And He said to them, “Follow Me [as My disciples, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk], and I will make you fishers of men.”

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].

Then [on His way to board the boat] a scribe [who was a respected and authoritative interpreter of the Law] came and said to Him, “Master, I will accompany You [as Your student] wherever You go.”

But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me [believing in Me as Master and Teacher], and allow the [spiritually] dead to bury their own dead.”

Matthew Called

As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew (Levi) sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk].” And Matthew got up and followed Him.

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Master eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

The Meaning of Discipleship

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor is a bond-servant above his master.

It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the bond-servant like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul (Satan), how much more [will they speak evil of] the members of his household.

She said, “Yes, Lord; but even the pet dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their [young] masters’ table.”

But because he could not repay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and his children and everything that he possessed, and payment to be made.

And his master’s heart was moved with compassion and he released him and forgave him [canceling] the debt.

When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and they went and reported to their master [with clarity and in detail] everything that had taken place.

Then his master called him and said to him, ‘You wicked and contemptible slave, I forgave all that [great] debt of yours because you begged me.

And in wrath his master turned him over to the torturers (jailers) until he paid all that he owed.

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has put in charge of his household to give the others [in the house] their food and supplies at the proper time?

Blessed is that [faithful] servant when his master returns and finds him doing so.

But if that servant is evil and says in his heart, ‘My master is taking his time [he will not return for a long while],’

the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour of which he is not aware,

But the one who had received the one went and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

“Now after a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.

And the one who had received the five talents came and brought him five more, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted to me five talents. See, I have [made a profit and] gained five more talents.’

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little, I will put you in charge of many things; share in the joy of your master.’

“Also the one who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have [made a profit and] gained two more talents.’

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little, I will put you in charge of many things; share in the joy of your master.’

“The one who had received one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a harsh and demanding man, reaping [the harvest] where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter seed.