Brothers in Arms!

The 1954 movie Sabrina was remade in 1995 with Harrison Ford and Greg Kinnear – two polar opposite brothers who fall in love with the same girl, the chauffeur’s daughter who returns from Paris with a fancy hairstyle and sexy look. Brotherly love and rivalry fill the pages of the Bible, starting with Cain and Abel and continuing through Esau and Jacob, Joseph and his eleven brothers, and David and his brothers. It’s no wonder Jesus’s ministry, too, began with two pairs of brothers, surprisingly united in the same mission.

“And walking along the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting in the sea because they were fishermen. Jesus said to them: Follow me. I will make you be fishers of people. And immediately, leaving the net, they followed him. And going a little far, he saw Jacob (or James), the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother. They were in a boat mending their nets. Immediately, he called them. And leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants, they followed him.” (Mark 1:16–20)

In Galilee, fishermen followed two styles of fishing. They tossed a single hook line (ankistron) and caught fish one at a time (Matt 24:27). Or, they cast a net (diktyon) and dragged a large group of fish (John 21:11). Peter, Andrew, Jacob, and John were of the second category – casting nets and catching large quantify of fish. Seeing them, Jesus asked them to follow him no longer to catch fish but people. They found his calling and challenge appealing and followed him.

To leave the story on this surface level is to miss the overall symbolic meaning of the passage. The entire story of the Hebrews was based on brotherly rivalry. Not only did Cain kill Abel, Jacob steal Esau’s birthright, and Joseph’s brothers sell him to slavery, but also the nation of Israel was divided into the northern and southern kingdoms since the time of Solomon’s sons. The prophets dreamed and envisioned a time when the brotherly enmity would end. Isaiah, for example, said,

The Lord Almighty's vineyard is Israel; the vines he delights are Judah (5:7).

The Lord will be a holy place for Israel and Judah (8:14).

He will gather from exile Israel and assemble the scattered Judah (11:12).

Jeremiah said,

On the Day of the Lord, the people of Judah will join the people of Israel, and the northern kingdom will come together with the southern kingdom and inherit the land (3:18).

What better way to picture this unity than by gathering two pairs of brothers who are opposites? Simeon and Jacob were typical Hebrew names and were Hebrew of Hebrews. Andrew and John were Greek names and were Hellenistic (Greek) Hebrews. But they were brothers, and the Lord wanted them as his first four disciples. From the onset of his ministry, he set the tone of God’s rule where Jews and Greek were brothers united in gathering people, just as they once gathered fishes in a net.

True to the Lord’s calling, the disciples stayed faithful for the rest of their lives. Peter ministered in Jerusalem and Rome. Andrew preached and was martyred in Turkey. Jacob was the first martyr in Jerusalem, and John died on the Island of Patmos, off the coast of Turkey. They were brothers in arms, called and commissioned by their Messiah to leave the fishery and be missionaries. These men, then, called their catch “brothers and sisters.”

The call to follow him and catch people continues. If he calls us, we shouldn’t hesitate!

*English translations keep the OT Jacob as Jacob and the NT Jacobs as James-es.