“Come, follow me… and I will send you out to fish for people.”

“Come, follow me… and I will send you out to fish for people.”

A Lenten reflection by Pastor Krystyna Kwarciak. Pastor Krystyna serves the Polish Ministries of St Luke’s and St Matthew’s Congregation in Leeds and Bradford. She currently also serves the Polish congregation of St Martin’s in Manchester. 

Matthew 4, 18-21As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

By the time Jesus began calling his first disciples, the fishing industry in Palestine was completely controlled by the Roman Empire. This meant that Caesar, as ruler, owned and had full control over every body of water: every lake, every river and every stream. People had to be very careful how much water they used, even from their own wells, as they could be fined if they took too much.

Fishing was also tightly regulated by the state. If a young man wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, grandfather, and great grandfather as a fisherman, he couldn’t simply start fishing. He needed a license, which could only be obtained by joining a state-controlled syndicate. Most of the fish caught by these syndicates were exported to other provinces of the Empire, leaving local people poor, hungry, and deprived of the staple food they had depended on for generations. Fishing outside this system, even catching just one fish on your own, was illegal.

People were angry, frustrated, and longing for change, a world where they could use as much water as they needed and catch as many fish as they wanted. After all, didn’t the rivers, lakes, and all the fish in them belong to their God, the Holy One of Israel? I imagine that Jesus’ first disciples, Peter, Andrew, John, and James, also longed for that kind of freedom. A life where they could provide for their families without being trapped in an unjust system. So when Jesus arrived in their village and said, “Come, I will make you fishers of men”; they didn’t hesitate.

As faithful Jews, they must have known the Hebrew Scriptures well. In the Old Testament, prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Habakkuk used the phrases; “fishing for people” ; or “hooking fish” ; as metaphors for judgment against the rich and powerful. Their decision to leave behind

their boats and nets, most likely owned by the local fishing syndicate anyway, and follow Jesus was more than just an act of faith. It is likely that they didn’t just want to “fish for people”; in a spiritual sense. They wanted to free their people from oppression, challenge an unjust system, and help Jesus establish the Kingdom of God in their area.

We all know how the story ended… things didn’t go quite as they expected. The disciples faced rejection and persecution, witnessed miraculous healings, saw their beloved Master die, and then experienced his glorious resurrection. So much suffering, so many miracles and blessings, it was a journey full of lessons, but nothing like what they had first hoped for, expected, or even imagined.

This Lent, I suggest we give up not just chocolates, but also some of our expectations of what following and serving Jesus should look like. Instead of clinging to what we want our journey with Him to be, let’s try to open our hearts to what He wants for us. Let’s learn to embrace both the small and big callings God gives us, trusting in His vision and plan rather than our own hopes, dreams and ambitions.