Page 65 - Advanced Life of Christ - Student Textbook

Jesus Calls Disciples and Then Apostles (Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20; Matthew 4:23-25, Mark
1:35-39 and Luke 4:42-44; Luke 5:1-11; Matthew 9:9-13; Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 6:12-16)

Jesus had earlier met Peter and Andrew in Judea when he was with John the Baptist, but evidently after
the miracle of Cana, they returned to Capernaum to return to their trade – fishing. Now the Gospels tell
us that Jesus was walking by the sea and he called to them again asking them to follow Him. At the
same time, he called James and John, both sons of Zebedee, to leave their trade of fishing and to come
and follow him full-time as disciples.

In the culture of first century Judaism,
the calling of disciples required the
disciple to abandon home and
profession and travel with the rabbi.
By day the disciple would find day-work
and then put the wages in a common
bag. A rabbi who had disciples
following him generally traveled from
place to place. In the case of Jesus, his
home base was Capernaum, but from
there He and his disciples traveled up
to 80 miles away at times and were
gone for several months.
Ancient Synagogue in Capernaum
In Jesus’ early Galilean ministry, many began to follow Him as disciples, not just the 12 that were chosen
by Jesus Himself. Some would come and go, others followed unfailingly.

Tax Collecting by Rome

In Matthew 9: 9-13, Jesus called Matthew the tax collector to follow Him, which he did immediately. In
Mark 3: 13-19 Jesus called out of all the disciples twelve men who were to be not only the men Jesus
would pour His life into, but also those who would become the Apostles of the Church. This was done
rather late in Jesus’ Galilean ministry as Jesus knew His enemies were growing and that His time among
them was to be short.

It is interesting that the Roman government farmed out the job of collecting taxes. Regional tax
collectors bid for the responsibility of taxing a certain area, and then they generated their own income
by collecting a surplus over and above what Rome expected. This system invited abuse and those
associated with it were usually very unpopular among the Jews.

The New Testament indicates that the occupation of “tax collector” (or “publican”) was looked down
upon by the general populace.

The Pharisees communicated their disdain for tax collectors in one of their early confrontations with
Jesus. The Lord was eating a meal with “many tax collectors and sinners . . ., for there were many who
followed him.” When the Pharisees noticed this, “they asked his disciples: ‘Why does he eat with tax
collectors and sinners?’” (Mark 2:15–16). A “sinner,” to a Pharisee, was a Jew who did not follow the
Law (plus the Pharisees’ own rules). And a “tax collector” was—well, a tax collector.

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