Agnostic Bible Study w/ Joe Teel
Studying the Bible, religions, and belief systems honestly.
This show features verse-by-verse breakdowns, historical context, and thoughtful conversations about the texts that have shaped the world. No preaching. No attacks. Just thoughtful exploration of ancient texts and modern beliefs.
Agnostic Bible Study w/ Joe Teel
Jesus Calls the First Disciples: 4 Gospels, 3 Versions? | Mark 1:16-20 | ABS EP 14
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The calling of Jesus’ first disciples is one of those Bible scenes that feels familiar until you actually read it slowly. A stranger walks up to working fishermen and says two words, “Follow me,” and Mark tells us they leave immediately. No backstory, no negotiation, no explanation. When you sit with that pace and that cost, the story starts to feel less like a church slogan and more like a genuinely disruptive moment that begs for honest questions.
We take a neutral, curious approach and work verse by verse through Mark 1:16–20, paying attention to concrete details like the Sea of Galilee as a real working lake, the likely setting near Capernaum, and what “fishers of people” could have meant in the mouths of first-time hearers. Then we put the calling narrative side by side with the other gospels. Matthew tracks Mark so closely that it raises natural questions about the synoptic relationship and whether one writer used another as a source. Luke, on the other hand, turns the same basic moment into a bigger scene with crowds, teaching from a boat, a miraculous catch of fish, and a deeper emotional reaction from Peter.
From there we zoom out into the big topics listeners love: eyewitness claims, Markan priority, literary dependency, editorial fatigue, and why “Lucan tradition” is even a thing. John adds the final twist by placing Peter and Andrew’s first meeting with Jesus in a different setting and then echoing Luke’s fishing miracle themes in John 21 at the end of the story. Did something like this happen twice, or did a shared tradition get moved around to make different theological points? If you care about gospel comparisons, historical Jesus questions, or just learning how to read the Bible more carefully, you’ll have a lot to chew on here.
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Welcome And Method
SPEAKER_00What's going on, and welcome to another episode of the Agnostic Bible study. I'm your host, Joe Till, and today is a verse-by-verse breakdown episode. We'll be looking at Jesus calling his first disciples, and we'll be starting in Mark and then comparing that same story against the other gospels. Spoiler alert. The comparison section is especially wild today, but that's all I'll say. You'll have to stick around and see why. Now remember, this is us trying to approach the Bible from a neutral, curious perspective. It's not about trying to convert anybody or deconvert anybody, it's about slowing down, opening up the text, and asking honest questions. So whether you believe or you don't believe or you don't know what to believe, you are welcome here at the Agnostic Bible study. Let's get into it. Alright,
Recap Of Mark Chapter One
SPEAKER_00so we're back with our goal of breaking down every single verse in the Gospel of Mark. But before we dive in today, let's do a quick recap of chapter one. So, first, John appears in the wilderness, he builds up a pretty significant crowd and is baptizing people in the Jordan River. In those days, Jesus walks up and gets baptized. After he is baptized, the Spirit drives him into the wilderness for 40 days where he battles temptations from Satan. Then last week, we see Jesus heading back up to Galilee to start his ministry, where he is proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. Now, this week we see Jesus calling his first disciples. When I first started preparing this episode, I was worried. I was like, this might be a shorter episode than normal. But then I got deeper into the research and I started comparing this story across the different gospels. And I was like, oh no, this is good. And this is going to be probably a longer episode than I anticipated. But bear with me, the payoff is worth it in the end. So let's jump right into the action with our verses of the day. I'm
Mark’s Fast And Abrupt Call
SPEAKER_00in Mark chapter one, sixteen through twenty. As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people. And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little further, he saw James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. For those that watch the show, you know that I like to go phrase by phrase, that seems to be the easiest way when breaking down verses. So our first phrase is, as Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee. This might seem like a simple detail, but there's actually a lot that we can draw from this. First off, the Sea of Galilee is going to be central to Jesus' ministry, especially in the Synoptic Gospels, which you know are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. If you trace where Jesus goes in the Gospel of Mark, this area keeps coming up over and over and over again. At one point, I actually went through the entire book of Mark and wrote down every single location. And what stood out is this region becomes his hub. And it's also worth noting that this isn't really a sea, it's a lake, a large freshwater lake. So when we hear the Sea of Galilee, it could sound bigger or more distant than it actually is. But this is a real physical place with towns, fishing