Mark 1:16-20 -- The First Disciples in Bible Studies

In this passage, Jesus calls the first four disciples, two pairs of brothers: Simon and Andrew, plus James and John. The way Mark makes it sound, Jesus calls these four disciples right after meeting them, and for whatever reason, they immediately follow him. (I remember Sunday school lessons that taught me that Jesus was just that impressive!) Mark also makes it sound like there are two instances of calling disciples here; Jesus calls Simon and Andrew, then walks a bit further and calls James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

The other gospels give some context, and show that the Sunday school lesson wasn't quite right. Luke chapter 5 says Jesus first asked Simon to take him out on his boat so he could preach to the people on the shore without being crowded in by them. After speaking, he paid Simon by performing a miracle to give him lots of fish; only after the miracle does he call Simon and the others as disciples. Luke also says that James and John were Simon's partners. They weren't just two other random fishermen; they were there with Simon to hear the sermon and see the miracle. Indeed, the question changes from "why did James and John leave their father Zebedee to follow this random guy" to "why didn't Zebedee go with them?"

The gospel of John gives us even more information. Andrew wasn't just Simon's brother and a fisherman. He was also a disciple of John the Baptist, and he sought out Jesus after Jesus' baptism. When Andrew came to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, he went and told Simon. So when Jesus shows up in the story in Mark and calls these first four disciples, Andrew is already convinced that Jesus is the Messiah; Simon might be already convinced as well, and from what we know of Simon's personality, his partners James and John have probably heard a lot about Jesus themselves. Then Jesus speaks to the crowd and performs a miracle in front of the four fishermen. After all this, he asks them to follow him.

One commentary notes that James and John in verse 20 "left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men..." The fact that Zebedee had employees beyond his family and apparently his own boat suggests that Zebedee and his sons were relatively wealthy for the time. Since James and John were partners with Simon and Andrew, it follows that all four of them may have been fairly wealthy.