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. (vv. 16-18)
To call people to serve the Lord is not a matter of technique but of obedience. If Simon and Andrew followed my invitation, it is because the Father had prepared their hearts. There is no strange thing here, I came to perfectly fit in the plans of love that the Father was spreading around me. Simon and Andrew recognized, through my invitation, the longing in their hearts that the Father had ignited. They were ready to leave everything to follow God, and they could sense that I would facilitate this.
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. (vv. 19-20)
Here, you can notice that James and John are not leaving simply nets, but they accept to leave their father with their family business, in order to follow me.
For James and John, it was not easy to leave this good relationship with their human father, but they could sense clearly that this call was more than about human relationships, it was a call from the heavenly Father that was welling up in their hearts. They left and followed me. Life would never be the same for these first four of my disciples. I came to bring the kingdom of God in the hearts of men, and my disciples would be the first ones to prepare themselves for this divine transformation. Only after my death would they become fully temples of the Holy Spirit. Yet, as the stayed with me, through me the little community I formed with my disciples became a temple of the living Father, a holy communion.
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