activity, and daily life happening around it. And that brings up another question, because in the very next scene, Jesus is going to be in the town of Capernaum. Simon and Andrew, who are about to be introduced, are connected to that area. They have a home there. So when the writer of Mark says Jesus is walking along the Sea of Galilee, can we assume that this is near Capernaum? We're not told directly, but it makes a lot of sense geographically. That's what I would call an educated guess. And if you want to see Capernaum here, look on the map. Bing. And Capernaum becomes important because as the story develops, it starts to function as almost like the base of operations, a kind of headquarters for Jesus' ministry. So this isn't just a random walk by the water. This is likely happening in a place that's going to show up again and again and again. Let's move to the next phrase. He saw Simon and his brother Andrew, and then we are introduced to the brothers Simon, who is most commonly known as Peter, and his brother Andrew. This is our introduction to them in the Gospel of Mark. No explanation, no buildup, just a small background that they are fishermen. It is interesting that these seem to be random guys, but they will later become central figures in the Christian movement. But right now, he just names them in the scene. And what they're doing when he sees them matters too. Let's get to the next phrase. Casting a net into the sea. This is one of those details that seems small, but it actually brings the whole scene to life. They're working. This isn't a staged moment. This isn't them sitting around waiting for a teacher or some adventure for them to go off on. They're in the middle of their job. And this was common work in the Galilee region. Fishing was a normal, vital part of life around the lake. And it wasn't casual. This was labor, early mornings, physical work, dependence on the water. So when Mark tells you they're casting a net, he's placing this moment right in the middle of everyday life. Nothing about this suggests they were expecting anything to happen. No indication that they were searching, no sign that they were looking for a rabbi. They were just doing what they've likely done countless times before. And that's what makes this next moment stand out because whatever happens next interrupts normal life completely. In the next phrase, we get another detail. For they were fishermen. I think this might be the writer of Mark making sure we understand who these people are. They're not religious leaders, teachers, or scholars. These are regular old plain fishermen. Jesus isn't calling people who are already positioned for this. He's calling people in the middle of ordinary life. And the writer of Mark doesn't explain why them, why these specific fishermen. He doesn't justify it. He just shows it happened. Let's move to the next phrase. And Jesus said to them, See, this is where everything changes. Up until this point, it's just a normal scene. A man walking across the shoreline, two dudes in a boat fishing. Nothing out of the ordinary. And then Jesus speaks. But notice how it happens. There's no introduction, no conversation leading up to it, no explanation of who he is. Mark doesn't tell us if they've met before, if they know anything about him, if there's any prior relationship. He just moves straight to this moment. And that's important because that makes this feel sudden, direct, almost abrupt. Jesus doesn't ease into it. He doesn't build rapport. He just speaks. And what he says next is just as direct. Let's get to the next phrase. Follow me. This is Jesus speaking. He says, follow me. It's simple, it's direct. Not really much explanation, no conditions, no details about where they're going, what's about to happen. It's just a call. And that seems to be important because this isn't framed as like an invitation. It carries authority. There's no negotiation, no back and forth. And if I'm being honest in my personal life, I don't think I've ever had a complete stranger walk up to me and say, follow me. And if they did, I'd probably have to ask some questions before I just went with them. But in this story, that doesn't happen. The writer of Mark presents it as something that doesn't need to be explained. And that raises a question. If we take this to be like a real historical moment, what would they have understood when he said that? Because from our perspective, it feels incomplete. But in the story, for some reason, that's enough. That's plenty. They get up and they go. And then he adds something to it. Let's move to the next phrase. And I will make you fishers of people. Now, depending on your translation, you might hear this a little differently. Some translations say fishers of men, others say fishers of people. And if you look at the Greek here, the word being used is not male specific. It doesn't mean men in the sense of males, it just means humans, people. So when some translations say fishers of men, that's just older English, where men could mean humanity in general. And when modern translations say fishers of people, they're just making that clear. Same idea, just expressed in a way we understand more directly today. But as far as what Jesus means by that, let's think about that. They're fishermen, so Jesus takes something from their world and uses it to describe what they're about to become. But at this point of the story, they wouldn't fully understand what that means yet. There's no breakdown, no definition, no explanation of how that's going to happen. Just