"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men"
“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” is one of the best-known and most pithy statements attributed to Jesus. Elegant in its syntactic simplicity and potent in its metaphorical meaning, the dictum demands a deeper analysis than mere cleverness with language. Biblical commentators agree that Jesus’ sayings are often fraught with multiple layers of meaning, and he made frequent use of the subtexts and tacit connotations of words in order to convey incredibly complicated concepts in remarkably accessible terms.
Jesus’ audience was composed primarily of peasants—farmers and fishermen, most of whom probably unable to read, and few of whom would have boasted anything beyond superficial understanding of Jewish law. These were not individuals who had the time to spend poring over the Scriptures, engaging in the type of conversation that might take place in a Jerusalem synagogue between educated elites. Rather, they were poor laborers whose entire daily existence was devoted to scraping sufficient fruit from the soil or wrestling enough fish out of the sea to maintain their meager existence.
Therefore, in attempting to communicate the truths of the Kingdom to his listeners on a hillside in Capernum along the Sea of Galilee, it would have profited Jesus very little to employ the sort of formal language more appropriate to conversation with a learned audience, such as the Scribes. Instead, Jesus told stories. He was a master storyteller, integrating imagery from the surrounding culture and utilizing it to explain immensely complex ideas like Divine justice and eternal life. Jesus’ singular gift was his ability to conscript familiar experiences—a vineyard that has been overrun by weeds or a shepherd who has lost his sheep—and to bring the Good News of God to the people in the world in which they actually lived. Each story sought to communicate a set of insights, and likewise, the story of the call of the first disciples can be read as parable in its own right.
A bit of unpacking might help us understand what, exactly, the story might be telling us about what it is to be called to be a disciple of Jesus.
The first item worth noting is that Jesus calls the disciples, which is a bit unusual. Ancient teachers often developed followings, but most often it was the disciples who sought out the teacher, much the way that college students interested in graduate study might seek out a particular professor at another university, hoping to apprentice themselves to that individual and learn from her/him. How odd would it be if the Distinguished Chair of International Law at Columbia or a Professor of Particle Physics at Cal Tech showed up at the dorm room of a 19 year old sophomore and said, “Come follow me, and I will teach you what I know.” It would have struck the initial audience as equally fascinating that Jesus sought out these disciples, rather than the other way around. Clearly, there is a notion with respect to vocation that God calls us—whether we’re looking to be called or not!
The next facet of the story worth highlighting is the type of person Jesus calls to his ministry. Fishermen could run the gamut from hired hands whose payment depended primarily on the largesse of the boat’s owner—and who consequently often existed at the limits of starvation for their efforts—to larger co-ops of families that owned several boats and made a decent living off of the sea. Either way, the life of a fisherman was a decidedly unglamorous one. One we might today consider “blue collar” or “working class.” Jesus did not recruit the upper echelon, the rich or well-educated, to form his circle. Rather, he sought out a group whose apt description might be: staggeringly ordinary. It would be as though he went to U-M, and rather than recruiting the Dean of the Law School and the Chair of the Cardiology Department, he asked the Administrative Assistant in the Office of Student Affairs and the night-time janitor at Mott’s to join him. It should be apparent that being called to discipleship of Jesus is in no way correlative to one’s social status or the rank to which one has risen in the estimation of the “secular” culture.
Finally, what about being a fisherman made these individuals uniquely suited to join Jesus in his ministry? As noted previously, the story of the call of these disciples can be read as a parable itself, and each element of a parable is carefully constructed to convey an important insight. The theologian William Barclay offers a trenchant observation on the particular qualities of fishermen that correlate to the experience of “fishing” [for] “men,” among them: Patience—fishing requires immense patience for the moment when the fish will bite; sharing in Jesus’ ministry to the wider world likewise requires this trait, as anyone who has engaged in preaching or service or ministry can attest. Oftentimes, the fruits of these labors are not immediate, but take weeks, months, even years to manifest the results.
