Matthew 4:21

Berean Standard Bible

Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them,

King James Bible

And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

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This verse continues the account of Jesus’ calling of His first disciples. It follows immediately after the calling of Simon Peter and Andrew, expanding the circle of the early followers to include two more brothers—James and John, the sons of Zebedee. With this verse, the Gospel writer not only documents a historical moment in the formation of Jesus' inner circle, but also continues to unfold the deep theology of discipleship, the nature of divine calling, and the radical reordering of human identity in light of the kingdom of God.

Jesus "going on from there" signifies more than a mere change of physical location. It represents the unfolding movement of the kingdom. Jesus, having already called two disciples, continues His purposeful journey. He does not remain in one place waiting for disciples to come to Him—He seeks them. He goes to where they are. This is consistent with the entire mission of the Incarnation: God moving toward humanity, walking among the ordinary, calling the unlikely. Jesus does not establish a throne and summon the world to approach; He walks the shores and calls fishermen in the middle of their daily tasks.

The mention of “two other brothers” immediately draws a parallel with the previous account of Simon and Andrew. Jesus is forming a community, a brotherhood of faith built not upon bloodlines or social structures but upon obedience to His call. These men are ordinary and unremarkable in the eyes of the world, yet they are seen and chosen. That they are brothers is not incidental. The kingdom Jesus is building is not just a collection of individual followers, but a community knit together in relationship. It begins with familial ties but will soon transcend them, as Jesus later declares that whoever does the will of His Father is His brother, sister, and mother.

James and John are described as being "in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets." This detail is rich in symbolic and practical meaning. The boat and the nets represent their livelihood, much like the nets that Peter and Andrew were casting when Jesus called them. But here, instead of casting nets to catch fish, they are mending them—a subtle yet profound difference. Casting is active, forward-facing, about present labor and immediate results. Mending, on the other hand, is about preparation, restoration, and readiness. It suggests an attentiveness to what is broken, a desire to restore what is necessary for future work. This detail may foreshadow the role these men will later play in strengthening the Church, restoring the broken, and preparing others for the work of the kingdom.

The presence of Zebedee, the father of James and John, also introduces another layer of theological tension. In the Jewish context, family ties, especially those between fathers and sons, were sacrosanct. To remain in the father’s house, to carry on his trade, and to preserve his legacy were cultural and religious expectations. The fact that Jesus calls James and John while they are in the boat with their father is not coincidental. It highlights the cost of discipleship. The call of Jesus may require leaving behind even the most sacred earthly bonds. This echoes Jesus’ later words that anyone who loves father or mother more than Him is not worthy of Him. It is not that Jesus despises familial relationships, but that His call lays claim to the highest loyalty.

When the verse concludes with the phrase "and he called them," it places all the weight and authority on Jesus’ initiative. They do not ask to be His disciples. They do not apply for the role. He calls. And with that call comes a complete shift in their trajectory. The authority of Jesus' call is sovereign. It interrupts, it summons, it creates a new identity. It is not an offer to consider, but a directive to obey. The simplicity of the phrase masks its profundity. “He called them” means that their lives, once oriented around business, family, and survival, are now being redirected toward kingdom mission, spiritual fellowship, and the bearing of eternal fruit.

What is striking is how Jesus sees and calls these men not because of their qualifications but in the very context of their current life and work. He meets them while they are doing what they know—working with their hands, maintaining their trade, contributing to their household. There is no dramatic spiritual setting, no religious ritual in progress. There is no indication that they were seeking Him or preparing themselves for something holy. Yet He sees them. He speaks. And in speaking, He redefines everything.

This verse, like the previous one, also reinforces the pattern that God’s call disrupts normalcy. The boat, the nets, and even the father—symbols of structure, purpose, and identity—are all about to be left behind. Jesus is not simply offering these men a new task, but a new life. He is calling them from what is good to what is greater. He is calling them from the temporal to the eternal. And He does so without manipulation or explanation. The sheer authority of His presence and word is enough to draw them.

Thus, Matthew 4:21 is not simply a transition between the calling of Peter and Andrew and the response of James and John. It is a theological declaration about the nature of God's call. It reminds us that discipleship begins with Jesus’ initiative. It underscores the radical cost of following Him. It shows us that Christ does not avoid the ordinary but infuses it with divine purpose. And it teaches us that to be called by Jesus is to be called away from self-determined purpose into a vocation shaped entirely by the will of God.

Moreover, this verse challenges the reader. If Jesus is still walking and calling today, how many of us are still in the boat with Zebedee, carefully mending our nets, trying to preserve what we have, while the voice of the Savior calls us into something deeper? How many of us delay our response because we fear what we must leave? How often do we hear but hesitate, see but stay, sense His presence but resist His pull?