a statement. And that fits the pattern we've already seen. Mark Dolphin doesn't slow down to explain these things. He presents the moment and he keeps moving. What is a fissure of people? We don't get the answer to that. So this line gives them something to hold on to, but not something fully defined. And then Mark tells us how they respond, which is the next phrase. And immediately they left their nets. That word immediately is classic for Mark, and it's going to play a part in our breakdown today. Remember, Mark uses the word immediately, over 40 times in his gospel. He uses it over and over and over again. And what it seems like in his story, everything moves fast. But here it really stands out because what they're leaving isn't small. These nets represent their work, their income, their routine, their entire life. And they leave it without hesitation. Now let's try to picture this. There are a couple ways this could have played out. Do they bring the boats to the shore and then leave? Or do they leave everything right there? Nets, boat, all of it, and just go? We're not told. Mark doesn't give us those type of details. And once again, that fits his style. This focuses on the moment and not necessarily the logistics. Now, if we're thinking later down the line, we see Jesus cross the Sea of Galilee several times in boats. I think it could be likely that they leave the act of being fishermen, but they probably still keep their boats. And that's probably how they travel back and forth, because then they would just have to get new boats, and that seems extra. So my guess is they brought their boats to the shore and then they followed Jesus, but they still kept their boats. But imagine watching this all unfold as if you were a bystander. A man walks up, says a few words, and then these dudes just leave everything immediately. What I pull from this when I'm reading in between the lines, if this is a real story, is that there was something in that moment that was compelling enough that they just don't hesitate, they just leave. And then when we go to the next section of verses, the pattern repeats. Let's start the next phrase. As he went a little farther. So after the calling of Peter and Andrew, it seems like they go a little bit further down the beach and the pattern repeats. Jesus keeps moving. There is no pause, no reflection on what just happened. Mark doesn't stop to process that moment. He just continues the story. And so again, let's try to picture this. It seems like Peter and Andrew are now with him, right? Because they've already left everything and now they're walking with Jesus a little further down the shoreline. We get to the next phrase. He saw James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John. And now we're introduced to another set of brothers. James and John. Again, not really much background. In fact, they don't even get called fishermen, just names. Mark is following the same pattern. See, call response. Let's move to the next phrase. Who were in their boat mending their nets. And just like before, they're working, not searching, not waiting. They are right in the middle of their regular routine. But there's a small difference here. Before, Simon and Andrew were casting their nets, actively fishing. Now James and John are mending them, so repairing and preparing for the next trip. So the work is different, but the setting is the same. Normal life right before it's interrupted again. We move to the next phrase. Immediately he called them. And once again, there is no delay, no build-up. He just calls them, just as directly. And it makes you wonder does he say the same thing here? Does he give them the fissures of people? Line like he gave to Peter and Andrew. We don't get that information. Next phrase, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat. This time there is an added detail. They don't just leave their work. Now they're leaving their father. Zebedee is right there in the boat. So this isn't just walking away from a job. This is stepping away from family. And Mark doesn't comment on it. He just tells you what happens. I have so many questions here. But I think we're going to ask them after I read all the verses. So let's move to the next phrase. With the hired men. Here, Mark is adding another detail. There were hired men there. So this wasn't just a struggling operation. This suggests some level of structure, some stability. They had help, which makes the decision even more significant. And then we get to the next phrase and followed him. Just like before, same response. They go follow Jesus. No hesitation, no explanation. Same pattern, repeated again. So now I'm going to try to picture all this in my head. There's one boat here, it seems like. There is John and James in the boat with their father and the hired men. Jesus has walked up the way. I'm assuming Peter and Andrew are with him. Then he calls out to this boat, and it's interesting that he only calls those brothers, apparently. He doesn't call everybody out there. Or if he does, those are the only two that get up. We don't necessarily get it specifically mentioned who exactly got called. It says he called them. So I guess the brothers are the them there. So I can't help but wonder if Peter and Andrew are already walking with Jesus at this point, did that play a role? Did they see them leave everything and that make it easier for James and John to do the same? We're also not told, but I guess it could be a possibility. This happens twice, back to back, same structure, same response. And if I'm being honest, this is where it starts to really feel wild. I personally work with my dad in a family business, right? I can't imagine being at work, a stranger walk up and say, Follow me. And then I say, you know what? I just leave. And maybe my brother's there too. Me and my brother just randomly leave with this preacher who has walked up on us. No explanation, no conversation, just go. It really is a wild story. And I think the fact that a lot of us have heard it so many times, we actually forget how unusual it actually is. I still have so many questions and so many thoughts, but for time we have to keep moving into the next section. All
