THE CALL OF THE FOUR.
Walking by the sea of Galilee one morning, Jesus saw two brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, . . . and two other brethren, James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, with their nets, for they were fishermen. And he called them: "Come ye after me and I will make you fishers of men." These four became his first disciples. (Matt. 4:18-22.)
Zimmermann, Plate 47, has seized upon the moment when Jesus makes that extraordinary statement. Peter and John are nearest Jesus, the other two in the background. "Fishers of men;" the phrase is mysterious; they cannot understand it. Nevertheless, they leave all and follow Him.
Luke gives the account of a miracle between the morning sermon of Jesus to the crowd upon the beach, and this call of the four fishermen: "When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, Push off into deep water, and then all throw out your nets for a haul." "We have been hard at work all night, sir," Simon answered, "and have not caught anything, but as you say so, I will throw the nets out." They did so, and they enclosed such a great shoal of fish that their nets began to break. So they signalled to their mates in the other boat to come and help them; which they did, filling both the boats so full of fish that they were almost sinking.
Raphael, Plate 49, illustrates the moment, a little later, when Peter threw himself down at Jesus' knees, exclaiming: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." (Luke 5:8.) Raphael made this as a design for a tapestry for the Sistine Chapel, Rome.
