From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him.
A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind. - Matthew 4:17-22
Jesus had a moment when he knew the time for him to start his public ministry was at hand: he had been tested in the wilderness by the devil and then he heard that his cousin John was in prison. He starts with a simple message and calls the first of his disciples (it is interesting to me that he "called" them but the word apostle means "sent one")
The reaction of his disciples always strikes me, because each decision to follow Jesus was also a decision to not follow something else and some of those seem like really hard choices: Peter, Andrew, James and John give up their fishing job, and with it, the support of their families. We know Peter was married (Mark 1:30). We knew that James and John left their father with just the hired help (Mark 1:20) It points out just how compelling Jesus and his message were. He often spoke about family as being the first ones to bear the cost of discipleship because of the strain that this new relationship placed on old, important ties. It is also important to remember that the mother of Peter was saved by Jesus' miracle, the mother of James and John traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and Jesus' brother James and mother Mary were important in helping the early church. Jesus' importance must surpass job and family, but he helps us live worthy lives for both.
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