Matthew 4:12-22

Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
    the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people dwelling in darkness
    have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
    on them a light has dawned.”
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Matthew 4:12-22

We first learn (and Jesus learns) that John had been arrested.  This is perhaps a marker of the events that are taking place.  Perhaps also a sign that John's ministry is coming to a close and Jesus' ministry is beginning.  In any case, Jesus leaves Nazareth and goes to Capernaum by the sea.  This is in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali.  He is right on the boarder of these two and probably very easily went from one to the other.  In any case, we hear once again of a prophecy that is being fulfilled.  Jesus is in Zebulun and Naphtali, as the prophecy states.  In addition, it talks about people dwelling in darkness and seeing a great light.  This light is obviously referring to Jesus.

Now Jesus begins preaching.  What he says is, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.  This is exactly what John was preaching in the last chapter.  I guess Jesus really is picking up where John had left off.

Jesus, walking by the sea, calls his first disciples, Simon and Andrew.  It is mentioned that Simon is the one who is called Peter.  Perhaps this is because he was then known as Simon, but by the time of writing the book of Matthew everyone knew him as Peter.  They were fishing, which is fitting since they were fishermen.  Jesus calls them to follow him, saying something very interesting and unique, "I will make you fishers of men".  They were called to "catch" men the way people catch fish.  Jesus was referring to people's salvation in following him.  In any case, they immediately leave their nets to follow Jesus.  To be called to such a thing was a great honor and opportunity, and their reaction shows that this is something they wanted.  We read also of James and John who are called.  These two also immediately leave to follow Jesus.

This calling isn't something that was clearly out of the blue.  They certainly knew what they were being called to and knew enough about Jesus that they wanted to follow him.  If they didn't know enough, why would they leave everything just to follow some random person they knew nothing about?  Sure, I doubt any of them could've imagined where following Jesus would've lead them, but they had enough of an idea to leave everything.

There were actually more than one kind of "following" with regards to following Jesus.  John 1 to see Andrew and Simon "follow" Jesus prior to his calling to them.  There is probably a different kind of following prior to being called to follow.  In any case, Jesus goes to Capernaum and calls his first disciples.