This coming Sunday is the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. 16  As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. As the first act of the Galilean mission Mark reports the calling of Simon and Andrew to be fishers of men. Jesus found these brothers working as fishermen on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, elsewhere designated the Lake of Gennesaret or the Sea of Tiberias. The inland sea, which was twelve miles in length and six miles across at its widest point, provided a point of access between Galilee and Perea. There were many towns and fishing villages especially on the western and northern shores. The waters teemed with life, and when Jesus summoned the brothers they were casting their nets into the sea.

 17 Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 18 Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. 19 He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. 20 Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him. 

Jesus’ word to Simon and Andrew was remembered for its vividness and urgency: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” The call to come after someone implies discipleship because it is the disciple who breaks all other ties to follow his master as a servant. Yet far more than this was involved in the call to become “fishers of men.” To interpret this phrase only as a play on words appropriate to the situation is to fail to appreciate its biblical background and its relevance to the context, which has focused attention on God’s eschatological act in sending Jesus. In the OT prophetic tradition it is God who is the fisher of men. The passages in which the image is developed are distinctly ominous in tone, stressing the divine judgment (Jer. 16:16; Ezek. 29:4 f.; 38:4; Amos 4:2; Hab. 1:14–17).  The fishing metaphor  was kept alive at Qumran, and it is striking that it is the judgment aspect of the metaphor which is stressed, as when the “Legitimate Teacher” expresses his awareness of being commissioned to execute God’s fishing among his contemporaries.  The Teacher continues what God has done, in the company of others who are fishers. It is this understanding which provides the key both to the urgency in Jesus’ summons of Simon and Andrew and to the radical obedience they displayed in responding to his call. The summons to be fishers of men is a call to the eschatological task of gathering men in view of the forthcoming judgment of God. It extends the demand for repentance in Jesus’ preaching. Precisely because Jesus has come fishing becomes necessary. Between v.15 and v.17 there is a most intimate connection; fishing is the evidence of the fulfillment which Jesus proclaimed, the corollary of the in-breaking kingdom.

Yet there is also the immediate human dimension. Two things are of note:

1. Jesus did not ask for repentance and belief – he asked them to leave their nets and follow.
2. It should be noted that although the disciples respond to the call here, they do not fully take up the tasks entailed for some time. They must first be “made” fishers of human beings – shaped and molded and trained in the requisite skills.

In other words, repentance and belief are part of the formation of Christian life that begin by laying down other priorities and tasks and following Jesus to be “made” into one who has repented and who now believes.

The immediate function of those called to be fishers of men is to accompany Jesus as witnesses to the proclamation of the nearness of the kingdom and the necessity for men to turn to God through radical repentance. Their ultimate function will be to confront men with God’s decisive action, which to faith has the character of salvation, but to unbelief has the character of judgment. In specifically calling Simon and Andrew to be fishers, there is reflection upon the unpreparedness of the people for the critical moment which has come. In time the fishers will  go where Jesus has not gone and they themselves will proclaim the message by which men are gathered. At this point, however, it is the eschatological urgency in Jesus’ mission which is expressed in the sudden call, and the immediate response of the fishermen who abandon their nets to follow Jesus.

On this same occasion Jesus saw the sons of Zebedee, James and John, in their boat preparing the nets for another night’s fishing. The terms in which they were called are not explicitly stated, but the intimate relationship of these two incidents indicates that they also are summoned to be fishers of men. The stress in Mark’s brief report falls upon the sovereign authority in Jesus’ call, and the radical obedience of James and John. So compelling is the claim of Jesus upon them that all prior claims lose their validity. Their father, the hired servants, the boat and the nets are left behind as they commit themselves in an exclusive sense to follow Jesus. The urgency in Jesus’ call and the radical obedience of the fishermen pose the question, “Who, then, is this who calls?” The use of the fisher image in proximity to Jesus’ proclamation summarized in v.15 provides the answer; it is the eschatological Lord who calls. He summons men by an act of grace to serve as agents of the kingdom drawn near, who shall gather a people for judgment.

These few verses seem to outline the programmatic character in Jesus’ total plan. It is a crucial text for the interpretation of the Gospel by virtue of its primary position. It anticipates the call of the Twelve in 3:13–19 and their subsequent mission in 6:7–13, 30, but looks beyond this point to the conclusion of the Gospel. Jesus affirms his relationship to those called in terms of a program for the future: he will make them become fishers of men. What they will become depends upon their following him. The initial command to follow Jesus receives a final and dramatic extension in the concluding resurrection story. Mark implies that the promise to be made fishers of men finds its fulfillment in the meeting in Galilee promised in Mark 16:7.

Image credit: The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew, Duccio di Buoninsegna, National Gallery of Art Washington DC PD-US