Fishers of Men

Abstract

you become fishers of men (Mark i 17, Matt. iv I9). The third Evangelist St. Luke does not mention this case, but we can read in his Gospel a narrative which is very similar to the one of St. Mark and St. Matthew. At the close of his narrative the similarity is especially clear (v IO-II). The only difference here is that Jesus addresses Simon Peter alone: Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men (v io). The picture of the fisher of men is common to all three Synoptics. In the background of this Jesus' expression is the Word of God in the Book of Jeremiah: For I will bring them back to their own land which I gave to their fathers. Behold, I am sending for many fishers, says the Lord, and they shall catch them... (xvi I5-I6). The disciples, that our Lord gained at the sea of Galilee, were fishers. In the future they would be fishers of men. What is the sense of this picture ? Does Jesus only make a play of words ? Are His words to be understood in such a way, that if His disciples had been soldiers, He could have addressed them: Fight for me .... or if they had been teachers of the Law, that He could have said to them: Teach for me! We find such opinions among the commentators. Jesus' challenge is deeper than the exposition mentioned above shows. We must look not only at the form of this challenge, we must have in mind even the contents of it. In the background of Jesus' invitation are old cosmogonical myths, in which the water is seen as an enemy of God. In this sense the Creation is the victory of God over the waters. Many psalms of the Old Testament speak about this triumph of God. Let us quote as an example psalm lxxiv: Thou didst divide the sea by thy might; thou didst break the heads of the dragons on the (v I3). The waters had to be subdued in