Fishers of Men and the New Exodus
Discipleship as Story Participation (Pt. 5)
Last time we demonstrated that Jesus did not command his disciples to “Come and Learn,” nor did he say “Come and Obey.” He implored them to “Come and Follow.”
In this post, we want to examine the second half of Matthew 4.19. What did Jesus mean when he promised he would make them fishers of men?
“And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
—Matthew 4.19
Jesus makes a direct connection between the disciples coming to follow him and making them become fishers of men. As we have noted throughout this series, Discipleship is participating in God’s story, and Jesus, in this passage, invites his disciples to follow him into this story. So whatever becoming fishers of men means, it must be informed by the overall storyline of Scripture. As we will see, this is not a brand new idea or phrase Jesus made up.
However, because we are ignorant of God’s story, we turn this verse into practical evangelistic strategies. What do I mean? It is common for people to think through the various elements it requires to be a good fisherman and then implement these techniques to be a good evangelist.
Here is an example:
“Fishing is unpredictable. There is no guarantee of reward. It requires patience and risk. In faith, the fishermen would throw their nets into the deep water, letting it sink into the lake out of sight, and hoping that the reward for their efforts would be a catch. Fish will not jump into the boat. Fishers must search for them and take a risk by throwing their nets into the water. Could they possibly go through a bunch of work and never get a single fish? Absolutely. That happened multiple times in Scripture. But the risk was worth the reward. In the same way, this is our model for evangelism. We take the story of Christ and the message of what he has done for us, and we speak it out into the world around us.”1
The logic is as follows: The more one recognizes the skills, utilizes the proper tools, and employs the right fishing techniques, the more they will be equipped to be a good evangelist.
However, I am not sure that Jesus expects all of his followers to have a thorough fishing knowledge to become fishers of men. (Poor Matthew, he was a tax collector! 😆)
And I am pretty sure Jesus is not being “punny.” Jesus did not just notice that the first disciples were fishermen, so he said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” As if Peter were a farmer, Jesus would have said, “Follow me, and I will make you a harvester of souls.” He was not using a wordplay.
Where did Jesus come up with the metaphor “fishers of men?” Some scholars believe Jesus probably “coined the phrase.”2 As much as I do not want to take any credit away from Jesus, I do not think he came up with the phrase on his own. He had help, help from the Old Testament (OT). But because we are not familiar with the story of God as depicted in the OT, the church regularly misses the OT reference. Matthew 4.19 is an echo to Jeremiah 16.16.
Let’s examine the context. Jeremiah 16.14-15 states,
“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.”
Jeremiah promises the nation of Israel that they will return from all the places Yahweh had driven them. Further, he describes this future event as a new exodus. This new exodus will far surpass the old one. So much so, that no one will even discuss the first redemption from Egypt because they will only be talking about this new return from exile. How will God bring the exiles back? The next verse addresses this.
Verse 16 states,
“Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the LORD, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.”
Jeremiah prophesies that on that day, the day of the second exodus, God will send fishermen to catch and gather all the exiles. He will send hunters to every far, challenging place to hunt and find the exiles. Yahweh will use hunters and fishers to bring the exiles that are scattered throughout the nations home. It is here Jesus finds the origins of his phrase “fishers of men.”
In connecting Jeremiah 16.16 with Matthew 4.18-19, Gentry and Wellum write,
“When Jesus says to Peter and Andrew that he will make them “fishers of men,” he is referring directly to Jeremiah 16:16, and he is saying that he will use his followers to bring the exiles home.”3
Jesus is not simply being pithy, nor is he implying that the disciples will help him tell everyone how to get to “heaven” through a thorough knowledge of fishing. He is conveying to his disciples that the time of the second exodus is at hand. Jesus is the new and better Moses, leading all the exiles back to the true and final temple—Himself. And they will be the fishers and hunters who will catch and hunt down all the elect exiles who have been scattered. The ingathering of the eschatological people of God is about to begin, and the disciples will be the fishermen who take up their missional calling to reach the exiles.
Following Jesus, then, does not require fishing acumen. It requires understanding that the time in which we find ourselves is the time of the new exodus; it is the day of salvation. Becoming a fisher of men means we are willing to follow Jesus by laying down our lives to catch the lost exiles and bring them to the new temple. We do this by structuring our everyday lives together in love around Jesus. This is how we become fishers of men.
As always, if you have enjoyed this post and desire more people to be theologically shaped by the story of God, please like and/or share this post. Feel free to leave your thoughts and reflections on this post as well! Thank you for supporting Mission Forward!
https://www.christianity.com/wiki/bible/what-does-it-mean-to-be-fishers-of-men.html
Eckhard J. Schnabel, Early Christian Mission: Jesus and the Twelve, Vol. 1 (Downers Grove: IVP, 2004), 276-277. He writes, “It is probable that Jesus, who used many metaphors from everyday Galilean life, coined the metaphor “fishers of people.” The disciples were called for the purpose of assisting Jesus, who gathers the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” in view of the dawn of the kingdom of God. They are to recruit more people and become members of the movement that he has set in motion.”
Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum, Kingdom Through Covenant (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 490.
Scott, I have loved these articles. So helpful and encouraging. Thanks bro!