The disciple follows Christ closely, not at a distance. As a follower he is ready to be associated with his Lord, and not ashamed of him. He is ready to be known to be a disciple of Christ. He holds on to discipleship no matter what scorn or derision or persecution comes as a result. He is not a follower who dodges the difficulties when times get tough, by hanging back in the hope that people will not realise his association with his Master. This failing and terrible inconsistency was what so troubled Peter when he denied the Lord. A disciple loves to sit at the feet of his Master and receive instruction. He is convinced that there is nowhere he would rather be, and nowhere he could more profitably be. A follower may have to forsake much for his Master’s sake. He now lives to please his Master and alters his life accordingly. He counts the cost of following up front, so that he does not start what he cannot finish.
Fish are caught by a net of ropes; men and women are caught in the gospel net through the preaching of the gospel by a net of mercy and loving kindness. Fish are caught to die; men are caught to live eternally. Fish try to evade the net and must be encircled to cut off their escape; sinners try to evade the net, not by swimming but by justifying themselves, minimising or denying their sin, and putting in place a wall of unbelief and prejudice against the gospel. Much of the preacher’s skill will involve interacting with human unbelief as it tries to avoid the full force of the gospel. The preacher must surround men and women with gospel truth. He must show that there is no possibility of evading the judgment of God; there is no hiding from him who sees the secrets of the heart; there is no way to reduce the shame and the seriousness of sin. All must face the judgment of God and the day of reckoning, and without forgiveness, will be dragged down body and soul into perdition. The fisherman constructs his net of fibres which will not break; the preacher constructs his net of truths that cannot be denied, truths taken from the word of God. He does not substitute lessons on moral improvement for the cross of Christ, for the preaching of the cross is the only message God has said he will bless. The preacher imitates his Lord who said, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’. Fishermen lower their net into the dark waters where they cannot see what goes on beneath; preachers lower their nets into the minds of people whose thoughts they cannot see. It was Christ who caused the fish to swim into the net on the occasion of the miraculous catch of fishes; it is Christ by the Spirit who causes sinners to be brought under conviction and enlightened and caused to flee to Christ for mercy and forgiveness. The fish regrets greatly that it has swum into the net; the enlightened sinner rejoices greatly that he has been caught in Christ’s net, and would rather be nowhere else. All these fishing skills Christ would teach his disciples through his training program over the next three years. Only he can make us to be skilful fishers of men.
Although the Greek word translated ‘follow’ is strictly speaking ‘come to’ or ‘come here to’, the translation is justified by the word used in verse 20 to describe their response: ‘and followed him’.