Ultimately, the significance of Matthew 4:21 is not only what the men saw or did in that moment, but that the One who called them is the same Lord who calls us now. And in every generation, that call has the same force: to leave behind what defines us apart from Him and to step into a life shaped entirely by the One who sees, speaks, and sends. The same Jesus who saw James and John in the boat with their father sees us where we are. And He calls—not merely for a decision, but for a surrender, not merely for a following, but for a transformation.

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To all who are beloved in Christ Jesus,

to those called by grace, washed by the blood of the Lamb, and set apart for the purposes of the kingdom,

to the saints scattered in every nation under heaven,

greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God.

I write to you as a fellow servant and a fellow follower, one who has heard the call of the Master and left the comfort of the familiar to walk the narrow road after Him. The Spirit has stirred my heart to reflect upon that sacred moment recorded in the Gospel, when the Lord passed along the shores of Galilee and found James and John, the sons of Zebedee, in the boat with their father, mending their nets, and He called them.

Beloved, do not think of this as a quaint historical detail or a charming anecdote. It is a divine interruption—an event soaked in glory and bursting with meaning. It is the call of the King to men caught in the rhythm of ordinary life, summoned into the eternal purposes of God. Jesus, the Word made flesh, the Light of the world, did not call them from a synagogue, nor from a mountain of prayer, but from a boat—from their place of labor, their place of family, their place of daily provision. There is no chasm between the sacred and the ordinary when Christ draws near. His feet step into the dirt of our daily routines and His voice pierces through the clatter of the familiar.

The Lord saw them in the boat. He saw them with their father. He saw them mending nets—preparing for another day of the same kind of labor they had likely done for years. But He saw them not only for what they were in that moment, but for what they would become. And when He called them, He did not ask them to add Him into their lives, but to leave everything and follow Him into a new one. Here, we see the glory and the cost of discipleship. For the Lord does not come to be a supplement to our plans, but the sovereign over our path. He calls not for a portion of our time or a slice of our devotion, but for everything.

Consider, brothers and sisters, the moment these men found themselves in. They were in the boat, with their father, with their nets. The boat—symbol of security, livelihood, identity. The father—symbol of family, tradition, expectation. The nets—symbol of labor, preparation, and purpose. In this one moment, the call of Christ reached into all of these areas and laid claim to them all. There was no part of their life left untouched. And they were not called to abandon the value of these things, but to reorder them under the supreme value of following Christ.

This is the same call that comes to us. We may not be in literal boats or holding physical nets, but each of us knows what it is to build a life around things we can control—our work, our family roles, our dreams, our securities. Yet when the voice of Christ calls, He calls us to surrender all that we are, all that we have, and all that we expect, to the lordship of the One who calls us not into ease but into purpose. And this purpose is not shallow. The Lord was not calling James and John into adventure for adventure’s sake. He was calling them into His mission—to know Him, to walk with Him, and to labor in the harvest of souls.

Notice also that He called them. They did not seek Him first. They did not submit a request or prove their worthiness. He called. And in that calling, He claimed. It was not a polite invitation but a royal summons. And it is the same with us. Our discipleship did not begin with our desire, but with His initiative. The Shepherd seeks the sheep. The King selects His servants. The Lord who called James and John by name calls us still. What grace is this, that the Creator of all would speak directly into the lives of the unknown, the unremarkable, the unprepared—and make them pillars of His kingdom?

Let this truth pierce your heart: you are not where you are by accident. The Lord sees you. Whether you are mending your nets, managing your household, tending your business, or simply surviving the trials of life, His eye is upon you. And when He calls, it is not only to salvation, but to surrender. Not only to be cleansed, but to be commissioned. You are not just called to believe in Him—you are called to follow Him. To walk behind Him. To walk with Him. To walk into the unknown, trusting that where He leads is better than anything we leave behind.

Do not think lightly of the fact that James and John were with their father. The Gospel makes clear that to follow Jesus may cost us even the deepest relational ties. The allegiance we give to Christ must be supreme. Family is a gift, but it is not our god. Work is necessary, but it is not our security. The call of Christ may demand painful obedience—but it never demands what He does not supply the grace to accomplish. And those who leave boats, nets, and even fathers for His sake will find that they have lost nothing and gained everything.

So I exhort you, beloved: examine your own life. Are you still in the boat when you know the Lord has called you to the shore? Are you still mending the nets of a life you built for yourself when He has already summoned you to build with Him a kingdom that cannot be shaken? Have you heard His call, but delayed your response? The Gospel does not wait for convenience. The time is now. The call is still going out. He is still walking among His people, still looking into the lives of the willing, still calling for full allegiance and radical surrender.

