Tag Archives: Luke 3

Catching Men

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This coming weekend is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Here at the end of this pericope, Jesus tells Peter: “from now on you will be catching men.” Literally, the next line reads: “from the now, you shall be catching alive (zogreo) people.” The similar phrase in Matthew and Mark reads: “I will make you (to become) fishermen [halieus] of people.” (This word for “fishermen” is used in v. 2 of our text.)

The Greek verb translated “catching alive” is a compound word: zoos = “alive, living” + agreo = “capture, catch”. (This is a verb closely related to agra used in vv. 4 and 9 about “catching” the fish). Classically, it also came to mean, “to restore to life and strength, to revive.”  Maybe a more literal translation might lead us to a sense of this verse as something like “You will be restoring people to life and strength.”   This is perhaps a more captivating thought to people who don’t want to be caught in a net… but what about being “caught up in his or her love” or “captured” by love. Being caught in this way can make us feel really alive and energized – captivated!  By the end of our text, Peter and some of his friends are captivated by Jesus. They leave everything and follow him. (Stoffregen)

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Calling Fishermen?

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This coming weekend is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

Many bibles add a small title to this account: “Calling Fisherman.” In the parallel accounts found in Mark 1:16-20 and Matthew 4:18-22, Jesus calls out to Peter, Andrew, James and John, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Luke’s tradition tells us a, perhaps, more nuanced account.

Upon a close reading, one sees that Jesus never says “come,” “follow,” or any thing that would be taken as a discipleship command. It is not that Jesus does not take such direct action in Luke’s gospel. Later Jesus will give the command, “Follow me,” to Levi the tax collector (5:27), who like these fishermen, “leaves everything and follows him” (5:11, 28). Rather Luke seems to intend something other than a call story here.  It is really a proclamation story. Rather than calling Simon and the others, perhaps Jesus announces to Simon (and only to Simon) what Simon will now be doing (v. 10, “from now on you will be catching men.”). Although the task is similar, the words are different from the call stories in Matthew and Mark. 

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A Phenomenal Catch

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This coming weekend is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time. In the scene where Jesus calls Peter, we have a  carpenter’s son giving commands to this crew of experienced fishermen – the result is a phenomenal catch of fish. Many scholars give lots of attention to the parallels with John 21:4-8 and, while interesting, is distracting. The Johannine setting is after Jesus’ Resurrection and points to the mission of the Church. This Lucan scene is at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and points to the initial reception of those who would be disciples.

Jesus tells Simon to put into deep waters (v.4), but following that, all Jesus’ words are in the plural, directed to those in the boat along with Peter – yet it is Peter (his boat?) who responds. At the most simple level this scene captures an ancient Christian understanding: the Church as the “bark of salvation” and Peter in command – where even if others doubt, Peter’s attitude is “Jesus said it. I believe it. We’re doing this.” Simon shows what St. Paul will call “the obedience of faith.” It was certainly not reason or experience that motivated him to cast his nets back into the water at the instigation of this carpenter from the hill country. Fishing was best at night; if nothing had been caught, daytime fishing was pointless. 

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Teaching the Crowds

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This coming weekend is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Prior to Jesus calling the first disciples, he was already at the lakeside teaching.

1 While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. 2 He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”

Twice in this section “the crowd” is mentioned. Who are they? They are people who come to Jesus to hear the word of God (v. 1). They are people who are taught by Jesus (v. 3), but are they people willing to leave everything and follow Jesus (v. 11)? In our text, there is a difference between the crowd (ochlos) and the fishermen (halieus). The crowd listens to Jesus. The fishermen act. The crowd stays on the land. The fishermen will go out into the deep. At first, Jesus and Simon go out just “a little way from the shore.” Later Jesus will ask Simon to go out to the deep water. Could these be images of different levels of trust in Jesus — the safety of the land, the slightly more dangerous position of being “a short distance from the shore,” and the quite dangerous position of being out in deep waters?

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The Capernaum Ministry

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This coming weekend is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time in Lectionary Cycle C. For the two previous weeks in the lectionary cycle, Jesus has been in Nazareth engaging the citizens of his own hometown (4:14-30). As Jesus indicated, no prophet is accepted in his own native place (v.24). Leaving Nazareth, Jesus moved on to Capernaum. Again he amazed people while teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath. While present, there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon (v.33). Jesus casts the demon from the man, again amazing the people: For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out. (v.36) Also while in Capernaum, Jesus cured Simon’s mother-in-law (vv.38-39) and all manner of people sick with various diseases (v.40) and cast out other demons (v.41). 

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The Cast of Characters

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This coming Sunday is the Second Sunday of Advent in lectionary cycle C, the year when the Gospel of Luke is the primary source of our gospels for the coming 12 months. The gospel is taken from a section in which Jesus is preparing for public ministry. Luke these six verses of the Sunday gospel, Luke places the story of Jesus in continuity with the biblical history of God’s dealings with humanity found in the Old Testament. As well, he places the story in the context of human history and begins with the familiar “In the fifthteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.”  Verses 1 and 2 need a “playbill” so you  might familiarize yourself with the “actors.” Continue reading →