Immediately Jesus called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him.Immediately he called them, and they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants, and went after him.And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after him.
3 sermons cite this verse
… their nets, folding them, fixing them, getting them ready for another voyage. And without delay, he called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, so it was obviously a pretty good business. They had enough to employ others, and they followed him. Now, the call that Jesus issues is a clear call. Fall in behind me, he says. Become what I intend for you to be, fishers of men. Be totally committed to my cause. Do you see what he's asking them to do? He's asking them to make their commitment to him take precedence over their livelihood and over their family relationships. Take precedence over their livelihood and over their family relationships. The average approach to Christianity at the end of the 20th century and into the 21st is, why don't you come to Jesus? He'll help you with your livelihood and your family relationships. That's the compelling motive. You know, if you really want to get your business going, you ought to come to Jesus. If you really want to get your family going, you ought to really, you know, come to Jesus. Jesus says, I want you to come to me. It's going to make a severe dent in your income, and it's going to change your family relationships. Let's go! …
… followed him. When he had gone a little further, he saw James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay, he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. Amen. The most successful manager of an English soccer team ever is a Scot by the name of Sir Alec Ferguson. He's the manager of Manchester United, which will be of interest to about 1% of those listening to me. But he has actually written himself into the record books as the most successful manager of all time. Therefore, it is no surprise when in reading his autobiography, you come on these two sentences. He writes, I have devoted my life to football. Everything has been thrown overboard for it. I have devoted my life to football. Everything has been thrown overboard for it. Well, that is absolutely unequivocal. It's clear. It's his focus. and everything else is subservient to it. And here in this little section that we've read, we are introduced to four men who are able to say in similar terms, we have devoted our lives to Jesus. Everything has been thrown overboard for him. …
… who also were in the boat mending their nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and went after him. It's a very short account. This account is in Mark's gospel, and Mark likes to shorten the stories, but we have basically three movements here. We have a list of who these men were that are involved. Four of their names are given. We then have a description of the encounter that they have with Jesus, and then a decision that they make based on that encounter. So I have in your bulletin, your worship folder, an outline with plenty of space for you to take notes. Those three movements are their character, their calling, and their commitment. We begin with their character. What I'd like to do is give you a little character sketch of each of these men that are called Simon, Andrew, James, and John. But let me first tell you that this story is included probably because of the prominent role that these four disciples, there are 12 of them as you know, but these four play a prominent role in the life and ministry of Jesus. They are really the inner circle. Usually the inner circle is Peter, James, and John. You read about them a lot, but often you read about the fourth, Peter, James, John and Andrew. They are featured prominently. Here's what you need to know. They already knew Jesus. They had already met him, I'm guessing, about six months prior to this event. They had …