Something Fishy...

Something amazing I read in the Word of God today...

Mark 1:16-18 (NASB) - 'And as He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." And they immediately left the nets and followed Him.

V19-20: And going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. And immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.'


The elaboration of the breath-taking story in Mark 1:16-20 is found in Luke 5:1-11:


'Now it came about that while the multitude were pressing around Him (Jesus) and listening to the Word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw 2 boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them, and were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the multitudes from the boat. And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon Peter, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."

And Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at Your bidding I will let down the nets."

And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish; and their nets began to break; and they signaled to their partners in the other boat, for them to come and help them. And they came, and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.

But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also, James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men."

And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.'


Read the story carefully.

I've always thought that the first disciples of Jesus were very abrupt to give up everything to follow Him. I've always wondered how Zebedee must have felt when his sons suddenly left him in the boat to follow Jesus. I've always seen the passages as illustrations for us to follow Jesus willingly when He calls, regardless of what you would have to leave behind :P But reading the 2 passages above, I got something else out of 'em today. It finally occured to me that:


1. James and John (and probably Zebedee, their father... and his hired servants too) were the partners of Simon and Andrew... They worked together, shared the typical burdens of fishermen, and went out to the deep seas together.They must all have witnessed the same miracle. I now think that Zebedee let his sons follow Jesus as joyfully and readily as his sons responded to the call of the Lord. I mean which parent wouldn't in such a circumstance? I can imagine that Zebedee looked on trembling with excitement as his sons left the boat to follow the Lord. As for James and John - you can't exactly follow someone you do not know or trust right? :P Similarly, when we lead others to Christ, the most important thing we should do is probably to pray that they would experience Christ for themselves, in God's perfect timing. Let us not water down the Word of God, or use 'cheap', prosperity gospels to bring them into the Kingdom of God.

Conclusion: An encounter with the Lord changes perspectives and lives.


2. All of them, fishermen, had cast their nets that day... and had been disappointed. Simon and Andrew were now washing their nets. The nets would have caught debris (dead sea animals, seaweed, mud) during their casting. You can imagine how the boats would smell in a while. The cords would eventually rot and disintegrate if not washed. You'd have a tough time trying to catch fish after that because the net would now be greatly visible to the fishes swimming in the ocean...I don't imagine you'd want to swim near it if you were one of the fishes!

James and John were mending nets in Mark 1:19-20. I'm not sure if they were mending the nets right after the miraculous catch... but they could have been mending their nets before Jesus told Simon Peter to let down his nets for a catch. Fishermen always have to deal with broken nets after fishing, even if they don't catch anything. You've got all kinds of stuff floating and lurking about in the ocean. Even driftwood could catch on the nets and cut just one thread... Eventually, the whole lot unravels, unattended.

The fishermen were merely getting ready for their next catch - which wasn't supposed to be anytime soon. Of course they never knew that a night of defeat would end in such a victorious way!

Battling eating disorders many years ago, I've always felt angry with my condition and I've often asked God, "Why..." It wasn't until the past few years, when I grew closer to the Lord, that I started seeing how He was making everything work together for good - taking the ugliness of my past, every bit of darkness, every flaw and mistake made, etc... and weaving them into a beautiful tapestry, whose imperfect underside was all I could see until He showed me His perfect, flawless purposes in it. We go through tough times in life and get stuck in ruts where it's terribly difficult to be faithful. Let us not lose heart, but instead - trust in God to bring all things to light in His time. For He makes all things beautiful. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

Conclusion: An encounter with the Lord brings purpose and meaning to what seemed routine, purposeless, mundane and exhausting...


3. Talking about purpose, Jesus purposefully chose to sit in Simon Peter's boat while He taught the multitudes the Word of God. Now I don't think that was a coincidence! God never wastes a moment in time. Perhaps, Simon Peter had been touched by the Word of God as he listened to it while washing his nets - or he would have not bothered with the Lord's suggestion to 'Put out into the deep water and let down the nets for a catch...' (Luke 5:4) Let's put ourselves in Simon Peter's fisherman boots! Honestly if I were a professional fisherman, and some random preacher came to ask me to let down my nets after I've laboured the whole night and caught nothing, I'd probably blink, do a double take and laugh wearily at him and say, "Um...What do you know about fishing, good teacher?" But what amazed me was how Simon Peter addressed Jesus, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at Your bidding I will let down the nets..." He must have had some revelation of some sort from God - and indeed, he was right have trusted and believed Him for the impossible to be made possible! Later, Simon fervently repented, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" Luke 5:8)

Conclusion: An encounter with the Lord transforms, convicts and leads to repentance.


Lord, give me an encounter with You!