Related to patience is the need for persistence—fishermen may spend many days in a row without a single bite, and it can wear on the spirit. Moments of hopelessness and despair are common among those commissioned to carry out Jesus’ work—so having the perseverance to push through these exhausting and seemingly unproductive periods is essential. Beyond these, a fisherman must possess courage—as evidenced both in the Gospel story of the storm on the Sea of Galilee and the contemporary television shows chronicling modern day fishermen, crabbers, and the like, the sea can be a violent, dangerous place. Likewise, the life of a Christian can be a tumultuous one, as witness to the Gospel often elicits the ire of those around us. Those who have sought to speak truth to friends, family, and larger society frequently find themselves on the receiving end of unpleasant reactions, so courage to continue in this undertaking is crucial.
Moreover, the fisherman must understand that timing is key—there are times in the natural cycle of their target population that the fish simply won’t bite. Knowing that it would be fruitless to attempt to fish at these times, the fisherman learns to undertake his efforts at the times that might yield the best results. Likewise, there are times when it would be imprudent to attempt to have a conversation on faith with a co-worker or to talk to a loved one about a concern. The “truth” of one’s message notwithstanding, the importance of timing with respect to the efficacy of the conversation cannot be overstated. Finally, the fisherman understands that different types of fish require different lures, different nets, different strategies. One wouldn’t use the same line and bait for an ocean tuna as a freshwater trout, nor would it make any sense for us to use the exact same “strategy” with respect to everyone we are trying to engage. The success of evangelization often comes down to the ability of the minister to tailor his or her message and tactics to the particular person or audience s/he is hoping to reach.
Thus, from a sentence as simple as, “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” we are able to extract an enormous amount of insight into discipleship. We are informed that Jesus calls not the powerful or elite of society, but ordinary persons. Moreover, he goes out to meet them where they are at, instead of requiring them to come searching for him. Jesus calls us—whether we are looking to be called or not. And, finally, we gain some sense of what sorts of traits will be necessary for success in our ministry—patience, perseverance, courage, and an ability to tailor our undertaking to the proper time, using the right tactics, for each distinctive population we encounter. Jesus does not simply call 1st century Jews around a lake in Galilee. He calls each of us, today, in our present lives, to some unique form of discipleship—even if we’re not looking to be called.
Reflection Questions
1. Do you feel like God has ever called you to something? What was your experience of this call? What were you asked to do?
Jesus’ audience was composed primarily of peasants—farmers and fishermen, most of whom probably unable to read, and few of whom would have boasted anything beyond superficial understanding of Jewish law. These were not individuals who had the time to spend poring over the Scriptures, engaging in the type of conversation that might take place in a Jerusalem synagogue between educated elites. Rather, they were poor laborers whose entire daily existence was devoted to scraping sufficient fruit from the soil or wrestling enough fish out of the sea to maintain their meager existence.
Therefore, in attempting to communicate the truths of the Kingdom to his listeners on a hillside in Capernum along the Sea of Galilee, it would have profited Jesus very little to employ the sort of formal language more appropriate to conversation with a learned audience, such as the Scribes. Instead, Jesus told stories. He was a master storyteller, integrating imagery from the surrounding culture and utilizing it to explain immensely complex ideas like Divine justice and eternal life. Jesus’ singular gift was his ability to conscript familiar experiences—a vineyard that has been overrun by weeds or a shepherd who has lost his sheep—and to bring the Good News of God to the people in the world in which they actually lived. Each story sought to communicate a set of insights, and likewise, the story of the call of the first disciples can be read as parable in its own right.
A bit of unpacking might help us understand what, exactly, the story might be telling us about what it is to be called to be a disciple of Jesus.
The first item worth noting is that Jesus calls the disciples, which is a bit unusual. Ancient teachers often developed followings, but most often it was the disciples who sought out the teacher, much the way that college students interested in graduate study might seek out a particular professor at another university, hoping to apprentice themselves to that individual and learn from her/him. How odd would it be if the Distinguished Chair of International Law at Columbia or a Professor of Particle Physics at Cal Tech showed up at the dorm room of a 19 year old sophomore and said, “Come follow me, and I will teach you what I know.” It would have struck the initial audience as equally fascinating that Jesus sought out these disciples, rather than the other way around. Clearly, there is a notion with respect to vocation that God calls us—whether we’re looking to be called or not!
