Mark 1:16 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.
19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
Fish for people?
What does this mean, and why are the disciples so eager to follow Jesus? Here is an idea unlike the traditional view, but I think it makes a LOT of sense!
The disciples, along with most other Jews in Jesus' day, were looking for a Messiah to come and crush the heads of their enemies. Who are the enemies?
In Mark's gospel, the enemies are... the demons of course! Symbolically, which characters in the story represent demons?
The religious leaders - the pharisees, scribes, teachers of the law, the high priest.
The Herodians.
The Romans.
Were the disciples eagerly responding to Jesus with the idea that they were about to spark an uprising? Was the revolt about to begin? Was a new kingdom at hand?
In the Hebrew bible, the fishing metaphor was often used to symbolically show how an enemy could be "cast" away. Let's see a few examples with which the disciples and the readers of Mark's gospel may have been familiar:
Habakkuk 1:12 Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die. You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish. 13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? 14 You have made people like the fish in the sea, like the sea creatures that have no ruler. 15 The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. 16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. 17 Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy?
Jeremiah 16:14 "...the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ 15 but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors.
16 “But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks. 17 My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes. 18 I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.”
Amos 4:1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”
2 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:
“The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks. 3 You will each go straight out through breaches in the wall, and you will be cast out toward Harmon,” declares the Lord.
Ezekiel 29:2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3 Speak to him and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, you great monster lying among your streams. You say, “The Nile belongs to me; I made it for myself.” 4 But I will put hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales. I will pull you out from among your streams, with all the fish sticking to your scales. 5 I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and not be gathered or picked up. I will give you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the sky."
Scholars believe that the gospel of Mark was written either during or immediately following the Jewish revolt (AD66-AD70). The revolt would have been fresh on the minds of both the author and the original readers & hearers.
Note that in Mark's gospel, the calling of the disciples begins with the description of them "casting" a net into the lake. Jesus proceeds to teach the disciples how to "cast" out demons!
See for yourself:
"Follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
Thanks for reading!
Thanks to Ched Myers and his book Binding the Strong Man for inspiring this blog entry.
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