Come after me and I will make you fishers of men. At once, they left their nets and followed him. Although Jesus had been introduced by his cousin John the Baptist as the latter was baptizing in the River Jordan (cf. John 1:29-34, last Sunday’s Gospel Reading), it was not until after the arrest of the Baptist by Herod that Jesus formally began his ministry. John’s arrest was “necessitated” by the fact that Jesus was John’s  supplanter. For as John himself had testified, he had to decrease in order for Jesus to increase (cf. John 3:30). John’s arrest can therefore be seen as a very subtle way through which John was “removed” from the scene. In addition, it also served as a clue to Jesus that the baton had been passed on to him. And Jesus did not waste any time. He hit the ground running as he picked up from where John had left: proclaiming the immanence of the kingdom of heaven.
The first thing that Jesus needed to do after “taking over” from John the Baptist was to establish himself. The calling of the first four disciples, namely, Peter, Andrew, James and John, was one of the ways through which Jesus accomplished this. It was a move that was occasioned by the magnitude of work that Jesus had probably foreseen as he watched the number of people who trooped to the Jordan to be baptized by John. The nearness of the kingdom which was tied to John’s preaching of repentance was a welcome news for a people who had longed for the intervention of God in the shifting fortunes of their community. For all intents and purposes, we can boldly say that John’s mission had been successful because he ‘ handed over’ to Jesus a people who were ready to receive the good news of the kingdom. 
While it might be that the pair of brothers were called to join Jesus because they were locals and would form a perfect liaison between Jesus and the community, it can also be that Jesus invited them because of another reason: their profession as fishermen. Jesus must have watched as the four were going about their business. He must have witnessed the tenacity with which they carried out their work and knew that they would be perfect for his ministry. As fishermen, Peter and company were hard working individuals who were no strangers to investing their entire beings in an expedition that sometimes did not yield anything. As professional fishermen, they must have learnt how to cope up with disappointments and heartaches that are associated with human endeavors. Their wealth of experience would be good for Jesus’ ministry. 
When Jesus gave the summons to Peter and company, he did not present them with a detailed job description, attractive job benefits, or competitive vacation packages. All that he did was to tell them, ‘ come with me.’ Although the text tells us that ‘they immediately left everything behind and followed Jesus,’ I believe they must have inquired about this project of which Jesus wanted them to be part. They must have asked Jesus why he wanted them to join him while knowing very well they were simple fishermen with no formal training in the kind of ministry in which Jesus was involved. We do not have details of the conversation they had with Jesus. However, we can assume that whatever it is that Jesus told them, it appears that the four were impressed so much so that they decided to give it a try. From thence, everything else became history. And true to Jesus’ words, Peter and his companions became fishers of men and women and formed the foundation of one of the greatest movements in the history of humanity. Even if the four had harbored doubts at the very beginning, they trusted Jesus and ‘invested’ all they had in the movement. 
The call to follow Jesus is all about trust. It might appear that Christianity is an established movement today, very much different from what it was when Jesus called his first four followers. However, the call to follow Jesus remains the same. Just like it was for Andrew, Peter, James and John, our decision to heed the call must be based upon TRUST. Jesus doesn’t call us because we are qualified. Rather, it is the call that qualifies us even as it transforms us into Jesus’ trusted allies. Jesus makes the call because he knows that we can do it. All that he asks of us is to reciprocate that trust by letting him mold and fashion us into what he wants of us.