¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” ²⁰ And they left their nets at once and followed him.

²¹ 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. ²² They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.

Matthew 4:18-22

Dear God, I’ve decided I’d like to learn more about Peter and John, how they related to you, and how they compare with each other. To that end, I’m going to start a series where I look at all of the Bible stories that include them as well as the books that they wrote. They were very different people, and yet they were both critical to your earthly ministry and the formation of the church thereafter.  

In this case, I just noticed how Matthew captures these stories. The first people you called were sets of brothers. It wasn’t Matthew, working alone as a tax collector. It was Simon (later renamed Peter—I’ll need to get deeper into that) and Andrew, and then James and John (I wonder if Matthew listed each set of brothers by age or by his perception of their importance). I wonder if it was easier for them to break with their families if they went along with their brothers. Did Simon go along more willingly since Andrew went along too? James with John?  

It can be hard to feel like I am doing the absolute right thing according to your will and feel at odds with your family. I have several examples of my own life, but one example I’ve been thinking about lately is the example of Joseph and Mary. I’m sure their parents were very disappointed with how their lives were turning out. Did Joseph have living parents, and did they express any disapproval to him? After all, he married a pregnant girl and moved with her to Egypt. On the surface, it’s a disastrous result for your child back then. And then the family moved back to Nazareth with Jesus still a boy. Did Jesus understand isolation from this? Did he intentionally call the brothers together for their sake because he saw something in his dad’s experience? I know that I am making all kinds of wild guesses here, and that can be unsafe. But it just seems interesting that Matthew’s first recording of Jesus’ called disciples were brothers.  

Father, give me the courage to do what needs to be done at any given time, regardless of who joins me in it. But do a few things for me, please. Help me to really be sure it is you I am following in it. And please help me to be completely united with my wife through any of it. Speak to her the same thing you are speaking to me at any given time so that me might be one soul, mind, heart, and body at all times.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen