The Making of an Apostle

by R. J. Campbell

The Call to Service.

We may assume that Peter's acquaintance with our Lord continued for some time ere he was called to actual service. The Synoptists all refer to this call, but with certain differences in detail. Matthew's first mention of Simon (iv. 18) occurs in connection with his account of the commencement of the preaching ministry of Jesus. He tells us that after the temptation our Lord went to live in Capernaum. We know little or nothing of His movements save that He began to preach, and that the substance of His exhortation was, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!" A great deal, however, is suggested here. Capernaum was Simon's home, and by piecing the narrative in John i. with that in Matthew iv. we are justified in thinking that after making acquaintance with Andrew and Simon in Bethabara beyond Jordan, Jesus went with them to Galilee and continued His association with them on terms of intimacy, vide John i. 43, John ii. et seq. John ii. 12. Jesus's sojourn in Capernaum was not intended to be permanent, as we see in John ii. 12. It is quite possible it was only undertaken for the sake of drawing closer the relations between Himself and the two brothers whose acquaintance He had made through the medium of the Baptist. In Matt. iv. 18 we are informed that "walking by the sea of Galilee He saw two brethren, Simon and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And He saith unto them, Come ye after Me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left the nets and followed Him."

But for the considerations presented above we might imagine that this was the first time Jesus had ever seen Peter. Mark and Luke are more explicit, Luke especially. In Mark i. 16, that is very early in this particular Gospel, we read that after John was delivered up Jesus came into Galilee. "And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men." When we remember that Mark's Gospel is really Peter's own Gospel, written in all probability under his guidance, we are prepared for the early introduction of the call of the first Apostle. A previous acquaintance is clearly presumed here. Mark states with his usual simple directness and vividness, "He saw Simon." The presumption is that Simon was already well known to Jesus, and the fact that the two brothers left their nets and followed Him is not so wonderful if we consider that their friendship with Jesus was already well established, and their belief in His authority confirmed by their increasing knowledge of Himself.

It is to Luke, however, that we must turn for a circumstantial account of the crisis so briefly referred to by Matthew and Mark. Under the guidance of Luke our conjectures as to the intercourse between Jesus and Simon become certainty. In Luke iv. 38 we are told that after preaching in the synagogue of Capernaum He entered into the house of Simon. He healed Simon's wife's mother, who was suffering from fever. This appears to have been one miracle among many of a similar kind that day; possibly the news of it went forth, "And," Luke continues, "when the sun was setting all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto Him." Evidently Jesus is here a familiar guest in the house of Simon and makes it His head-quarters.

In the next chapter (Luke v. 1-11) we have Luke's account of the call to service and the circumstances which led up to it. Jesus, as an honoured guest, seems to have made use, not only of Simon's home, but of his fishing-boat. This fishing-boat on occasions supplied him with a pulpit from which He was able to address the crowds that lined the seashore. On one such occasion, when He had finished speaking, He asked His host to put out into the deep. Simon did so, no doubt thinking that the new Teacher required to escape and rest after His long exertions. But Jesus had another motive than this. Simon had been obliged to wait His pleasure while He was preaching; he had been out the whole of the previous night plying his calling, and was, doubtless, weary and exhausted. Jesus knew all this and intended to help him. By His direction Simon let down his net for a draught, explaining, however, while he did so, that he expected no result in the day-time since he had taken nothing through the hours of darkness. He lowered the nets simply to please Jesus, to whom he had become, by this time, much attached. The result was the miraculous draught of fishes.

The effect upon Simon of this beneficent exhibition of the super-human power of Jesus was overwhelming. His impulsive character showed itself at once. He threw himself down at the feet of his Master with the ill-considered but earnest petition born of the feeling of the moment, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"

What was the reason of this strange outburst? The miraculous draught of fishes was not of itself sufficient to account for it; it was the occasion but not the cause of Peter's action. A better way of explaining it would be to try to form a sympathetic estimate of the working of this rude fisherman's mind under the influence of his short acquaintance with Jesus of Nazareth. Like others of his class, Simon had very likely been, until the day when Andrew introduced him to Jesus, ill-disciplined and coarse. He may have thought very little about high and holy things, and yet, as often happens in a rude but generous nature, he felt an instinctive respect for goodness whenever he saw it embodied in another. He was attracted to Jesus by Andrew's assertion that He was the Messiah. In the increasing intimacy of subsequent intercourse he must have come to feel that Jesus was the best man he had ever met. Jesus came as a benediction to Simon's home. His very presence must have stirred the better feelings latent in the boisterous fisherman's heart. Simon came to love Jesus, and listened no doubt with a simple, awe-struck interest to the words He was accustomed to address to the crowds from the vantage-ground of Simon's boat. Jesus discovered him to himself: he saw how poor and mean and unsatisfactory his own life and ideals were when compared with the character of this august stranger.

To these considerations Jesus added another. Out of pure thoughtfulness and kindness for Simon He had asked him to put out to sea and let down his nets, and poor Simon, totally unprepared for the result, now saw that in his friend and guest were combined at once marvellous goodness and marvellous power. Simon's first feeling was that he wanted to get away from Him, that he was totally unfit to be in the presence of such a Being, and, like the centurion afterwards, was not worthy that He should come under his roof. The cry, "Depart from me!" meant, doubtless, "Leave my home. Do not stay with me any more. I am unfit for such a privilege, unworthy of such companionship. Select another and a better associate, for I am a sinful man!"

We are beholden to Luke for this circumstantial account of an important event in the life of an interesting man. Some persons think that Luke has mixed up this story with the similar one recorded in John xxi. There is no need to think so, the scene ends very naturally. Matthew and Mark omit to say how it was that Jesus came to extend the call to Simon and Andrew, James and John. According to their brief statement Jesus saw them casting a net into the sea; according to Luke it was He who told them to cast that net. Simon's confession and request supplied Him with a further opportunity: "Fear not, He said, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their boats to land they left all and followed Him."

We see from this beautiful sequence of dealings that Jesus bestowed much tender thought and care upon the training of the men who were to serve Him in the work of evangelising the world. His prophecy in respect to Simon at their first meeting He set Himself to fulfil. Peter was not then ready to be called, nor did Jesus call him; without explaining His meaning He uttered a prophecy in regard to Simon's future character which no one but Himself could understand. He welcomed Simon's avowal of unworthiness as the first condition toward the attainment of that character. Simon was fit to be used just in proportion as he realised his own unfitness. "I am a sinful man," was the utterance which made it possible for him to arise and become a saviour.