The Calling of the Apostles

[Wm777]

Do you think St Matthew’s response to his first encounter with Christ was miraculous?

The way it is written - it happened the same way with Andrew, Peter, James and John… They just got up and followed him…

If I recall correctly, the only one who seemed to engage in any dialogue prior to following was Nathanael. To Nathanael, when Christ identified the fig tree, it meant something strong enough for him to have a change of mind.

It’s hard to imagine why the Boanerges left Zebedee in the boat. But it doesn’t seem like they abandoned him. We know James and John wouldn’t have abandoned their parents in following Jesus because their Mother was the one who asked that each son sit on either side of Christ in his reign. That makes it sound as if Zebedee was only left in the boat temporarily.

The way the Bible reads, it sounds like the apostles just dropped everything and miraculously by divine revelation started following Jesus; but could their callings have still somehow been more normal and sensible to our human understanding?

 

[otjm]

A little perspective might help. They were not successful business people; they were scratching to make enough to survive on. It was not like they had a loan on the boat with Chase Bank, or worked for Trident Seafoods. And given the size of communities and how fast word could get around about someone like Christ, it is no real surprise that people of faith (and they all appeared to be good practicing Jews) would be attracted to Christ and follow him upon even a small invitation. I don’t see anything particularly miraculous about it; it was obvious that Christ was a very dynamic and well-known figure. And keep in mind, in John’s Gospel, there are 72 disciples - people who seemed to follow Jesus as much as the Apostles did.

 

[Dan_Defender]

I feel that in the case of Matthew, it is more significant because as a tax-gatherer at Capharnaum, he collected custom duties for Herod Antipas. So his following Jesus would be considered strange by others.

 

[Nita]

There are many instances of people changing in a moment. All one has to do is read conversion stories to have examples of that. For example, St. Paul, in Scripture. A single moment/event brought him from being a persecutor of Christians to an apostle for Christianity. Throughout the ages there have been more like him – and continue to be.