Jesus called them at once, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the crew, and went after him.
in any given moment calls are heard dismissed responses are risked ignored never before or again this call comes detoured that response continues lost always again and yet a call clarifies confused a response specifies defused for now and still now called to hire on responded by quitting ancestors are bereft calls defeat traditions heresy responses break bonds exile descendants are freed calls accumulate on shoulders responses ease rolled away
Discipleship is not solitary. At the least it includes a community of learners.
Established fishing companies such as Zebedee and Sons with partners and workers may be poor in the eyes of conquering Rome and the religious leaders in Jerusalem, but are appreciated in the local community.
We are looking at community stalwarts, not naïve cult-followers. Simon, Andrew, James, and John are of an age where they look for meaning beyond financial security. They would be part of the equivalent in their day of Lunch Counter Sit-Ins, Stonewall Riots, Occupy Wall Street, and Black Lives Matter,.
There is also no reason to suspect that they were not supported, both morally and financially, by their families.
However, at this point there is not much other way to describe followers of John and Jesus than as cultists. We might also call them early-adapters.
The zeal required to follow a leader in the context of Roman occupied Palestine and previous failed revolts also carries blindered vision. The important thing is being present, a true-believer, and uncritical in recognizing any dissonance between strategy and tactics.
We will see how followers of Jesus are found by Mark to be a bit slow on the uptake. They get the healing ministry and its financial opportunities, but anything that would make them uncomfortable, such as suffering and dying, comes later.