Matthew’s Near Copy Of Mark
SPEAKER_00right, now let's read this same story in Matthew's version. I'm in Matthew chapter four, eighteen through twenty-two. As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people. Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him. Now I want to do something real fast. It's a visual moment. If you're listening on the podcast, just think in your head from what you just heard. I'm going to put Mark's version and Matthew version up on the screen and just look at them just for a second. Because once you actually see them side by side, it is hard not to notice how closely they line up. Same sequence of events and very, very similar wording. This is extremely close. And if you look closely, there's spots that line up word for word. Follow me. Fissures of people. Immediately they left their notes. He saw James and John. And that similarity shows up not just in quotes, but in the story told around them. That will be important later for when we start thinking about sources. But there are a few small differences, and I think they're important to look at. But when you read the Gospel of Matthew's version of this same moment, the word shows up in a slightly different place in the scene. Same word, same idea, just placed a little differently. And that's where it gets interesting because when you see something this close, but with small wording differences, it raises a question. What best explains that? Is this two completely independent accounts that just happen to line up this closely? Or is this one working from the other and making small adjustments along the way? Now that's not the only possible explanation, but to me it's the one that fits best for what we're seeing here.
Luke’s Miracle And Expanded Scene
SPEAKER_00Now let's look at the way the Gospel of Luke tells this same story. This is where it all starts to feel very different. So instead of breaking it up, I'm just going to read you the entire story. Here's Luke's version. Alright, I'm in Luke 5, verses 1 through 11. Once again, while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats that were at the shore of the lake. The fishermen had got out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch. Simon answered, Master, we have worked all night long, but have caught nothing, yet if you say so, I will let down the nets. When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. For he and all who were with him were astounded at the catch of fish that they had just taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, Do not be afraid, from now on you will be catching people. When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. And that, my friends, is a very different version of the same moment. Let's walk through the things that are different. I'll give you ten examples. First is the setting. Luke calls it the Lake of Gennesaret instead of the Sea of Galilee. Fun note, that's just what the Greeks would have called it. This is the exact same body of water. It's not a contradiction, it's just a difference in wording. Let's move to two. Second, Jesus is dealing with crowds. People are pressing in on him. There's no mention of crowds in Mark or Matthew's version. Third, Simon and Andrew aren't out fishing. They're washing their nets. So that moment is already framed differently. Fourth, Jesus gets into Simon's boat. That doesn't happen in the other two accounts. Fifth, he teaches the crowd from the boat. Again, not in Mark or Matthew. Six, the miracle, the massive catch of fish. That is only in Luke. And there's a surprise coming at the end of the episode related to that miracle, but you'll just have to wait to see what that is. Seven, Peter's reaction. He falls at Jesus' feet. And what's interesting about that is that Mark is traditionally connected to Peter. But Luke is the one giving us a more detailed version of that moment. Very interesting. Eight, we are told that James and John are partners with Simon and Andrew. That detail only shows up here in Luke. Ninth, the wording again. Luke says catching people instead of fish for people or fishers of men. Close, but not identical. Which brings up a question I have to ask almost every time we do an episode. What did Jesus actually say in that moment? Tenth, in Luke's story, all four of them leave everything at the same time. In Mark and Matthew, they are called in two separate moments. Did all four of them leave everything at once? Or did Peter and Andrew leave everything? They walk up a little bit away, and then John and James leave everything. That seems like two different things. How did it exactly happen? So when we line this up against Mark and Matthew, Luke isn't just a slightly different version. It's a much more developed scene with moments that are directly different than how we see them in Matthew and Mark. Now, this is my favorite part that we do pretty much.
