Saturday, March 1, 2014
Mark 1:16-18 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. Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
WE INTRODUCE OTHERS TO THE SAVIOR
Right after the Lord Jesus had started preaching He saw two men, Simon and Andrew, brothers in the fishing business, sitting by the sea of Galilee casting their nets. He said to them, "Come, follow Me. I will make you fishers of men." This little incident now tells us how Jesus prepared to acquaint later generations with Himself. According to these words, just how did He intend to do that?
He enlisted human beings as His helpers. Just how He wanted them to operate or go at their task He makes clear by saying, "I will make you fishers of men." In other words, the men whom He enlists as His helpers are to do the following: Just as the fisherman fishing for fish fishes with a net, so those who help Him acquaint other people with Himself should also throw out a net, which net is the blessed message of the Gospel, telling about the person of Jesus, the work of Jesus resulting in the forgiveness of sins, and the blessings which Jesus has in store for man. And by so doing, Jesus knows that just as a fisherman catches fish, at least some fish, so at least some people will be brought to Him as His friends and believe in Him.
The way in which Jesus intended to take care of future generations was by having Christ-believers preach even as He had done. And did His undertaking succeed? Yes, for in the last verse of our text we are told that Simon and Andrew, when they were invited to fish for men, left their occupation and followed after Jesus and became fishers of men.
But were these the only ones enlisted? No. On the day when He actually ascended into heaven, thus leaving this world, He enlisted the help of every human who knew Him and believed in Him, saying unto them all, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." And at such invitation, Christians for the past twenty centuries went out even as Simon and Andrew, fishing for men. They fished with success, for which we have proof in the fact that you and I were caught in the net of the Gospel.
Having been brought in by the net of the Gospel, knowing the Lord Jesus and believing in Him, Christ also invites us to become fishers of men by saying to us, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." What will we do with this invitation? Certainly we also, as Simon and Andrew, will become fishers of men by telling others about the Lord Jesus, calling on them to repent and believe in Him as their Savior from sin!
