Matthew 4:18-22
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Mark 1:16-20
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets.20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
Luke 5:1-11
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
5 Simon answered, “Master, we've worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
John 1:35-51
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus.41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.”51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”
I am sure when Jesus spoke people listened...He said things in a way, people wanted to hear what He was saying...After all He is our Creator, and all things were made through Him...
Each of the four gospels have a section on Jesus choosing His Twelve Disciples...Yet, we really are not told why the Disciples follow Him...Luke hints that He helps Peter and his group catch a large number of fish...And John the Baptist might have helped Jesus recruit some of them, because some of John's Disciples quit and follow Jesus...But we are really not told why the Twelve stay on and follow Him for the three years of His ministry...
Later, the Disciples would have seen that Jesus was a Great Person, a Great Leader, a Miracle Worker, and the Greatest Teacher...But from the very start, it seems that the Disciples worship Him, and definitely want to follow Him...There must be something about Him that made them drop what they were doing and follow Him...Maybe His eyes are telling...Maybe He appealed to their hearts from His first interactions with them...And of all the comments Nathanael is the most negative saying, “Nazareth!...Can anything good come from there?”...Jesus seems to read Nathaniel's mind about being under the fig tree...Peter seems to recognize that there is something special about Him, when they catch and He tells Jesus that he is a sinner...And quickly Peter, Andrew, John, and James quit their fishing businesses, and follow Him...
Maybe He was becoming popular and getting to be known and they had heard about Him, and would be One good to know...We are really not told why these twelve men of differing backgrounds follow Him, but they do...Somehow Jesus charisma, authority, appeal to the heart, the chance of getting to know somewhat unique must have played a part in them following Him...And on His authority, if would be hard to question Him, and get a changed answer, because of His great knowledge of all things...I am sure many or all of these things appealed to His Disciples...But I also believe He touched their hearts as He initially spoke to them...Maybe when He spoke, He touched their hearts and their souls awakened...
And this was the beginning of His ministry, the beginning of His teachings...And His ministry and His teachings would in a few short years become a religion called Christianity...And this is where it all started...