Fishers of Men

These fishermen forsook all and followed Jesus. Complete devotion to Christ requires sacrifices and willingness to surrender all. Christ gave these men their new calling ("fishers of men") which is also the calling for all His followers. "'Behold, I will send for many fishermen,' says the Lord, 'and they shall fish them.'" (Jeremiah 16:16a) We are to cast out the net of the Gospel & God's patient love and bring people out of the sea of sin & hopelessness unto Jesus and His kingdom. The Greek word used here means to capture alive. We are to catch people/win souls to eternal life. Like fishing, soul-saving business (evangelism) takes patience, hard work, perseverance, and ultimately reliance upon the Lord (the miracle of Christ providing the fish demonstrates this truth). Jesus alone can save souls. The success comes from faith in Him, not confidence in our own skills.

"Like this netted arm, running far out into the busy world, is a genuine Christian life. It has none of the special gifts of a Finney or a Moody, but in the coming and going tides more than one soul is arrested by this standing net of a godly life. Unconsciously guided by the holy barrier in their way, they are drawn into stiller waters, and when the tide goes out at last, many, I believe, will be found taken for Christ, and taken by fishers of men whose chief skill has been to stand, to stand firm and without rent, in the midst of a restless sea." (J. B. Clark)