Jesus called 12 disciples to share in His ministry. This daily devotional will look at two of them: Peter and Matthew.
Nuggets
- Christ can call us even in the most mundane daily tasks to be a success for Him
- Jesus calls all men and women to follow Him.
- Jesus came to save sinners.
It is interesting that both Peter and Matthew were called to be Jesus’ disciple when they were at work. Both of them may have been discouraged in their jobs at that moment.
Luke’s diagnosis was that, even if we are gainfully employed, we still need to do what Jesus calls us to do. His prescription was to be obedient to Jesus’ instructions.
Calling the Fisherman at Work
“When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll let down the nets.’ When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.” (Lk. 5: 4-7 CSB)
Christ can call us even in the most mundane daily tasks to be a success for Him.
Jesus had expanded the mission. He took it out of the known synagogues into the unknown countryside. He is usually going to test our faith.
On the day in the passage, Jesus had been preaching and commandeered Peter’s boat to use as a platform. Then Jesus wanted Peter to take the boat out. He wanted them to go fishing again.
Fun Fact
Let’s think of it this way. The crowd was on dry ground. Jesus pushed out a little from shore to teach them. What He was asking Peter and his coworkers to do was jump off the deep end.
Now, Peter and the guys were lucky. The first mission Jesus was asking them to accomplish involved something they already had success doing.
How many times do we think that our jobs don’t count as our ministry? Could Jesus have said a bigger “WRONG!!”?
Did you catch that? Jesus let Peter say, “Oh, but the opposite.” Jesus let Peter process to get to “I’ll do what you say.” He let him take Him at His word.
Notice, Peter didn’t commit for the other guys. He focused solely on his relationship with Jesus.
But let’s flip that, like Spurgeon did. What if James and John had each let down nets? What if Andrew was there and kicked in his net? There were others there. What if they contributed nets?
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The huge haul may have been spread around among the nets, making it easier on everyone. Or maybe, it would have been an even bigger haul.
But wait! James and John did get in on the haul. “So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink” (Lk. 5: 7 CSB).
Let’s mesh Brown’s sermon with Hieron’s. What if the Church (the boat) is operating in the shallows? What if we are afraid to push off and go into the deep end (the world) where the lost crowd (the fish) really is? The ministers (Peter and the gang) have to have the gospel (the nets) ready to go where called.
Resource
Oh, yeah. We expect people to come to us. If they don’t know the dates and times of our services, all they have to do is look on the internet or call us.
This pandemic has gotten us off the shore and into the water. But have we really gotten into the deep water?
Let’s take that a step further. Peter didn’t think he was a success at the moment. They hadn’t caught any fish even though they had fished all night.
We are in the deep water. How are we supposed to gauge our success?
How am I supposed to gauge these devotions are successful? Is it the number of followers I get? But what about the ones who follow but never read beyond the nuggets — if that?!?
What if some read these but never allow God to speak to them? They don’t apply these to their lives to grow closer to God. [How would you change these questions to apply it to your life?]
Rothe gave us some encouragement. He wrote, “In the case of sensible labour, there always is some result.” God will always use our obedience to Him.
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Sometimes, we have to remember success is solely defined as we are doing what God has called us to do. We are being obedient to Him.
Our success is based on our willingness to obey God. We have to do like Peter did. We have to keep throwing out the net.
God is going to do the rest. He will make the fish swarm.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Giving the Tax Collector a New Lease on Life
“After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ So, leaving everything behind, he got up and began to follow him” (Lk. 5: 27-28 CSB)
Jesus calls all men and women to follow Him.
All of the newer versions translate publican as tax collector. The King James Version keeps the publican.
Really, for us, tax collector is a better description of Matthew’s job. But I don’t think it conveys the contempt that went along with the position.
Publicans were seen as second-class citizens — if that. Because their employer was the Roman government, they were excommunicated. They couldn’t testify in court. Stapfer contended they had little more rights than the heathens. No fundamental Jew would talk to, let alone eat with, a publican.
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The publican Jesus was calling was went by two names: Matthew or Levi. I learned some things about Matthew from Cox and Alford.
I knew Matthew was the son of Alphaeus. What I didn’t know — or had totally forgotten — is that Alphaeus’ other name was Cleopas.
Cox contended that Matthew’s father was probably the Cleopas on the Emmaus Road. He also thought that Cleopas was married to Mary’s older sister. That would make Jesus and Matthew cousins. Cox wrote, “It would be a keen joy to the Lord Jesus to give joy to such good people as His uncle and aunt and cousins, to restore peace and union to the family in which He had lived so long.”
