City Life Starter

Written by Megan Meier

The Word

“Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.”

Mark 1:16-20 (ESV)

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

Luke 6:40 (ESV)

Megan’s Musings

Do you have a favorite video game? In many of them, namely role-playing games, or RPGs (like The Legend of Zelda, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy, Pokémon) the protagonist starts at Level 1 and works their way up. They level up, beat bosses, complete quests, and finally beat the big bad boss and the game. They don’t go right from Level 1 and beat the boss immediately. Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John did not go straight from fisherman to apostles fully trained in Jesus’ Way, it took time and effort. 

Simon, Andrew, James, and John likely knew about Jesus before following Him. As Pastor Chris said last Sunday, in the Jewish culture, being a rabbi was considered the highest job, and being a student of a rabbi one of the highest honors to achieve, it required years of difficult study and critical thinking to become a rabbi’s student. Simon, Andrew, James, and John had gone from fisherman to Bet Midrash in one day (like a warp zone or teleportation device in a video game). For three years they followed Jesus and learned from Him, at one time, He sent the disciples to various towns to witness, heal, and drive out demons (Luke 10:1-24) (delegation can be a good thing!). Jesus was training his followers to be great leaders in The Way.  

The Bible doesn’t say much about Andrew, James, or John’s personality traits, other than John being written as the beloved disciple and given the responsibility to care for Mary, Jesus’ mother, at Jesus’ crucifixion (John 19:26-27) (John must have been very trustworthy). But there is mention of Simon Peter experiencing great character growth. Jesus gave Simon the name Peter (Greek for “rock”, or Cephas in Aramaic) and prophesied who he was to become later (Matthew 16:18-19). At this point, Simon Peter was known for being quite brash (Matthew 26:33-35, John 18:10), and during Jesus’ darkest moment, he denied knowing Him three times despite his adamant claim earlier he would never leave his Lord (Mark 14:66-72). After Jesus was resurrected, He reinstated the repentant Peter (John 21:15-19). Years later, Peter’s letters show his spiritual leadership, telling the believers to have an answer prepared when asked about the reason for their hope (1 Peter 3:15). 

All four of the former fisherman did great works for the Kingdom of God. If Jesus never came to their region, or worse, they rejected His call, they would have stayed where they were and never made the eternal impact on humankind. They began as fisherman and ended as apostles, because they said yes to Jesus.

Application

Following Jesus is the first step to helping others find and follow Him. But even Jesus’ disciples, those He was training to be just like Him, His own best friends, were far from perfect (Luke 22:24, Mark 14:50). When we stumble, He will always be willing to pick us back up if we let Him. 

Where are you on your journey with Jesus? How has your relationship with Him leveled up? Have you started a relationship with Jesus? He is calling to you, “Follow me.” 

Prayer

Dear Jesus, thank You for being the Great Teacher. Teach me to be more like You so I can help others find and follow You. In Your Name I pray, amen.