Eyewitness Claims Versus Sources
SPEAKER_00Every breakdown episode where we step back and ask a bigger question. What explains what we're seeing? Is it eyewitnesses? Is it sources? Does one gospel writer have another gospel writer's work? How do we explain what we're seeing? And we'll start with the eyewitness theory first. One common explanation is the eyewitness approach. That these are separate accounts of the same story. But even here, there's some questions we have to ask first. Who actually witnessed this moment? According to the story, Simon, which is Peter, Andrew, James, and John. And if we take Matthew, Mark, Luke, and say they're written by the traditional authors, which is debated, but let's say they are the writers, there's no clear evidence that any of them were present at this first calling. So at best, this would be a report of an eyewitness, not a direct eyewitness account. And then there's John, traditionally connected to the fourth gospel, the Gospel of John. And he is actually a part of this story. But when we get to his version, he presents things very differently. And we're going to get to that later, I promise you. And a bonus argument for all this is that the authorship for John is debated as well, but we won't worry about that right now. So at least for me, the eyewitness explanation by itself doesn't fully explain what we're seeing here. And then you have another explanation, what's often called Mark and Priority. And every time I mention Mark and Priority, I tell people I have a whole episode dedicated to this idea on this channel, so go check that out if you want to learn more. But if you don't want to do that, here's the idea in a nutshell. The idea that Mark was written first and that Matthew and Luke used it as a source. Most critical scholars would say this is the consensus. And when we look at Mark and Matthew side by side, nothing in the story really works against that idea. Matthew could be working from Mark and making small adjustments along the way. The similarities are very close, and the small differences might even be a clue. And this is where something called editorial fatigue starts to get discussed. This sounds like super academic, so I'll try to give you the regular guy version. This is the idea that someone working from a source might make small changes, but still carry over patterns from the original. Like we saw earlier with how Matthew handles the word immediately in this scene. It's not proof, but it is something to think about. Matthew carries over the pattern of using Mark's favorite word immediately, but then slightly places it in the wrong spot. And then you get to Luke. This is where things get way harder to explain because Luke gives a much more expanded and noticeably different version of the same moment. This is often referred to as Lucan material or Lucan tradition. And the question becomes where does he get this version from? Because Luke wasn't there. So he had to get this version of the story from somewhere. And like I briefly mentioned earlier, this creates an interesting tension because Mark is traditionally connected to Peter, yet Luke gives a more detailed version of Peter's response and Peter's conversion. So why would the accounts connected to Peter be shorter and less detailed than the one coming from somewhere else? Hard to explain. And depending on how you approach this, if something like the Farer hypothesis is correct, which just means Mark wrote first, then Matthew wrote second, and then Luke had access to both Mark and Matthew. So in this model, Luke would have had access to both Mark and Matthew and still chose to go a completely different direction here. Not just expanding the story, but reshaping how it's told. So when you put all that together, you're left with a few different possibilities: eyewitness accounts, literary dependency, different sources, and each one explains part of what we're seeing, but none of them answer every question. Me personally, it seems like this is a blend of literary dependency. Someone saw someone else's work, but also there's different sources about how the story actually happened. So with that in mind, let's get back into text and let me get to the big reveal that I've been hitting since we started this thing. We're
John’s Different First Meeting
SPEAKER_00going to look at how the Gospel of John handles this. I'm in John chapter 1, verses 35 through 42. The next day when John, this is John the Baptist, again was standing with two of his disciples. As he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, Look, here is the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, What are you looking for? They said to him, Rabbi, which translated means teacher, where are you staying? He said to them, Come and see. They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah, which is translated anointed. He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, You are Simon, son of John, you are to be called Cephas, which is translated to Peter. And there's something important in verse 43 I need to read, which is the next verse. The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. That's all you need to know from there. All right, right off the bat, you can see some clear differences. This isn't just one small change, this is a pattern of differences. The order is different, the events are different. We have an example of it right here. This is Peter being called in a completely different way than in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In this version, Peter is called while Jesus is still with John the Baptist. That doesn't appear to be in Galilee because in that next verse, Jesus travels to Galilee. So there's no boat, no shoreline scene, no fishing, and no fish for people comment. And this seems to be happening in Judea, not Galilee, where Matthew, Mark, and Luke clearly place Peter's calling.
