Read Mark 1:16-20
I am being old-fashioned with my title for this blog. You will not find it in modern translations of this passage in Mark's Gospel. In the New International Version it translates the clause as 'and I will send you out to fish for people.' But my memories go back to the time when I rarely heard any other translation apart from the King James Version or as we called it, the Authorised Version. In Sunday School we sang a chorus which was taken from this passage:
I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men
I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men
If you follow me.
If you follow me, if you follow me
I will make you fishers of men, if you follow me.
Now that was not politically correct. We had actions for the chorus to make it more attractive to children. Every time we used the expression 'fishers of men', we pretended to be casting our rods into the water. By the way I had never seen an angler and I had no idea what this action was about. Here is the full passage we are looking at this morning.
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. [Mark 1:16-20 NIV]
Notice the repetition of the Greek word eutheos which is translated as 'at once' and then 'Without delay.' In the King James Version, the word 'straightway' is used. The Greek can also be translated as 'immediately. Let us ponder the significance of this word in this context. We have two sets of fishermen around the coast of the Sea of Galilee. They are both very busy engaged in their occupation. Simon (Peter) and Andrew are casting their nets - maybe from a boat or maybe they had waded into the water. James and John are preparing to go out fishing. Jesus appears and issues a command which they obey immediately or without delay. We had an expression in Ayrshire - 'Haud the bus!' ( 'Haud' is a Scots word for 'hold.). We used this when we thought that things were moving too quickly and we wanted time for reflection. So you might have expected Peter to use whatever expression they used in the Galilee region. "Give me a chance to think about this. You are not expecting an answer right away. This is a big decision to make. Do you realise that this means I am turning my back on my livelihood and my family?" The text actually mentions that James and John left their father, Zebedee in the boat. I wonder what he had to say about that. Peter was married and maybe had some children to look after as well as his wife. He also had a mother-in-law who maybe lived with them.
Here is a verse from the Old Testament which throws some light on what we are observing in this incident.
Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?” [Ecclesiastes 8:4 NIV]
Although this is the Gospel of the servant, we find him here demonstrating his kingly authority. The four men respond to his word without challenge. Jesus is speaking with kingly authority - with divine authority as the Son of God. Sometimes we do not respond to his call the way these four men did. By the way they were not being summoned to a life of respectability, popularity and comfort. They were being called to serve Jesus and this would involve sacrifice. Peter, for example, was imprisoned for his faith and he suffered martyrdom. But they all responded and they never for one minute regretted this decision. Is Jesus calling you today? Are you trying to make us excuses for not following him.
These four men had the faith to follow. Probably they already knew about Jesus and they recognised that he was no ordinary man. They may have heard about him from others - maybe even from John Baptist. The point is that when Jesus called them directly, they responded positively and immediately.
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