One of the first priorities on Jesus' agenda must have been to officially choose his inner circle of disciples. The Bible is somewhat condensed so it can give the impression a longer process can appear compacted. However, "immediately He called" (Mk 1:20) James and John, and "immediately . . . began to teach" (:21) and "immediately the news spread" (:28). Accordingly "while the crowd was . . . listening to the word of God" (Lk 5:1) Jesus "saw the two boats" (:2) and "got into one" (:3). After asking Simon to launch his boat Jesus "began teaching the people" (:3). Teaching everyone was one of his most important purposes. Next Jesus instructed them to go fishing and "Simon answered and said, 'Master, we worked all night and caught nothing'" (:5). Simon recognized Jesus as "Master" which shows he acknowledged who he was. The "signs Jesus did in Cana . . . manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him" (Jn 2:11). Afterwards "amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish they had taken" (Lk 5:9). Then "Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men'" (:10). Mark relates it as "'Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men'" (Mk 1:17). "Becoming" shows that it does not instantly transpire.
Next Jesus saw James and John "in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets" (Mt 4:21). "Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him" (Mk 1:20). At first glance it may seem that the "calling" was a shout (call) over the noise of the crowd. But it was more than that. Much later "Jesus answered them, 'Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve?'" (Jn 6:70). The meaning was encapsulated in the invitation. Jesus said to Simon and Andrew, "'Follow Me'" (Mt 4:19). "When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him" (Lk 5:11). They knew what serious disciples did. The concordance says it is literally to "come here after Me" where "after" means "back behind" as the teacher leads the way. The concordance also points out that the Greek word akoloutheo, to follow, means to "reach out to be in the same way with, to accompany" as a disciple would do.