Fishing Miracle Echoes Across Gospels
SPEAKER_00And this is where things go straight up wild. Things are about to go sideways. We need to go to John chapter 21, verses 3 through 8. Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing. They said to him, We will go with you. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach. But when the disciples did not know it was Jesus, Jesus came to them, Children, you have no fish, have you? They answered him, No. He said to them, Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some. So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it, because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord. When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he had taken it off, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. Now listen to how this sounds, because when you compare this to how the Gospel of Luke's version of the fishing miracle, there are some strong similarities. In John, they're fishing all night and they catch nothing. Jesus gives them instructions on where to fish, and suddenly they catch more than they can handle. And just like in Luke, there is a strong reaction from Peter, a moment where something clicks about who Jesus is. Different setting, very similar themes. And this is where it starts to raise some questions. Why are these stories so similar? Why are they placed in completely different moments? Luke's story is taking place when they are calling the first disciples at almost the very beginning of the story. This is at the end of John after Jesus has already resurrected. So where did this version come from? Did something like this happen twice? Or was there a tradition of a fishing miracle that was circulating and made its way to different writers? And those writers then used it in different places of their story. And if that is the case, could this be a glimpse into how the gospel writers were using traditions, taking stories, placing them in different moments to emphasize different things. Because when you look at it this way, you're not just seeing different details, you're seeing different ways of telling this story. Or both writers could be describing different moments that happened at different times. And
Open Questions And Final Takeaways
SPEAKER_00now to one of my favorite parts of every breakdown I do, we start thinking about everything we've discussed today, and we re-ask a lot of the questions that have come up along the way. So, what actually happened? What did this moment actually look like? Did it happen like Matthew and Mark describe it? Quick, direct, immediate, or more like Luke, with a buildup, a miracle, and a deeper reaction? The next question, when did this happen? At the beginning of the ministry, like the synoptics, or even earlier, as we see Peter be called in the Gospel of John? Or are these different moments being connected to the same idea? Next question, wording. What did Jesus actually say? Did he say, follow me, fish for people, catching people? These are all kind of close, but they're not identical. So what was actually being said in this moment? Question number four, did the fishing miracle happen earlier, like we see in the synoptics, or later, like we see in the Gospel of John? Or did it happen twice? Two real stories, one at the beginning, one at the end. Or is it a shared tradition being used in different ways? Question number five, how are these stories connected? Are these independent eyewitness accounts? Are the writers using earlier sources? Are they working with traditions that were already circulating? And maybe in these four accounts, it's not just about whether there are differences. There seems to be differences we can't get away from. It might be more about what we can learn from those differences. But what we can say for sure is this when you slow down and actually read them side by side, there's both overlap and difference, and both of those matter. And like always, I want to remind you this isn't me telling you what to think. It's about slowing down and looking at the text for yourself and being willing to ask those tough, honest questions. Do not take my word for it. Do not take anyone's word for it. Go read them, go compare them, think through this stuff because at the end of the day, the goal is to build your understanding by actually engaging with the sources. If you're watching on YouTube, make sure you subscribe to the channel. If this kind of breakdown helps, hit that like button so more people can see it. If you're listening to Spotify or Apple Podcasts, please follow the show and leave a rating if you can. This helps more than you think. So, thanks again for hanging out with me on another episode of the Agnostic Bible Study. And remember, never stop learning. I'll see you again on Thursday. Y'all be blessed. I'll holla, y'all later.