Jesus calls the fishermen to follow him, stained glass, provenance unknown.

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[Jesus said to them,] “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”   Mark 1:16.

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According to the (United States) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in 2024 (and for many years before) fishing and hunting are the most dangerous jobs in the USA bar none. Lumberjacking is the second most dangerous. Bearing that in mind, and going back 2000 years, leaving all life-saving equipment and services back in the 21st century, the fatality rate among fishermen in Jesus’ day must have been horrendous. Given that I wonder if Jesus deliberately approached fishermen knowing they faced life-threatening situations on a regular basis, and in all probability were the strongest, not to say bravest, men in that community. Although at the beginning of his ministry, and knowing that the message he was going to preach was not about the All-Conquering Messiah that the Hebrews wanted to hear, I wonder if he deliberately looked to the toughest men in the community to recruit to his side. If he could swing them over, there was a pretty good chance his teachings would survive when he was just a memory. He was right, of course. But then there is the apparent instantaneous response to his call – they dropped everything to follow him! That is an almost incredible reaction. James and John even left Zebedee, their father, in the boat in their eagerness to join this holy man! Luke 5:1-11, dealing with the same scene, adds much more color to it. In his version, Simon Peter had been working all night and had caught nothing. So he was exhausted, tired, angry, frustrated and not in a good mood. Then this holy man came by and told him to pull out once more… Well, what would you have said? Luke gives Peter a very obliging and polite response, and he pulls out in obedience once more. I deeply suspect that that was an heavily edited version of Peter’s response, which probably told Jesus what he could do with his suggestion. But something in this holy man moved Peter to do what Jesus said. He caught a whole load of fish, was overwhelmed when he returned to Jesus, and said that he was a sinful man, and it would be better if Jesus simply left him. That is almost certainly verbatim, much more likely than his first obsequious reaction as stated in Luke, and of course it was exactly what Jesus was looking for. So Jesus must have had an air about him of total authority, goodness and conviction for the likes of these men to respond in the way that they did. He must have had an almost magnetic attraction, so much so that they could not imagine another instant not being in his company. He was the real thing. They were won over in an instant, and for the rest of their lives.

That being so, look at today’s second reading from Paul’s letter to the Christians in Corinth. He is telling them about a world turned upside down also. They should see things in an entirely new light with Jesus’ presence among them. Challenges are now opportunities to do good. Angry-making situations are now chances for understanding and reconciliation. Vengeance should now give way to forgiveness, and so on and on. In such matters, black does indeed  become white! And the first reading, although really unlikely at face value, does become believable if we can see Jonah as a really good prophet, a really good proclaimer of God’s word. It is probable that we too can tell a good person from a scoundrel, though that might be a little optimistic. But if, as apparently in Nineveh, everyone could tell that Jonah was the real thing, just as those fishermen in today’s gospel did when confronted by Jesus, then his words would really mean something. They believed and responded appropriately. In situations like that things can really change, as let’s hope they did in Corinth when they absorbed Paul’s teaching. Finally, let’s hope things can change within each of us, once we let God’s life and light enter in. And, as we can see from today’s readings, things really can be turned upside down, and for the better. Exciting? Maybe. Thrilling? Possibly. Challenging? Certainly. God-filled? Yes!

LIFE (AND) LIGHT – ΖΩΗ (KAI) ΦΩΣ – ZŌĒ (KAI) PHŌS

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