An encouraging word from Matthew 4
Biblical Israel Ministries & Tours (BIMT) is all about teaching the Bible in the context of the land of Israel and other biblical countries (Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy). We teach the historical geography of the Bible as well as archaeology, customs and culture of the land. We aim to make connections between the Bible and the land in all that we do.
This is another session in the new series of teaching videos called “Devotions from Israel.” This brief five-minute devotional comes from Matthew 4. The story of Jesus calling His first four disciples took place along the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee.
About the Devotional
Jesus spent much of His time around the Sea of Galilee. In fact, Josephus mentioned that there were over 200 Jewish towns and villages throughout the region of the Galilee. My best guess is that Jesus visited many of these places, teaching about the kingdom of God (Matthew 9).
But it was somewhere on the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee, probably near Capernaum, where Jesus called four fishermen. Their names were Peter (Simon), Andrew, James, and John. These two sets of brothers had been fishing in their boat all night when they encountered Jesus. The profession of fishing was a common one in Israel. In fact, in 1986, a First Century fishing boat was discovered off the shoreline of Nof Ginnosar. No doubt it was a boat similar to this one that these fishermen used.
The encounter recorded in Matthew 4 is a brief yet transforming one. The story involved the miracle of catching an abundance of fish. But the significance of this encounter was about Jesus inviting these four fishermen to become followers (talmidim). This Hebrew term conveys something much deeper than our concept of simply being a follower.
