Jesus Was

The Original

Gorton’s Fisherman

Matthew 4:18-22; 14: 22-36

I like the Gorton’s TV

commercials with the

actor dressed up in the

yellow slicker and the

catchy jingle at the end.

I didn’t like fish as a child,

but I liked the

commercials. Then it was

odd to see the actors

changing who played him.

I also like the Dos Equis

beer commercials with

“The Most Interesting

Man in the World” and his

cool exploits.

So when I saw that picture

I had to download it from

the internet and include it

here for a little bit of

humor.

Our message from the

Gospel of John next week

draws upon a few events

from earlier in Jesus’

ministry…

…so I thought this week

we would look at those

earlier events and see

Jesus beginning His

ministry with fishing…

…just as He finishes it in

the last chapter of John by

the lakeshore dealing with

fishermen, fishing boats

and nets, and lots of fish.

You might go ahead and

locate the 14th chapter of

Matthew in your Bibles

and bookmark it, while we

look at the 4th chapter first

Matthew 4:18-22

As Jesus was walking

beside the Sea of Galilee, he

saw two brothers, Simon

called Peter and…

Matthew 4:18-22

…his brother Andrew. They

were casting a net into the

lake, for they were

fishermen.

Matthew 4:18-22

“Come, follow me,” Jesus

said, “and I will make you

fishers of men.”

Matthew 4:18-22

At once they left their nets

and followed him.

Matthew 4:18-22

Going on from there, he saw

two other brothers, James

son of Zebedee and his

brother John.

Matthew 4:18-22

They were in a boat with

their father Zebedee,

preparing their nets.

Matthew 4:18-22

Jesus called them, and

immediately they left the

boat and their father and

followed him.

Matthew 4:18-22

That is a very familiar

passage. I remember

being taught that passage

as a child over and over,

but something’s wrong.

I guess maybe it’s part of

the calling to ministry, or

it could just be me, but I

was troubled by another

passage not fitting this.

Isaiah 53:2b-3

He had no beauty or

majesty to attract us to him,

nothing in his appearance

that we should desire him.

Isaiah 53:2b-3

He was despised and

rejected by men, a man of

sorrows, and familiar with

suffering.

Isaiah 53:2b-3Like one

from

whom men

hide their

faces

Isaiah 53:2b-3…he was

despised,

and we

esteemed

him not.

How do your reconcile

that with the idea that

Jesus just called people,

and they left their homes

and families with Him?

You can’t.

But you don’t need to,

because that’s not the

whole story. This is just a

snippet of the story.

These fishermen Jesus

called to follow Him, at

least some of them, were

followers of John the

Baptist and knew Jesus.

John the Baptist, if you

recall from the beginning

of the Gospel of John, told

them to leave him and

follow after Jesus instead.

After John baptized Jesus,

He went into the desert to

fast and was tempted by

Satan. After 40 days, like

the 40 days of Lent…

Jesus came back to civili-

zation and sought out the

men He knew from their

time together with John

the Baptist.

Andrew was one of the

men who knew Jesus from

their time with John the

Baptist, and he recruited

his brother Simon Peter.

How Jesus knew to call

James and John the sons

of Zebedee isn’t stated.

There are many

possibilities.

All of these men, except

Andrew are named as

being in the boat in the

chapter 21 passage we will

look at next week.

It’s possible Andrew was

there; we just don’t know,

but either way there’s

something of a beginning

and an end here.

These men are making

their living fishing in the

Sea of Galilee, and Jesus

tells them that they will

gather people instead.

John the Baptist had

attracted crowds, so they

would have expected

Jesus to be carrying on

from there doing the same

Certainly when John was

killed people would have

expected that Jesus was

merely the next one in

line.

The next passage is too

long to put up here when

we can just look it up. It’s

a bit back from where we

were in chapter 14.

It shows, along with many

other events, that Jesus is

not just the next man in

line after John the

Baptist.

Matthew 14:22-36

Matthew 14:22-36

The thing about this I

usually think about is that

Peter was fine as long as

he was only looking at

Jesus.

When he let his attention

be diverted from Jesus by

the dangers around him,

he began to sink down

into the water.

You and I have cars that

wear out and develop

problems, bills that keep

coming in, people who

give us fits and trouble.

Retreating to Bible

reading, watching only

Christian programming,

and going to church won’t

make those go away.

Keeping our focus on

Jesus saves us from being

drowned in the hopeless-

ness of the world around

us. It’s hopeless, isn’t it?

All the happy people I

know are either folks who

just fit in with the unjust

world and play the game,

or they don’t care, because

…they woke up that day

with Jesus on their minds,

spent time with Him

before anything else, and

go with Him everywhere.

…and one other thing:

they go to church not just

to be there, but they go to

share the walk with others

who want that peace too.

This Peter who wanted to

walk on water with Jesus

was brought to Jesus by

someone else, not called

by Jesus directly.

Peter was part of the inner

circle with Jesus, along

with James and his little

brother John, the sons of

Zebedee.

Peter was never alone in

the Gospels. He was

always part of a group

surrounding Jesus.

Except for one time.

The only time Peter was

alone, was when The

Beloved Disciple went

ahead to see Jesus after

He was arrested.

Peter was left alone with

strangers there outside

the house where they had

taken Jesus.

As soon as he was alone,

Peter got scared, and

when someone asked if he

was Jesus’ disciple, he

denied it.

Peter kept denying it as

more people claimed that

they had seen him with

Jesus. He denied it until

at last the worst…

The final time Peter

denied Jesus, they had

brought Him out, and He

looked Peter in the eye as

he denied Jesus again.

It’s been coming up again

and again, that we all face

the test, and we have to

meet it with whatever we

have available to us then.

You may remember The

Lord’s Prayer, Psalm 23,

John 3:16 or something

else. That may be all you

have available to you.

The point is not to use

those as magic chants to

brainwash yourself into

feeling no pain. They

have a different purpose.

Even at the worst, when

Peter was denying Jesus

or when he was sinking in

the Sea of Galilee, Jesus

was there with him.

He’s here with us now,

and He’s there with you

no matter where you go or

what you do. You just

need to look for Him.

Reciting scripture or

prayers is a way for us to

re-center ourselves, so

that we can recognize His

voice when He speaks.

Are you sinking in the

waves right now, so that

this is the only view of

Jesus you can see?

Trust Jesus now, and cry

out to Him. He will reach

down to save you.