The next facet of the story worth highlighting is the type of person Jesus calls to his ministry. Fishermen could run the gamut from hired hands whose payment depended primarily on the largesse of the boat’s owner—and who consequently often existed at the limits of starvation for their efforts—to larger co-ops of families that owned several boats and made a decent living off of the sea. Either way, the life of a fisherman was a decidedly unglamorous one. One we might today consider “blue collar” or “working class.” Jesus did not recruit the upper echelon, the rich or well-educated, to form his circle. Rather, he sought out a group whose apt description might be: staggeringly ordinary. It would be as though he went to U-M, and rather than recruiting the Dean of the Law School and the Chair of the Cardiology Department, he asked the Administrative Assistant in the Office of Student Affairs and the night-time janitor at Mott’s to join him. It should be apparent that being called to discipleship of Jesus is in no way correlative to one’s social status or the rank to which one has risen in the estimation of the “secular” culture.
Finally, what about being a fisherman made these individuals uniquely suited to join Jesus in his ministry? As noted previously, the story of the call of these disciples can be read as a parable itself, and each element of a parable is carefully constructed to convey an important insight. The theologian William Barclay offers a trenchant observation on the particular qualities of fishermen that correlate to the experience of “fishing” [for] “men,” among them: Patience—fishing requires immense patience for the moment when the fish will bite; sharing in Jesus’ ministry to the wider world likewise requires this trait, as anyone who has engaged in preaching or service or ministry can attest. Oftentimes, the fruits of these labors are not immediate, but take weeks, months, even years to manifest the results.
Related to patience is the need for persistence—fishermen may spend many days in a row without a single bite, and it can wear on the spirit. Moments of hopelessness and despair are common among those commissioned to carry out Jesus’ work—so having the perseverance to push through these exhausting and seemingly unproductive periods is essential. Beyond these, a fisherman must possess courage—as evidenced both in the Gospel story of the storm on the Sea of Galilee and the contemporary television shows chronicling modern day fishermen, crabbers, and the like, the sea can be a violent, dangerous place. Likewise, the life of a Christian can be a tumultuous one, as witness to the Gospel often elicits the ire of those around us. Those who have sought to speak truth to friends, family, and larger society frequently find themselves on the receiving end of unpleasant reactions, so courage to continue in this undertaking is crucial.
Moreover, the fisherman must understand that timing is key—there are times in the natural cycle of their target population that the fish simply won’t bite. Knowing that it would be fruitless to attempt to fish at these times, the fisherman learns to undertake his efforts at the times that might yield the best results. Likewise, there are times when it would be imprudent to attempt to have a conversation on faith with a co-worker or to talk to a loved one about a concern. The “truth” of one’s message notwithstanding, the importance of timing with respect to the efficacy of the conversation cannot be overstated. Finally, the fisherman understands that different types of fish require different lures, different nets, different strategies. One wouldn’t use the same line and bait for an ocean tuna as a freshwater trout, nor would it make any sense for us to use the exact same “strategy” with respect to everyone we are trying to engage. The success of evangelization often comes down to the ability of the minister to tailor his or her message and tactics to the particular person or audience s/he is hoping to reach.
Thus, from a sentence as simple as, “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” we are able to extract an enormous amount of insight into discipleship. We are informed that Jesus calls not the powerful or elite of society, but ordinary persons. Moreover, he goes out to meet them where they are at, instead of requiring them to come searching for him. Jesus calls us—whether we are looking to be called or not. And, finally, we gain some sense of what sorts of traits will be necessary for success in our ministry—patience, perseverance, courage, and an ability to tailor our undertaking to the proper time, using the right tactics, for each distinctive population we encounter. Jesus does not simply call 1st century Jews around a lake in Galilee. He calls each of us, today, in our present lives, to some unique form of discipleship—even if we’re not looking to be called.
Reflection Questions
1. Do you feel like God has ever called you to something? What was your experience of this call? What were you asked to do?
2. How would you define being a “follower of Christ?” to someone who asked? What does a (general) call to follow Christ look like? And what does the particular call for YOU (specifically) look like?
3. What sorts of traits do you think would be helpful for spreading the Gospel in your own life? What traits do you already have God might want to use? Which ones might he want you to cultivate more?
