By Tyson Thorne

August 2, 2016
 
 

The Galilean Ministry at Lake Gennesaret, 5.1-11

When reading the New Testament gospels, it is easy to get caught up in watching Jesus. He is the main character, after all, and the one doing all the miracles. If you are a mature follower of Christ, I think it can be instructive to look at everyone else at least every once in a while. For example, we find in these first eleven verses of chapter five that life in the first century AD is not all that unlike life in the 21st. Simon Peter and his brother Andrew are in business with brothers James and John in the fishing industry.

Luke records the location of their fishing business as Lake Gennesaret, but other Gospel writers refer to this as the Sea of Galilea, and John called it the Sea of Tiberius. This is not a mistake; it is the same body of water. Tiberius is the largest city on the shores of the lake and exists to this day. I’ve been to Tiberius and if I had to live in Israel, this is where I would settle. It is a beautiful location and the lake is exceptionally large. In 1986 a fishing boat from the first century was located at the bottom of the lake. It was carefully preserved and removed and sits in Tiberius as a piece of cultural history. The boat is roughly 8 meters long and a little over two meters wide. The hull is about a meter and a half deep and, with a standard crew, could hold nearly a ton of fish.

Make no mistake, they weren’t fly fishing to relax or marlin fishing for adventure, they were commercial fishermen bringing hundreds of fish to market every day. Fresh fish, dried fish, fish oil and sauce were all businesses they supported. They caught Tilapia mostly, and carp. Sardines were plentiful but the throwing nets they likely used would have let them through. Not only were they part of a larger Roman industry, they also owned more than one boat. They had a decent sized business, and a largely successful one. Even so, some days are better for fishing than others as we see here.

As had become the norm, a large crowd was following Jesus on this morning when he reached the edge of the lake. To assure they could all hear him, Jesus decided to teach from a boat. While an unusual method, it was an effective one since sound travels so well across water. So he asked Simon Peter for a lift and, not having had a good catch and with little else to do, Simon agreed. Following the morning session, Jesus instructed him to put out to deep water and to set the nets. The rest is history; the catch was so large that Simon had to get assistance from the other boat to bring in all the fish.

Some have suggested that this was Jesus’ was of repaying the fishermen for the use of their boat, but there is a very obvious reason this cannot be true. After returning to shore Jesus called Simon Peter, James and John to follow him as his disciples. Did they say, “sure, just as soon as we get all these fish to market”? Of course not, they immediately left the haul – likely worth a small fortune – to follow. So why did Jesus perform the miracle? To reveal to them who he was and, thereby, assure that they would follow.

Which raises an interesting question: Did Jesus ask them to follow, or command them? There is nothing in the Greek that helps us nail down just what kind of an invitation this was. Jesus makes a statement:

“Follow me” he said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

It could go either way, and many have interpreted this according to their own theology. Calvinists largely state that this invitation was an irresistible call, while Armenians believe the men chose to follow. What is important to note is that there is absolutely nothing in the text to support either assertion.

Rest assured that the fish did not spoil. From Matthew’s account we know that James and John, after seeing the large haul Peter’s boat had made, were preparing their own nets to go back out. But Jesus called them to follow as well, leaving Zebedee (James’ and John’s father) who was also present along with the hired hands to take care of the load.

 

 
 
Learn Biblical Hebrew Online

Translate

English French German Italian Portuguese Russian Spanish

GET IN TOUCH

Info@Think-Biblically.com

https://www.facebook.com/groups/620829378050965/

@Think-Bibically

How to setup an RSS of Windows Reader Service