Briefing: Imagine Jesus is walking through your jurisdiction. You have heard of Him, you may have even heard Him speak. As He is walking by, He looks directly at you and says, “Come follow me”. What would you do?

Dispatch (Assignment): Read Matthew 4:18-25.

On the Street: Growing up, I always had a fear that God was going to call me to be a missionary. I cringed at the thought of having to live in a mud hut in Africa.

Here we see Jesus recruiting missionaries. He is not asking them to go to Africa or China. He is asking them to serve in their own country. Jesus walks into our jurisdiction and tells us to come with Him. “I will make you fishers of men”. As a police officer, I can relate to this statement. I used to “fish” for drunk drivers. You know, go to your favorite hole where the chances of catching your favorite prey are really good, someplace where you have had success in the past.

Jesus calls us to be fishers of men right where we are. Have you been casting your net, or line, in your pond? We all have a sphere of influence, people who we hang out with, work with, family, and friends. As a law enforcement officer, we are in a particularly rich environment. We see people at their worst. This is the time when they need Christ the most! The fish are jumping! Is your line in the water?

Highlights from this Read: In verse twenty-two, it describes their response as, “immediately”. This needs to be our response (Luke 9:59-62).

James and John were part of Jesus’ inner circle (Matthew 17:1, Mark 5:37 and Mark 14:33-40). We will see this again as we move through Matthew.

Verses twenty-three through twenty-five sum up Jesus’ ministry. Here we see Him teaching, preaching and healing. As long as He was healing the physical ailments and meeting the physical needs of the crowd, they followed Him. These people flocked to Him for physical healing.

In verse eighteen, Jesus called Andrew. Jesus had met him before, see John 1:39.

Investigational Resources: In the Old Testament the idea of being a fisher of men would not have been a good thing. It usually meant judgment as seen in Jeremiah 16:14-16 and Amos 4:2.

You can also read about Jesus calling the disciples to “fish for men” in Mark 1:16-20, Luke 5:2-11 and John 1:35-42.

Officer Safety Principle: Obey the call of Jesus. He is not going to call you to anything that He has not already prepared you to do. Can you imagine Jesus telling you, “Come follow me, I’ll make you fisher of LEOs”?

from The Gospel of Matthew Through the Eyes of a Cop
©by Charles Gilliland. Used by permission.
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