J. Preston Eby

As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him."  [Matthew 4:16-18].

I remember sitting back with my grandfather fishing at Turtle Lake fishing for jackfish and trout. I remember him teaching me the basics of fishing. "Craig," he would say, "You need to make sure that the hook is attractive for the fish so they can bite and when they bite, you need to tug and catch the fish hook, line and sinker." So I would go into his old brown tackle box that had a variety of rusted hooks, but I found the most shiney silver and orange hook and placed it on my line and cast it into the lake. Moments later, the line tugs and I tug back catching my first jack.

Most traditional Christian pastors, especially in the last two hundred years, have taught what it means to be fishers of men according to my simular experience fishing with my grandfather. We need to make the message attractive so that men would bite and all we have to do is pull them in! It sounds logical, it is how men fish for fish these days but let us look at Scripture again, "As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen," (Matthew 4:16). In context, Jesus was not speaking of the single line fishing we recreationally enjoy, he was speaking of net-fishing, which is the only way a fisherman can effectively and efficiently draw a profession.

"History for Kids" says,

NET FISHING -A group of people would wade out into the ocean someplace where it was pretty shallow, and when they were out as far as the fish they would spread out the net, and walk forward, and then the men on the end would walk towards each other and close up the net, and they would all carry it back to the shore.

If the water was deeper, you could also fish from small wooden boats, by dragging the net behind you for a while and then pulling it up into the boat. This is what Peter was doing when he first met Jesus.

[Dr. Carr PhD. "History for Kids." [Online] Available http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/economy/fishing.htm, April 6, 2005.]

With the line and hook you are attracting fish, and by luck and timing when you feel the bite you pull hard pulling in the fish. In the time of Christ, in context to his time the fishermen threw out the net and the fish had no choice in the matter of being caught or not but when the nets were full you would drag them into the boat. Even today, a career fisherman does not use a hook and line but nets.

Why have we not been taught this? It is because we believe that we have free-will in our destiny (self-determination) and our design in which we need an 'attractive' message that pulls on the lusts of the fleshly mind. It feels comfortable to believe that we had a choice in the matter to 'accept' or 'recieve' the gift before us rather than to believe that we are swimming mindlessly with no knowledge right into the net and being pulled in against our will.

Here is something to ponder, when one throws out the net, they must lift the nets into the boat dragging or drawing all the fish as well. Let us read more Scripture: John 12:30-32 'Jesus said, "This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."

The word 'draw' in greek says, "helkuo" in a future tense, to literally to draw, drag off forcefully.

Ponder this for a moment, Jesus said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men!" The surprise in the eyes of the disciples must have been large. Fishers of men? We shall go and literally snare and drag men? This was a shocking doctrine for these men. It was not a 'polite' sounding gospel but a gospel of authority. What is there to boast about for the men caught in that net? There is no boasting; there is no recieving; there is no accepting; there is no work any man can do that can prevent the inevitable authority that would draw them to Christ.

"I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruitfruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other." [John 15:15-17]

What does it mean to be a fisher of man? He choose us, we did not choose Him. Love each other. When He is lifted up, He will drag all men unto Himself.
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"In the first five or six centuries of Christianity there were six theological schools, of which four (Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea, and Edessa, or Nisibis) were Universalist, one (Ephesus) accepted conditional immortality; one (Carthage or Rome) taught endless punishment of the wicked. Other theological schools are mentioned as founded by Universalists, but their actual doctrine on this subject is not known."

                           "The Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge"
                          by Schaff-Herzog, 1908, volume 12, page 96

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