One of Pastor Art’s recent sermons was concerned with Jesus calling the fishermen Simon (Peter), Andrew, James and John to be his disciples and become fishers of men. He would soon call another fisherman Philip. Did you ever wonder why Jesus called these relatively unschooled, humble men? Let’s explore their preparation; maybe it was more suited for the task than we think. 
 The Sea of Galilee is misnamed, since it is a fresh water lake. It is about eight miles wide and thirteen miles long. To put that in perspective Florida’s Lake Okeechobee is twenty-nine miles wide and thirty-seven miles long, so the Sea of Galilee is considerably smaller. The lake contains about twenty species of fish, three types of which are commercially fished, both then and now (Today overfishing is a danger. The lake was closed to fishing in 2010-2011 and since then it is closed for several months each year.) The largest (up to 15 pounds) are called Biny, and they are a predator fish that feed on sardines; since they don’t school, they were caught with hook and line; in Matthew 17:27 Jesus tells Peter to throw in his line, which indicates he was fishing for Biny. The next largest type is the Musht, which includes the well-known St. Peter’s fish. Since they are type of Tilapia and feed primarily on small organisms, they were caught using nets. They are excellent grilled, and in John 21 we see Jesus grilling one on the shore; today, restaurants in the villages on the west shore serve grilled St. Peter’s fish, and they are delicious. The third commercial type of fish is the sardine, and they were caught using nets with a finer mesh than those used to catch Musht. Archeologists have discovered evidence that during Bible times there was a commercial sardine fishery; they have uncovered curing facilities near Magdala on the west shore of the Galilee and near what is believed to be Bethsaida on the northeast shore. Once they were cured they could be traded and shipped elsewhere.

 Why did Jesus choose five fishermen among his twelve disciples? Jesus, of course, could see their hearts, but let’s see what we can detect about them with our earthly eyes. First, while they were not men of great wealth, they did have some means. We know that Peter owned one of the boats. A boat that has been carbon-dated to Biblical times is now on display at Kibbutz Ginosar on the west shore of the Galilee; it is large (8 ft by 27 ft), intricately constructed, and would have represented a large investment. Peter also owned a house. James and John fished with their father Zebedee, but in Mark 1:20 we learned that they also had hired men. This seems like a fairly large enterprise; they fished for all three types of fish, and my guess is that they were also involved in the sardine trade. Hence they had some business skills, including managing workmen and keeping simple accounts. Through trade they probably had exposure to people from other places, even though they themselves were not well-travelled. They spoke Aramaic and Hebrew, and since there was a large Greek-speaking gentile population nearby, they spoke Greek as well. Clearly they were industrious, physically fit, patient as is required of fishermen, and they had the courage to face the sometimes dangerous Sea of Galilee. While not well educated (which would have meant formal training in Jerusalem of the Old Testament Law), they were literate, as is indicated by the later writings of Peter and John. Peter would later prove to be a skilled orator.

 I think this shows that the fishermen did, in fact, have skills suited to becoming fishers of men, but then Jesus also used, for example, the skills of the tax collector Matthew and the Zealot Simon. Jesus calls us all to discipleship, and I believe He is able to utilize the skills we bring, no matter how unlikely they may be.

 Read Matthew 4:12-23, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Jim

Today’s reading: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%204:12-23