 8:14-15 where we read of Jesus healing Peter’s mother in-law. Then in Mark 1:16-18 is where we read the calling of Peter and Andrew, however it is not until eleven verses later in Mark 1:29-31 where we read of Jesus healing Peter’s mother in-law. Yet, in Luke 5:1-11 is where we read the calling of Peter and Andrew, but this time Peter’s mother in-laws healing takes place before the calling in Luke 4:38-39.
Thus, many of us are chronological style readers, in light of Matthew and Mark naturally I assumed it was during their travels at some point they showed up where Peter lived and his mother in-law just so happened to be sick when they arrive. However, each Gospel narrative is not written in chronological order as there are Scriptural themes that the Gospel writers kept or collected in one area of Scripture rather than spreading them out in a more chronological style. Again, the Holy Spirit directed each Gospel writer according to God’s will as each Gospel is unique in its own light. This particularly becomes apparent when you view each of the four Gospels side by side.
Then to throw another curve ball in the midst of this, in comparison to the healing of Peter’s mother in-law in Luke 4:38-39, in Mark 1:29 we read, “After Jesus left the synagogue with James and John, they went to Simon and Andrew’s home.” The passage in Luke 4 does not say anything about James and John being with Jesus when he left the synagogue, however in Mark 1 we read that both James and John were with Him when they left the synagogue. What runs through my mind now is, “Oh so does this mean that Jesus had called Peter and the others as His disciples already since James and John went with Jesus to the synagogue?”
Not necessarily, keep in mind that both Peter and Andrew are not stated to be in company with Jesus while He was at the synagogue from what we gather from Scripture. Both the Gospel of Mark and Luke point to that that Jesus taught at the synagogue specifically on Sabbath days. Since it would be a Sabbath day, neither James or John would be fishing since one was not to work on the Sabbath, but rest. The same would go for Peter and Andrew, but perhaps since Peter’s mother in-law was sick he elected not to go, but stay home with his wife in caring for her. Furthermore, in Mark 1:21 the verse states, “Jesus and his companions went into the town of Capernaum…” It doesn’t say, “Jesus and his disciples.”
My goal is not to get distracted from the calling Peter experiences in trying to figure out the chronological order of the events that happened here surrounding his calling, but simply that it sheds more light to understanding the roots of Peter’s calling. Now, I am no biblical scholar and perhaps I missed some significant pieces in the writing of this blog as I am still studying these passages to gain more understanding and clarity.
Perhaps Jesus indeed called Peter, Andrew, James and John as disciples before the miracle of healing of Peter’s mother in-law takes place, but they did not immediately leave Peter’s home as they spent more time in the early part of Jesus’ ministry in Capernaum. Furthermore, I believe it points to the reality that Jesus spent time being weeks if not perhaps months in relationship with Peter and the others before calling them to be His disciples in following Him. I do not believe it was done in the span of less than an hour or just a day for that matter.
So what is your point Derrick, what is the take away? My point is that Jesus took time with Peter as well as the other three before He called them to follow Him. Jesus sought to build a relationship with Peter so that he would get to know Him and would continue to experience more of who Jesus was through sharing life together. In spending time together, Peter witnessed the miracles and authority of Jesus so that when Jesus finishes teaching the crowd being in the boat with Peter, He turns to him saying, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” Peter was skeptical as they spent all night fishing and now a rabbi is telling him a fisherman how to fish of all people.
But, Peter listened! He had faith, he obeyed and his faith was rewarded with so much fish that it takes two boats on the verge of sinking from the immense weight to bring all the fish ashore. Which leads Peter to the reality and amazement of what has just happened and leads him to fall to his knees in confessing his sin to Jesus Christ the Messiah. Peter recognized Jesus’ authority, which led him to a humble heart posture resounding with “Lord have Your way in me.” In the awestruck of the moment with Andrew, James, and John, Jesus gives them their calling…
“Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!”
How does this impact you? This truth is the same for us in relation to Jesus. The more time we spend with Jesus the more we will know the calling and plan He has for us in our lives. God’s love language is obedience, when He asks us to go out to where it is deeper and cast our nets, will we respond in faithful obedience or tell God what we think we should do instead?
I shall now cease typing away on my keyboard as I believe I have shared enough for now. In next month’s blog being part two, we will dig more into Peter’s calling as we explore his faith and the leader of the early church he became.
“Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place – until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts. Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.”
2 Peter 1:19-21 NLT
Best Regards,
Derrick Shipley