Getting their attention

Simon bar Jonah was not easily impressed. After all, he was a fisherman. He lived a hard, coarse life not known for social graces. As the saying goes, he would “just as soon cuss you as look at you.”

Every night Simon and his fellow fishers risked their lives trawling the lake for fish. Frequently, and without warning, a violent storm would erupt out of the darkness. Many a fishing boat and crew had been lost that way.

One morning Simon and his brother Andrew came in after a hard night on the lake. Their efforts had been in vain. No fish. Nothing to sell at market, no money to take home to the family. They just wanted to clean the nets, stow everything away, and go home for some sleep. The last thing they wanted that morning was to meet the new rabbi. Like most hard living men they weren’t too impressed with rabbis.

But the new rabbi knew just how to get Simon’s attention. He attracted a large, noisy crowd and headed straight for the lakeside, right were Simon and Andrew were finishing their chores.

“Excuse me, is this your boat?” the rabbi asked. “I need to borrow it. Could you do me a favor and push out a little?”

“What?” Simon protested. “I’m getting ready to go home. I’m whipped. Can’t you . . .”

“It won’t take long,” the rabbi insisted. “Come on, push me out a little.”

The rabbi taught. It seemed the rabbi would never finish. Simon was miserable. He didn’t hear a word. All he could think about was how tired he was. Finally the rabbi finished. “Good! Now we can go home,” Simon thought.

“Now,” the rabbi said to Simon, “put your nets in over here.”

“What?” an exasperated Simon demanded. “We’ve been out all night. Didn’t catch a thing. We’re exhausted. We just want to put everything up and go home. What do you know about fishing, anyway? You stick to the rabbi business, we’ll stick to the fishing business.”

“Put your nets in over here,” the rabbi insisted.

“Alright, alright! We won’t catch anything but we’ll humor you.” Simon threw the heavy nets into the water, where the rabbi pointed. “There. Satisfied?”

Suddenly the boat began to list to one side as the nets filled with fish. Now Simon had a new problem. The nets were breaking, and he and Andrew couldn’t pull them in. Simon called partners James and John to come help. Together they pulled in the largest catch they had ever made.

“Now I’ll teach you to fish for men,” the rabbi said. All four fishers left nets, boats, record catch, everything, to follow the rabbi.

He got their attention.