A sceptic believed he had found a contradiction in the Bible concerning where Jesus first met the brothers Simon Peter and Andrew. He cited Matthew 4:18-20 where the brothers were fishing in the Sea of Galilee, and John 1:41-42 where Andrew took his brother to the banks of the river Jordon to show him Jesus. These two incidents are back-to-front however. Let us begin by looking at these verses chronologically and then we’ll explain how we came to this conclusion.
The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).(John 1:41-42)
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.(Matthew 4:18-20)
Simon (Peter) and Andrew first met Jesus on the bank of the Jordon River (John 1:42-43) and then Jesus left for Galilee. Matthew picks up the story as Peter and Andrew are fishing in the Sea of Galilee. Jesus calls them to follow him – to leave all they have behind and become his permanent disciples. He had not asked them upon their first meeting, where they had approached him because of John the Baptist’s testimony of him (John 1:35-39). Later, because of this testimony, plus the miracle in Cana, as well as the things Jesus said (John 1:47-51) etc., it is perfectly understandable for them to leave everything and follow him.
It would not make sense for them to just drop their known lives and follow a stranger who appeared and asked them to, like children after the pied piper! Jesus did not enchant anyone – they followed him as they realized who he was – the one all the prophets spoke of as the Messiah, the Son of God.
You can find more articles dealing with the alleged contradictions in the Bible at the link below:
https://copticapologetics.com/category/bible-difficulties/
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