Matthew 4:20 describes two fishermen who dropped their work the moment Jesus called them and went with him. The verse shows that when Jesus issues a call, the right response is immediate and wholehearted, even when it costs a livelihood. It is spoken by Matthew as narrator, describing Jesus calling Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, two fishermen working on the Sea of Galilee.
They immediately left their nets and followed him.
Matthew 4:20 (WEB)
What Matthew 4:20 Means
The verse begins with “They immediately left.” The word “immediately” stresses speed. Matthew does not describe a debate, a family meeting, or a season of thinking it over. Two men heard a short invitation and moved. That tells you something about how Matthew wants the reader to see discipleship: it begins with a decision made quickly once the person sees who is speaking.
“Their nets” points to what they were leaving. For Peter and Andrew, the nets were the tools of their trade and very likely their income for the week ahead. Leaving them meant stepping away from security, routine and an identity as a working man on the lake. The verse ends with “and followed him,” which is the heart of the matter. Following is a relationship of going where someone leads, not simply agreeing with what they say.
The verse does not promise that following Jesus will be easy, comfortable or financially rewarding for these two men or for anyone else. It also does not say that every believer must abandon a trade. It records what happened and sets it before the reader as an example of how a call from Jesus can be answered.
The Context of Matthew 4:20
Matthew’s Gospel was written for a community that knew the Jewish scriptures well and wanted to see how Jesus fit into the story of Israel. Tradition attributes the book to Matthew, a former tax collector and one of the twelve disciples. Its first audience was most likely Jewish Christians, so the early chapters are full of connections to the Old Testament and to Israel’s hope for a king.
Just before this verse, Matthew says Jesus began to preach that the Kingdom of Heaven was near. Verse 19 records the call itself: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men.” The verse under study is the response. Read in that setting, Peter and Andrew are not simply leaving work. They are answering a summons to join a new work of gathering people into the kingdom, and their quick obedience becomes the first picture of what that looks like in practice.
Key Phrases in Matthew 4:20
Luke 5:11
When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything, and followed him.
(WEB)
Luke records the same episode from another angle and adds that the men left everything to follow Jesus. Reading both accounts shows that the abandonment of their work was complete and deliberate, not a small side move.
Mark 1:18
Immediately they left their nets, and followed him.
(WEB)
Mark gives a shorter version of the same call, with the same phrase about leaving the nets. Seeing it in Mark strengthens the sense that this moment was central to how the early church remembered the beginning of discipleship.
A Short Prayer From Matthew 4:20
Lord Jesus, you called Peter and Andrew from their nets and they went with you without delay. Help me to hear your voice clearly and to answer when you call. Show me the things I hold too tightly and give me the courage to set them down when you ask. Teach me to trust that you will walk with me on the road ahead. Amen.
