When Jesus went into the region called, Galilee, he moved his home from Nazareth to Capernaum and "from that time Jesus began to preach this message..." v.17. It seems to be a new beginning at that time. What trigger this? v.12, "Now when Jesus heard that John had been imprisoned..." John, Jesus' prisoner, was imprisoned. When you heard that the government is taking other pastors/missionaries into prison, what would be your reaction as a fellow Christian? Probably scared and want to run away. Shouldn't Jesus concerned about His own safety? No, He saw that John had left and He needed to take His place. I think this is a possible reason because John and Jesus proclaimed the same message, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near v.17 and 3:2.
When Jesus took the ministry over, what was His plan? v.18-25, the most repeated word is "follow." He started by calling a group of followers. He walked around, found them, invited them and gave them His plan. God's work starts with people. Are you and I willing to jump in?
In v.19, Jesus said to the fishermen, "Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people." NET notes, "The kind of fishing envisioned was net...which involved a circular net that had heavy weights around its perimeter. The occupation of fisherman was labor-intensive... Rather, the imagery of a fisherman involved much strain, long hours, and often little results. Jesus’ point may have been one or more of the following: the strenuousness of evangelism, the work ethic that it required, persistence and dedication to the task (often in spite of minimal results), the infinite value of the new “catch” (viz., people), and perhaps an eschatological theme of snatching people from judgment... If this last motif is in view, then catching people is the opposite of catching fish: The fish would be caught, killed, cooked, and eaten; people would be caught so as to remove them from eternal destruction and to give them new life."
This is not an easy job, all 4 of them, Peter, Andrew, James and John immediately left the nets/boat and their father and followed Him v.22.
Do you remember how Jesus sought after you? How did your Christian friends come to find you and share the Gospel with you? How did the church follow up and help you to grow? Jesus sought after you just like He called these 4 fishermen. Yes as fishers of people or serving God sometimes is hard work. It is not easy to prepare Sunday school lessons when you are tired after work. You still need to get out to buy the supplies for the craft on a Saturday afternoon. But we are helping these fish to get out of the sea! We caught them for God! Will you be like these 4 fishermen. They jumped in right the way and I am sure they were happily to do so.
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