|
|
 
 PURPOSE OF THE STORY - At the heart of this scene is Jesus’
call to the fishermen to leave their nets and give themselves to the work of the kingdom.
The metaphor "fishers of men," or "catching people," is striking both
because it arises out of the situation and because it is a clever play on words. The
fishermen are themselves caught by Jesus and given a new vocation. The call to become
fishers of men becomes a call to gather people for the kingdom. It retains eschatological
overtones from the biblical traditions, it authorizes the disciples as representatives of
their teacher and agents of the kingdom, and it looks forward to the church’s
evangelistic mission. [1]
FOUR OBSERVATIONS - First, the fishermen exhibited no extraordinary qualifications,
character, or potential. God’s call is surprising and unpredictable. Second, the call
to discipleship comes in an odd place-in the daily grind instead of in church during the
final verse of "Here I Am, Lord." Third, the call to discipleship does not
include the expected words, "follow me." Instead, Jesus commissions them for
kingdom service: "catching people." Finally, the call to discipleship requires a
reversal of priorities and a re-ordering of commitments. The disciples left
everything-unlike those in Nazareth and Capernaum-and "they followed" him. As
the NIB says, "The last word in Luke’s story is Jesus. He will order their lives
from now on." [2]
 "We have worked all night
long but have caught nothing" (v. 5). It is often in periods of seeming fruitlessness
that Jesus reveals his power, and in times of darkness that God sheds the greatest light.
Where in your life do you need to experience God’s presence and power?
The soul has to go on loving in the emptiness, or at least go on wanting to love,
though it may only be with an infinitesimal part of itself. Then, one day, God will come
to show himself to this soul and reveal the beauty of the world to it. [3]
 Please see this week’s DPS
posting for a homily based on this passage.
_______________________________________________________
[1] The New Interpreter’s Bible IX (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), page
118.
[2] Ibid, page 118.
[3] Simone Weil, Waiting for God; in Spiritual Formation Bible (Zondervan, 1999),
page 1357.
|
|
