Fishers of men

When Jesus began his earthly ministry he attracted a lot of attention fast. His first stop back in Galilee after his baptism and 40-day temptation in the wilderness was at his home town of Nazareth, where he spoke in the local synagogue and announced that he was the Messiah. The home town folks couldn’t get past their nostalgic memories of Jesus the son of Joseph the carpenter. They could not accept that he could be the Messiah foretold by the prophets, and they tried to stone him.

Evading the angry crowd Jesus moved on to Capernaum, a bustling lakeside community with lots of opportunity for preaching the Gospel. Dr. Luke implies that Jesus taught regularly in the synagogue there and quickly gained a large following of people who were “astonished at his doctrine.” My impression is that Jesus served at least a short time as one of the elders of the synagogue, which would have given him regular access to the pulpit and regular audience with the people.

As a popular speaker Jesus probably encountered a number of people who wanted to become his disciples. In Jesus’ time, a popular rabbi would be approached by would-be students asking to follow the master and learn from him. Rabbis almost never sought out students–the students always came to them. No doubt a few people had approached Jesus about this while he was at Capernaum.

The Greek word translated “disciple” literally means “one who directs his mind to something.” It referred to the special relationship between a teacher and student. In the Jewish context it always referred to someone who sought out and joined himself to a given teacher for some kind of training. The training could be in the form of a trade, where the student would serve as apprentice. It could also be in the study of the Scriptures, where the student aspired to become a rabbi. In either case the student would leave behind his family and livelihood for a period of time to learn from the master.

So when Jesus was ready to begin his itinerant ministry candidates for discipleship were already qualified and ready for the commission. Matthew records the day Jesus began taking on disciples: “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him” (Matthew 4:18-20).

Simon Peter and Andrew might seem to be unlikely candidates for discipleship. As fishermen they were rough around the edges, both in appearance and manners. Galilean fishermen were known for crude behavior and foul language. There is no doubt they would have been turned away from the rabbinical schools in Jerusalem.

Yet Jesus saw in these rough fishermen qualities valuable for the ministry of the kingdom. Fishermen were middle class entrepreneurs who made a good living catching and selling fish from the lake. Their hard way of life taught them to be diligent workers, patiently and persistently toiling in hopes of making the big catch. And if a night’s work turned up nothing they would go at it again the next night, undaunted and undiscouraged. Rough and unpredictable weather on the lake made them fearless and hardy. They were ready for anything.

As Jesus walked by on this particular day the brothers were apparently stalking a school of talapia hovering above one of the warm springs that fed the Sea of Galilee. The strategy involved throwing a weighted cast net over the shoal. The net would sink to the bottom, trapping the fish inside. The net would then be pulled ashore and the fish salted down and readied for market.

“Time to become fishers of men,” Jesus said. Could it be that the two men had already discussed the matter with Jesus? They immediately left the net–and their lucrative fishing business–to follow Jesus in Christian discipleship. Both would devote the rest of their lives to the work of the kingdom, and both would be crucified because of it.

Discipleship involves more than going to church on Sundays. It has little to do with graded classes and family life centers. Splintered programs that divide families and create pointless busywork or provide “Christianized” worldly entertainment do not count as true discipleship.

Genuine discipleship requires commitment to the Master. It encompasses learning the principles of life that must be applied to one’s own life and then passed on to others. In a secular world it means a willingness to learn God’s ways and live against the grain of modern society. It also involves activities of genuine service that touch lives and point to the kingdom.

Jesus’ doctrine was radical in his time. He rocked the boat of those who had succumbed to the secular Greek lifestyle of the day. He shook the foundations of the stale religious tradition of the Pharisees and the foolish fundamentalism of the Sadducees. He taught God’s word as it was intended and expected life-changing application.

Today it is no different. The call to Scriptural living goes equally to those who live worldly lives and those who are trapped in religious bondage. Discipleship means we seek out and attach ourselves to Jesus and his words, diligently applying them to our lives. We then become fishers of people, looking for those who will commit their hearts and their ways to serving the Master.