Five of the men that Jesus called to be “fishers of men” left careers in commercial fishing in order to follow Him.
A quick review of these five shows the diversity in their personalities and some things Jesus said about them.
The best known is Peter, an impulsive, outspoken man who sometimes promised Jesus more than he was able to deliver at the time—that is, until he was changed at Pentecost. He was one of the three in Jesus’ “inner circle” and took a leadership role among the 12. He recognized Jesus as the Messiah, denied Jesus three times, and did a turn-around when he became a bold preacher of the good news, even baptizing Gentiles. He wrote the letters we find in I Peter and II Peter.
James, the son of Zebedee, was another fisherman, a person who was ambitious, short-tempered, judgmental but deeply committed to Jesus Christ. He was one of the three in the inner circle, asking at one point that Jesus put himself and brother John in a place of honor in the coming kingdom. He was the first disciple to be martyred. Jesus, calling James one of the “Sons of Thunder”, said that James would drink the same cup that Jesus drank.
John, son of Zebedee and brother of James and the third man in the inner circle, was an ambitious man, also one of the “Sons of Thunder”. Later, he became very loving and received instructions from Jesus (while on the cross) to care for Jesus’ mother Mary. John had once wanted to call down fire to destroy a Samaritan village but later became a leader in the Jerusalem church. He wrote the Gospel of John, the letters of I John, II John, and III John, as well as the book of Revelation.
Andrew, brother of Peter, was marked by an eagerness to bring others to Jesus Christ. He accepted the testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus and subsequently told his brother Peter about Jesus. He was the disciple who once told Jesus that Greeks wanted to see Him. Jesus told Andrew he would fish for people.
The fifth fisherman was Philip, a man with a questioning attitude. Scripture tells us that Philip told Nathaniel (later also called to be a disciple) about Jesus Christ. He wondered out loud how Jesus could feed 5,000 people and, along with Andrew, told Jesus that Greeks wanted to see Him. Jesus asked Philip if he realized that to know and see Him was to know and see the Father.