It’s a story for the books, maybe a movie (ok, yeah, that’s been done already), but who really does this sort of thing? You’ve got to be really desperate to just take off, leave your job and family, and literally get behind a guy who says get on board with him, and he’ll show you how to fish for people. Think about it. People can stink worse than fish. I don’t know. What did they think they were getting into?

There’s the narrative, and then there’s the context of that narrative. The writer here gives our 21^st century a simple sketch which screamed to the 1st century readers to pay close attention. They’d lived in this context and had the necessary background knowledge to fill in the story. Should the writer have been more specific, this message may have been banned and burned before its distribution. Remember, ruling powers control the narrative and won’t allow that which makes them look less than the shine on their crowns. Sound familiar?

Resistance

Jesus’ dear friend and cousin, John the Baptist, had been arrested. Again, this writer doesn’t give details. People knew that JTB had tangled with Herod Antipas, the regional ruler, over his involvement with his brother’s wife. Herod thought putting him in lockup would quiet everything.

Instead, Jesus heads right into Galilee and takes up John’s message verbatim. “Turn from your sins and turn to God because the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” Herod would know exactly what Jesus was saying to him.

Taking up JTB’s mantle gave Jesus the guise of religious reformer. As such, he needed to surround himself with student followers who would be trainees to take his teachings into other regions and call people to reverse their lives and turn toward goodness as known in God. On the surface, that looks lame enough. Nothing unusual about these Jewish self-called rabbi/teachers preaching throughout the land. As long as they didn’t criticize either the Romans or the religious leaders, they were tolerated.

Yet, note where Jesus walks. Galilee, specifically the Sea of Galilee, Herod’s district, many, many miles away from the religious center of Jerusalem. Our writer pulls from an ancient prophet to not only describe the area, but possibly to portend what’s simmering there. “People…sat in darkness…in the land where death casts its shadow.” A light is coming, according to this prophet, and will shine there. Darkness will leave driven out by that Light. But what’s driven away doesn’t go without a fight.

Jesus finds who he’s looking for. People in this land must do what they can to get by. Estimates are that 70-90% were in real poverty: bad water, food insecurity, and the debilitating diseases that result. You hope the day will bring enough to get you through to the next, nothing more. When Jesus interrupts, pull in your gut.

It had been beaten in them from both the synagogue and life circumstances that they weren’t anything of worth, meant to be noticed or considered special. Beyond what little these watermen could bring home on a good catch, no one would have given them any kind of recognition. That’s how the world was made; some got it all, the rest got what’s left over.

Now Jesus leans in. Two brothers, Simon and Andrew hear, “Come, be my disciples. I will show you how to fish for people.” Two others are farther up the coast line, sitting in a boat with their father. Jesus repeats his invitation. All of them release the nets that tied them to their wretched lives.

Surely, these guys had some sense in their heads other than just getting out of a miserable job. What possibly could they have seen or heard from Jesus to just abandon their lives and get behind such a silly idea of fishing for people? Have to admit, this is the biggest stretch you’ve dumped here so far.

Fair enough. But with those words, Simon (later known as Peter), Andrew, James, and John were granted a reversal greater than a boat-load full of fish. They were chosen for a new kind of life with a leader who would reverse their status and make them into what they never could be, men who spoke words from God that changed lives. No longer would they be considered the losers, the bottom-feeders, the ones lower than underdogs. So immediately, they dropped their lines and followed Jesus.

But what was life changing good news for them meant trouble for those who always looked down upon them, those of status and power.

Revolution

To understand what Jesus was calling them to do, you can’t ignore the changing political, economic, and social scene.

When Caesar Augustus died, Tiberius became ruler of Rome. Herod Antipas knew what side of the bread the butter needed to be, so he built a new city on the Sea of Galilee and smartly named it, Tiberius. He had big plans for this new urban center, specifically the fishing industry. Doing what despots do, he saw to it that all fishing was controlled by the Romans. Taxes bit into everybody’s profits by requiring fishing permits, a sales tax on the product and its processing, and even enforcing toll taxes on its transport.

Don’t think this revenue was funneled back for the promotion and benefit of the people who did the hard work. Keeping these Jews marginalized and poor held the lid on them, so Rome was happy with that. Government infrastructure got a great boost from the project with building good roads and fantastic palaces. All in all, Herod had a good thing going here.

In the eyes of Rome, it’s what you do when there are dissonant voices against your reign. In reality, Herod’s agenda only heated the simmer against Rome. Add in the oppression against the fishing industry, and you easily could find people who were ready to make a stand. All they needed was a leader.

So are you saying Jesus really recruited these guys to a call to arms, so to speak? They thought they were signing into God’s army to overthrow the Romans and get their lives back? That’s not the usual narrative.

Again, there’s the narrative, and then there’s the context of that narrative. People pull the details that enhance their own platforms. These men did not have a real clue as to the specifics of the plan. If they had, would they have gotten behind Jesus and the movement he was starting?

Who knows, but it does explain why for the next three years they seemed to be mistaken as to where this mission was leading. They had learned from their own history as God’s chosen people only by a mighty warrior could invaders be turned away. The ancient writings had said a Messiah was promised. More than ever, the people wanted that time to be now, and Jesus’ message made him a good candidate.

Radicalization

What gets wrapped in this story is the change Jesus would preach. Radical change, certainly, but not change brought about as before. Time and again, he tangled with the religious authorities who more often than not cow-towed to the political rule. What infuriated him was how they leveraged God to oppress the people as much as the Romans did with their heavy taxing.

But instead of raising an army and storming the Roman centers of power, Jesus preached loving neighbor and enemy, turning the other cheek, walking an extra mile. In  doing so, the prisoner would be released, the blind will see, and the oppressed freed from what chains them. 

Such a movement would effect change, change greater than any charismatic leader, governmental edicts or religious laws could bring. Inherent in it is revolution that ascends above what no protest, demonstration, march, or rally could ever accomplish.

Fishing for people involves a radicalization which reverses one’s relationships so as to honor God and care for others. By this, the rancor and divisions between people would lower, maybe even be removed, and bring about the Kingdom of Heaven.

What’s that look like? Watch where they go from there: “Jesus traveled throughout Galilee teaching…preaching everywhere the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed people who had every kind of sickness and disease.”

Narrative that is good twenty centuries later. The context continues.

Matthew 4:12-23

Named 2024 Notable Book Award by Southern Christian Writers Conference!

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