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To read a related devotion, click the button below.
The Holman Bible Dictionary thought Cleopas of Emmaus Road fame was a different person than Cleophas, whose wife’s name was Mary. This Mary was at the crucifixion. If it was all one person, Mary couldn’t have been Mary’s sister.
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It could be that Mary was the wife of Alpheus and the mother of James, another one of Jesus’ disciples, making Matthew and James half brothers.
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Whoever he was or had been, Matthew was obedient when Jesus called him to follow.
What’s Next after Being Called?
“Then Levi hosted a grand banquet for him at his house. Now there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining at the table with them. But the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus replied to them, ‘It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’” (Lk. 5: 29-32 CSB)
Jesus came to save sinners.
Matthew had found great joy in the Lord. He wanted his friends and coworkers to experience the same joy.
To facilitate that, Matthew threw a banquet. It is interesting that, even though the fundamental Jews wouldn’t talk to a tax collector, they came to eat with him. Hmmmmm.
Arnold reminded us that we have to have frequent contact with those to whom we need to witness. We have to build a relationship in order to show them Jesus in us.
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Watson brought though the fact that some non-believers want us to not talk about our relationship with Christ around them. They want us to ignore our job description.
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
Job Duty #4
Proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16: 15)
Job Duty #6
Make Disciples (Matthew 28: 19-20)
Clayton said it exactly right. He wrote, “Medicine is for the sick. Salvation is for sinners.”
How many times do we cover up our illnesses, though? We don’t want others to know that something is wrong.
Worse yet, as disciples, we cover up things for which God has already forgiven us. We try to portray that we are perfect already — when we are not.
That causes non-believers to think we are hypocrites when they see we continue to sin. Even worse, they do not see God’s forgiveness when they see us trying to pretend we are perfect.
Glossary
Kingsley brought up a good point. Wouldn’t we think like the Pharisees? Would we expect Jesus to be associating with those who are doing His Will? Wouldn’t He be rewarding us for living for Him?
But that’s it, isn’t it? Disciples aren’t just supposed to live for Him. We aren’t only to do the do’s and not do the don’ts.
Our job description says that we are to preach the gospel and make disciples. That means we have to go to the sinners, to the tax collectors — to the sick.
Kingsley put it this way. He wrote, “Make merry with them He could not, but He certainly so behaved to them that they were glad to have Him among them, though He was so unlike them in thought, and word, and look, and action.”
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Elaine-speak. We can’t join them in sinful behavior. That will probably make us totally opposite in personality and action and make it harder for them to want to be our friends. We still have to forge a relationship that lays a foundation for us to witness.
The whole purpose of Jesus’ mission was to pay the penalty for our sins. He agreed to be the sacrifice so that our relationships with God could be restored.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Making the Connections
Too many times, we try to do things our way. We try to stay in the shallows with failure to launch and broadcast our nets there. Even worse, we sometimes try to stay on dry land.
If we do launch, we still try to do it on our own. We either rush out before God gives us marching orders, or we pull a Jonah and run the other way.
God is going to call us where our fish are. But He is going to start where we are and grow us to where He wants us to be.
Let’s look at Matthew a second. Here was a hated tax collector and author of one of the gospels. How was he going to get the Jews to read what he wrote? He used Old Testament prophecies. “Don’t listen to what I say; you know what they said.”
We need to be like Peter and Matthew. When God calls, we need to lay down what we are doing, get up, and follow Him.
We try to make it harder than that, though. We have to know chapter and verse of how God is going to provide for our needs. We need to have clear-cut marching orders.
No, we need to put down what we are doing, leave our sin behind, get up, and fall in line.
How Do We Apply This?
To get from the shallows to the deep end, we need to seek God. We need to do the work He has called us to do — regardless of our perceived outcome.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
Then we have to take God at His Word. He said He would forgive us when we ask. He said He would never leave us and would, instead, provide for us.
What about when we are feeling unsuccessful, like Peter?
- Don’t give into the depression that accompanies our perception of failure. God may not be thinking it is a failure.
- How can we use this failure as a witness to others
- Is there something we should be doing differently to better be in God’s Will?
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Baring-Gould equated Jesus’ asking Peter to take them out on the Sea of Galilee with our prayer life.
- We should be concentrating on Him.
- We should be focused solely on Him.
- We should be earnest.
- We should be committed to Him.
- We should be dedicated for the long haul.
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Father. You call us to do kingdom work. Help us to step out the first time You call. Let us boldly do Your Will. May we know we are successful when we obey You. Amen.
What do you think?
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