Text: “And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen” (Mark 1:16).
In Jesus’ day, fishing was a major industry just as it is in certain parts of the world this day. The Sea of Galilee is located about 60 miles north of Jerusalem and borders the east coast of Galilee.
The Jordan River flows from Mount Hermon into the northern end of the Sea of Galilee and then exits from the southern tip of the sea and continues down and empties into the Dead Sea.
The Sea of Galilee is about 13 miles from north to south and about 8 miles east to west at its’ widest point. The water of the sea is sweet, bright, and clear and contains many fish. There are times when the sea becomes rough and violent due to the cold air moving in and meeting the warm air at the north end of the sea.
Since there are many fish in the sea, towns sprang up around the sea and fishing became the number one industry. During Jesus’ day, there were some 30 plus town located around the sea. Capernaum grew to be the largest of all the towns.
As you know, every business has events that take place prior to the actual opening of the business. There is footwork that has to be done. There is research concerning the need for the business as well as the best possible place to open the business.
There are licenses and permits to obtain. There are advertisements that must be posted. There should be prayerful thought concerning the business. In other words, there are preliminary steps that must be taken.
There were some preliminary steps leading up to the beginning of Jesus ministry. There were people and events which were essential before Jesus could begin His mission. A decision had to be made as to where to base the ministry. Workers had to be called to assist in the operation of the ministry.
Let’s take a look at some of the people and events that were necessary for Jesus’ ministry to get off the ground and become airborne.
Before Jesus’ ministry began, there was a man who appeared and was a witness, a forerunner for Jesus and a messenger to the people.
The Scripture says, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light that all through him might believe. He was not the Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light” (John 1:6-8).
Isaiah had prophesied many years before, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’” (40:3).
John was the one who came preaching in the wilderness saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:1-2). John came to prepare the way for Jesus. He came preaching the Good News that people needed to hear.
Since the original sin of disobedience by Adam and Eve everyone born is born with a sinful nature. The perfect relationship between man and God was broken and a void created. In order to move back into a right relationship with God, there must be a bridge connecting us with God. John said, “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:7-8).
The connecting link or bridge that leads to a right relationship with our Father is the Cross of His Son Jesus Christ. We know this because we know the history. We have studied and we have been taught the Christian way of life.
Did the people understand what John was preaching? Scripture tells us, “Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins" (Matthew 3:5-6).
I believe many people who came to John to confess and repent of their sins were sincere because they knew in their hearts they were not living right. Some of the people probably came because they saw others coming. The Pharisees and the Sadducees also came and John called them “brood of vipers” (Matthew 3:7).
These two groups did not agree with each other and both used religion to further their political positions.
John used baptism as an outward sign that confession and repentance had taken place. When water is used to wash your hands clean, the results are visible, but when water baptism takes place there is no visible cleansing because it is an inward cleansing.
What should be evident is a change in the life of that person. The inward change should show on the outside as being a disciple or follower of Jesus. The love of God should shine through this person and radiate outward to other people.
As Paul told the people at Corinth, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
It is interesting to note that Jesus came to John to be baptized by John. You might ask, “If baptism is confessing and repenting of ones sins, why did Jesus come to be baptized if He was sinless?”
There are several reasons that can be noted. Jesus was giving us an example to follow; since He was in human form like mankind, He supported John’s ministry of baptism; He wanted to identify with our human sinful nature, and He wanted to carry on John’s message of repentance and confession of sins which would bring salvation to all those who accepted Him and believed Him.
John felt unworthy to baptize Jesus, but Jesus said, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Jesus was saying the baptism must be done to carry forth God’s mission. Jesus’ baptism was in obedience to His Father and His Father showed His approval.
God humbled Himself to come to this sin-sick earth and give mankind an opportunity to be redeemed. Jesus humbled Himself by going to John to be baptized.
John humbled himself by being the forerunner for Jesus. He always admitted he was not the Messiah, but one day the Messiah would come and be revealed. John humbled himself when he gave up his disciples who chose to follow Jesus.
Can you and I do the same thing? Can we humble ourselves? When someone in our life outshines us, can we accept the fact? Can we step back and praise the person who knows more than we know or who does a better job than we do. Can we congratulate the person who got the position we really wanted?
We need to follow the example set forth by John and by Jesus. We are all God’s children and he loves us just as we are. God forgives us for our many iniquities and we should be able to forgive those who sin against us.
After John baptized Jesus a spectacular event occurred. John said he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. John said, “I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:16-17).
These events show the presence and the activity of the Trinity. Notice that God the Father spoke from Heaven; God the Son went through water baptism here on earth, and God the Holy Spirit landed upon Jesus. It is true there is only one God, but He is in three persons at the same time.
The next event to occur was testing Jesus in the realm of temptation. Adam and Eve were tempted and they could not resist. Mankind has suffered temptation ever since. Jesus had to show that temptation could be resisted, so “He was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).
