Pastor's Pondering - july 2007
Many of us think that the call of the Apostles, by Jesus was instantaneous, but as we compare the call and response of Matthew and Peter we realize that the response of each man was unique. So, the call of God in each of our lives is real and personal and we each respond differently.
First, let us consider the call of Matthew. We see (in Matthew 9:9) when Jesus called Matthew his response was immediate, this was directly related to Matthew’s character. The fact that he was a tax collector tells gives us an insight to his character; (a) to be a tax collector for Rome he had to be at least 40 years old, which gave him the distinction of being the “oldest Apostle” (b) to properly fill the duties of tax collector he would need to be a businessman who would be able to make political negotiations with the many different nationalities of people passing through Capernaum and he probably was fluent in the Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Aramaic languages. Therefore, he was used to making a quick accurate evaluation that would lead to an instantaneous decision.
Peter, on the other hand, although he too was a businessman, his business of fishing and retail, showed in him, a different character. Jesus actually extended his call, some three times before Peter actually “forsook all and followed Him.” First we see, according to John1:42, that Andrew brought Peter to Jesus and at this time Jesus invited Andrew and Peter to join Him, however, they only.
Pastor John Townsend
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