CATCHING MEN FOR JESUS
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. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him. Mark 1:16-18
How were the disciples to catch men? What was the method and what was the “bait”? As you walk with Jesus and watch and listen to Him, it makes sense that the “bait” was the love and mercy of God which He talked about, showed by His miracles, and gave away freely through His kindness and compassion. He touched the lives of ordinary people, forgiving their sin, healing their broken bodies, and freeing them from slavery to demons (Acts 10:38). Who would not be “lured” by a God like that? For too long the people had been forced to obey or driven away by fear of the God who made so many demands that it was impossible to satisfy Him.
Even if the disciples didn’t understand, they followed Him anyway and set out on a journey to relearn the love of the God who had originally called them to be His people thousands of years before, but whose true character gradually became dim because of religion that had taken God’s place in the lives of His people. Instead of being free to love God, they were forced to obey man-made rules.
Why did the Pharisees hate Jesus so much? Why did they want to kill Him? Could it be that the same fear that controls all other religions, made them afraid to love God in case they were wrong. They could not launch out onto the love of God in case they were right, and Jesus was wrong? Did their pride in own ‘good works’ and their false understanding of ‘righteousness’ make them hold on to their belief that they were right? Did they hate Jesus because He was too ‘nice’ to the people they despised, and they could not accept God’s generosity to ‘sinners’?
How do we respond to God’s generosity? Do we stubbornly think that this is all a mirage: that there is a catch somewhere; that we will wake up and find that it was all a beautiful dream? Why do we struggle at times with the issue of healing? Why do we have nagging doubts when we pray as though the ‘bait’ were made of tasteless plastic and not the real thing? Is this part of the growth and maturing of true faith? How confident are we that what we are offering people is the truth and that God will back it up?
If we really want to be fishers of men, Jesus said, “Follow me.” That means sticking close to Him and watching the way He did things. We can do that by reading about Him in His Word and learning His ways by watching and listening to Him.