And remember this: those who follow Christ do not walk into obscurity. James and John would later be part of His closest circle. They would witness His glory, share His sufferings, and carry His message. Their obedience on the shore became a life of eternal significance. Your surrender may seem small at first, but the Lord does not waste it. Every step taken in obedience leads further into the life He alone can give.

May the Spirit grant you ears to hear the voice of the Lord, courage to answer Him, and strength to forsake all that competes with His claim. May you find, as those first disciples did, that when Christ calls, He is not calling you away from life but into it. And may the peace of the One who still walks the shores and still calls the willing rest upon you always.

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Holy and sovereign Lord, eternal God of covenant and compassion, we draw near to You with reverence and awe, for You are the One who walks the shores of human lives and calls ordinary men and women into the extraordinary purpose of Your kingdom. You are not a distant deity who waits in temples of stone, but the Living God who steps into boats, who speaks into the middle of daily labor, who calls not the qualified but the willing, not the powerful but the obedient.

We remember today the sacred moment recorded in Your Word—when Your Son, Jesus Christ, walked further along the Sea of Galilee and saw James and John, the sons of Zebedee, in the boat with their father, mending their nets. We see, Lord, that You came not only to preach but to call; not only to proclaim the nearness of the kingdom, but to summon hearts to leave behind what was familiar and safe, and to follow You into the unknown with trust and surrender. And in that image—two brothers with their father, preparing for the next day’s work—we see ourselves. We see our own nets, our own boats, our own habits and securities, our attachments to what we know and what we think we need. And then we hear the call.

Lord Jesus, You who called James and John from their boat, You who spoke with authority yet without force, who interrupted their routines with grace and truth—speak again to us. Call us as You did them. Let Your voice break through the noise of our world, through the clamor of our busyness, through the comfort of our routines. Call us not because we are ready, but because You are merciful. Call us not because we are useful, but because You are sovereign. Call us not because we understand everything, but because You are worthy of being followed, even when the destination is hidden from our eyes.

We acknowledge, Lord, that we often sit in the boat too long. We mend our nets as though there is no greater task. We cling to the familiarity of old patterns, even when You are standing on the shore, waiting for us to rise and come after You. We ask for Your forgiveness for every time we delayed obedience, every time we valued comfort more than calling, every time we preferred inheritance over intimacy, and work over worship. Forgive us, Lord, when we have loved the boat more than the voice that calls us from it.

We do not overlook the presence of Zebedee in this moment. You called James and John to leave not only their nets, but their father. You showed us that Your call, while always righteous, is never safe by the world’s standards. It may divide loyalties. It may demand the painful letting go of what is good in order to receive what is best. Teach us, O God, that even the sacred structures of our lives—family, career, reputation—must all bend before the weight of Your call. Give us the courage to follow You when it costs us something. Give us the faith to know that You are no man's debtor, and that whatever we leave behind for Your sake will be repaid in joy beyond measure.

Make us alert, Lord, to Your movement. Let us not only wait for sacred moments in temples, but recognize that You call us even in boats, in shops, in offices, in homes. Let us not wait for perfection or clarity before responding. Let our trust rise to meet Your command. And as You call, shape in us the heart of true disciples. Let us not merely admire You from afar, but walk closely behind You. Let us not be content to know about You, but to know You deeply, to love You fully, to serve You wholly.

We ask, too, Lord, that You would not only call us, but knit us into the fellowship of those who are also called. You called James and John together, as brothers. You placed them not in solitary obedience, but in community. So place us with fellow laborers, with spiritual siblings, with those who will walk with us, challenge us, encourage us, and weep with us. Let us not follow You as isolated wanderers, but as a body joined by a common calling and a shared Savior.

And above all, Lord, we thank You. We thank You that You still call. We thank You that You see us—not just in our sin or in our striving, but in our potential, in our future, in the story You are writing. We thank You that You are patient with us when we hesitate, that You are persistent in Your mercy, that You do not stop calling even when our hands are full of nets. We thank You that You know our name, and that You summon us into a life we could never have imagined, a life marked not by fear but by purpose, not by comfort but by glory.

So now, Lord, here we are. Speak again. Call again. And give us hearts that rise, feet that move, and lives that follow You wherever You lead. Whether to the shore or to the storm, to the mountain or the cross, let us follow. Let us be found faithful. Let us be found ready. For You are worthy of our leaving, worthy of our following, and worthy of our everything.

In the holy name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master, we pray. Amen.