Mark 1:19-20

When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

From Background Notes [BN] for Nov 1st & 2nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Until Jesus showed up, all of these brothers shared in the good life for persons with their commercial opportunities.

 

They left behind solid income-producing jobs with the benefit of high demand for their product.  Which leads us to investigate the nature of the fishing industry in the first century:

At Bethsaida the government of Philip Herod sold fishing rights to wealthy individuals with the means of underwriting a large business, and they sublet the rights to fishermen. The fishermen paid a hefty tax to the investors and little love was lost between them. Matthew, the tax collector, may have been one of these. Five of the apostles—Peter, Andrew, James, John and Philip—came from Bethsaida.   [BN,4-5]

Join us this week in Study, Worship, Praise and Celebration at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene:

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am