Verse 17 says, “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” The new King continued the preaching of His forerunner, John the Baptist, that is, the preaching of repentance for the kingdom of the heavens as the preliminary to the gospel of the kingdom.
Verse 18 says, “And walking beside the sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.” The new King’s ministry was not in the capital, but beside the sea. His forerunner’s ministry began by the riverside and consisted of burying the religious ones and terminating their religion. The new King’s ministry began by the seashore and consisted of catching men who were not so religious, who lived around the sea instead of in the holy place, and making them fishers of men for the establishment of the kingdom of the heavens.
Verses 19 and 20 say, “And He said to them, Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. And immediately, leaving the nets, they followed Him.” When I read this portion of the Word as a young man, I could not understand why these fishermen suddenly followed a Nazarene who said, “Follow Me.” I thought that they must have been beside themselves. However, after a number of years of reading the Word and considering my experience, I began to understand. Andrew, one of the two disciples of John the Baptist, had brought Peter to the Lord, in the place where John preached, prior to this (John 1:35-36, 40-42). That was the first time they met the Lord. Here the Lord met them the second time, this time at the Sea of Galilee. They were attracted by the Lord as the great light in the darkness of death and followed Him for the establishment of the kingdom of the heavens in the light of life.
When Peter and Andrew were called by the Lord, they were casting a net into the sea. The Lord called them to follow Him and promised to make them fishers of men. They left the net and followed the King of the kingdom of the heavens to be the fishers of men. Eventually, Peter became the first great fisher for the establishment of the kingdom of the heavens on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:37-42; 4:4).
The same thing happened to James and John (Matt. 4:21-22). When they were called by the Lord, they were mending their nets in the boat. When the Lord called them, they left the boat and their father and followed Him. John and his brother, like Peter and Andrew, were attracted by the Lord and followed Him. Eventually, John became a real mender, mending the breakages in the church by his ministry of life. (See his three Epistles and Revelation chapters two and three.)
The calling of the four disciples was the beginning of the kingly ministry of the newly anointed King. It was the very foundation for the establishment of the kingdom of the heavens. These four disciples became the first four of the twelve Apostles. Peter and Andrew were the first pair, and James and John were the second. Thus, the first four disciples caught by the Lord Jesus became the first four foundation stones of the kingdom of God, which are four of the twelve foundations of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:14).
Verse 23 says, “And Jesus went around the whole of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.” Jesus spread His ministry by traveling throughout the whole of Galilee.
Verse 23 says that Jesus taught in the synagogues of Galilee. A synagogue is a place for the Jews to read and learn the Scriptures (Luke 4:16-17; Acts 13:14-15). The heavenly King took the opportunity to teach there.
From the beginning of His ministry, the heavenly King preached the gospel of the kingdom. The gospel in this book is called the gospel of the kingdom. It includes not only forgiveness of sins (cf. Luke 24:47) and the imparting of life (cf. John 20:31), but also the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 24:14) with the power of the coming age (Heb. 6:5) to cast out demons and heal diseases (Isa. 35:5-6; Matt, 10:1). Both forgiveness of sins and imparting of life are for the kingdom.
As the Lord traveled throughout Galilee, He healed every disease and sickness among the people. The Lord Jesus spread His ministry by doing four things: traveling, teaching, preaching, and healing. In the work of the gospel today, we also must travel, teach, preach, and heal. We need all four items; we should neither ignore the matter of healing nor look down upon it. We should not follow the practice of either fundamental Christianity, which has very little healing, or Pentecostal Christianity, which places too much emphasis upon it, even having false healings that are mere performances. Instead of following these two extremes, we should walk in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus who traveled, taught, preached, and healed. Do not think that we do not believe in miracles. We definitely believe in them. We follow the Lord’s leading to travel, preach, and heal.
Through shining as a great light, the Lord captured four young fishermen to be His disciples. These four disciples traveled with the King throughout Galilee as He taught, preached, and healed. The result was that “great crowds followed Him” (v. 25) for the kingdom of the heavens. This was the beginning of the founding of the kingdom of the heavens. It was absolutely different from the way of the world. The Lord did not start a political movement or form a political party. He did not carry on any kind of movement. In evangelism we must not follow the way of politics or the way of religion. We must follow the way of the Lord Jesus to shine upon others and to attract them by what we are. Then we must travel, teach, preach, and heal. This will attract a crowd.