Jesus had fasted forty days and forty nights before being tempted by the devil. After this period of fasting, He must have really been hungry. Most of us are hungry if we think we are going to miss a meal.
Every time Jesus was tempted by the devil, He would quote Scripture. When the devil asked him to turn the stones into bread, there is no doubt that He could have, but to resist this temptation, He said, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).
When the devil asked Jesus to throw himself from the highest point of the temple Jesus said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” (Matthew 4:7).
The third temptation involved worshipping the devil to which Jesus replied, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’” (Matthew 4:10).
The lesson for us is that we can do the same thing Jesus did when we are tempted. The devil is as active today as he was in Jesus’ day. God’s Word is as powerful today as it was centuries ago. Jesus was obedient to the Father and we need to follow His example.
Jesus began His ministry in Galilee soon after John was put in prison. His hometown was Nazareth, but He was not accepted as a prophet in that town (Luke 4:24). There were those in Nazareth who opposed His preaching and teaching.
Instead of staying and creating issues, Jesus moved His ministry headquarters to the large fishing village of Capernaum. This city was the largest of the fishing cities; therefore, He could reach more people with the Gospel message.
Jesus continued to preach the same message John preached and that message was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17). This is as relevant today as it was then.
When we repent, we are turning our life over to Jesus to direct and to control. When we do this, the kingdom of heaven appears within our heart. You can’t get any nearer to the kingdom than that.
Jesus wanted to share His ministry message with people who would carry on after He was no longer present on earth. He knew about the coming events; the betrayal; the trial; the beatings; the cross; the death, and the resurrection.
Jesus wanted followers who would preach the Gospel to everyone through the entire world. He wanted people who would follow in His footsteps and preach the message of confession and repentance leading to salvation. Where was Jesus going to find people to carry forth His message?
Jesus did not look for highly educated people in the schools of that day, but He looked to the common people. One day as He walked along the Sea of Galilee, He looked out and saw two brothers doing what they did best, which was fishing. The brothers were fishing with nets as was the common method used.
He looked at the two brothers and said, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). Scripture indicates they did not hesitate, but dropped their nets to follow Jesus. Did they really know what Jesus was asking? Did they know what Jesus meant by being “fishers of men?”
Jesus was asking them to give up their means of livelihood to follow Him. Simon and Peter left their nets and followed Jesus. A little father Jesus saw two more brothers, James and John, mending their nets with their father Zebedee and some hired hands. Jesus called them to follow Him and they responded immediately.
I know that all of us are senior citizens, but let’s take a trip back in time forty years. We are young men and women pursuing a goal. We are established in a good profession or vocation and our life style is what we had always envisioned. Our income is good; we are buying the house we live in; we have a nice automobile; we have the basic necessities and even more; we attend church, and we have a decent social life. We feel as though we are sitting on the top of the world.
Then one day Jesus comes by and says, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” In other words, give up your way of life and follow Me. What would we do? Would we try to find an excuse not to follow? Would we say, “Jesus, I need time to think about it”? Would we say, “I can’t right now”? Would we refuse or would we obey?
When you confessed your sins and asked Jesus to come into your heart, you followed Jesus’ command. You gave up your old ways and accepted the ways of Jesus. You became a disciple or follower of Jesus. You became a witness to spread the Gospel of Jesus to those who are lost. You became a “fisher of men” catching lost souls for Jesus.
When we witness to people and tell them about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we are casting our net into the school of lost souls, just as the fishermen cast their net into the school of fish, in hopes that some of them will get caught in the net and pulled into the saving hands of the Savior.
Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Man seems to be more interested in his physical being while Jesus is more concerned about his spiritual being.
Listen to the story of this sole witness:
A fine lad entered the Army. He faced a real test the first night he went to be in the barracks. He had formed the commendable habit of placing his Bible on his bed at home, and kneeling down to read a chapter while having his daily prayer time before retiring.
Surrounded by scores of rough men in the one great company room, many of them cursing and jesting loudly, he thought it might be wiser to go to bed and then read his Bible where nobody would notice it.
But he told himself, “I am a Christian, and I ought to give these fellows a testimony. I won’t strike my colors; I’ll do just as I did at home!” So the courageous youngster undressed, got into his sleeping garments, and spread his Bible on his cot. He kneeled down and started to read, and in two minutes the barracks got as quiet as a church.
He felt like a goldfish in a glass bowl….After a while the talk began again, and nothing was said about his odd behavior. But the next night when he again opened his Bible and knelt to read, eight other boys dug out their Bibles and did the same.
Within a month every man in that outfit would have fought for that boy. They brought their troubles and their questions to him to be settled, and he influenced more men for Christ in that one barracks than half a dozen chaplains could have moved in a year of Sundays.
-----From Miracles at Morning Cheer, by Harry Rimmer
Jesus said, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men”
Amen.
