4:19 I will make you fishers of people Probably describes a change of vocation. Whereas they used to draw fish from the sea, they will now draw people into God’s kingdom.
This image may be an allusion to Jer 16:16. However, the image in Jeremiah is negative and speaks of eschatological judgment. Jesus may be adding a positive twist to borrowed prophetic imagery.[1]
4:19 “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” In its Jewish setting, Jesus was officially calling these men to become His disciples. There were set rules and procedures on how a rabbi did this. The terminology is a word play on their profession of fishing.[2]
Ver. 19. Follow Me.—
Follow Me:—1. Follow Christ as your Teacher. 2. As your Example. 3. As your Friend. 4. If you see to the following what will Christ do? (D. B. Hooke.) 1. These heavenly fishermen follow Christ personally. 2. They follow Him circumstantially. 3. They follow Him singly, with a single eye. (H. Cole.) The great lesson of the text may be summed up in this—that successful work for Jesus must spring out of a devout imitation of Him. “Follow Me,” &c. In the example of Christ there are two points which it is important to look at. I. The estimate Jesus Christ gave to humanity in contrast with all the other objects that engaged His attention. In comparison with the claims of man, everything else was regarded as subsidiary. II. His whole career was evolved from this central conception in regard to humanity. To save men—that was His mission. I must work—that was His motto. These thoughts were always present to His mind. Our grand central controlling purpose must be the imitation of the Master, in striving to become the servant of all. 1. Christian work must so far resemble Christ’s work as to be inspired with the soul of earnestness. 2. The possession of yearning pity and interest in humanity. 3. The cultivation of a spirit of large self-denial. 4. Persistency in effort. 5. Prayer. Does this command stir your soul to nobler work and better service, &c.? What is your response? (W. Kelynack.)
Follow Me:—
I. Whom? Not simply a human teacher, but Jesus, who qualified Himself by His earthly life, with its temptations, toil, and suffering, to be the efficient leader of men. II. How? We cannot follow His person as the disciples did; but we may—Obey His precepts and copy His example.
III. Why? We cannot direct our own course—there is no leader equal to Christ—if we follow Him we shall be in good company. Only thus can we escape spiritual danger and eternal death.
IV. Whither? To God: “I am the way,” &c. To heaven: “In My Father’s house,” &c.
V. When? Now. Always. (Seeds and Saplings.)
The attractive face of Jesus:—In lower human forms this magnetic attraction of man on man is not unknown. It is the orator’s power. The orators of revolutions—men like Mirabeau—are full charged with it; they are like jars laden with electric fire; there is that in their words which flashes out, and stirs, sways, and rules mankind. Christ constitutes in a still higher form the great Captain’s power. (J. B. Brown, B.A.) Fishers of men.—
Ministers fishers of men:—
I. The appropriateness of the figure. The world is the sea, the scene of their labours.
II. The duty to be discharged. This net must be employed—constantly, diligently, skilfully. 1. Let the Christian fisherman rightly understand his net, and the appointed way of using it. 2. Let success be the grand object of attention. 3. Be cheerfully devoted to the work. 4. Our resources are infinite and exhaustless. (Dr. Burns.)
Fishers of men:—1. To fish well, it is necessary to study the peculiarities of fish. 2. You must go to the fish. (Beecher.)
Scientific knowledge not enough for the preacher:—It is necessary to know more than the science of ichthyology. What a book can tell a man about fishing is worth knowing, but it is little that a book can do towards making a man a true fisherman. If a man is going to fish for fish, he must become their scholar before he becomes their master; he must go to school in the brook, to learn its ways. And to fish for men, a man must learn their nature, their prejudices, their tendencies, and their courses. A man, to catch fish, must not only know their habits, but their tastes and their resorts; he must humour them according to their different natures, and adapt his instruments according to their peculiarities—providing a spear for some, a hook for others, a net for others, and baits for each one, as each one will. To sit on a bank or deck, and say to the fishes, “Here I am, authorized to command you to come to me and to bite what I give you,” is just as ridiculous as it can be, even though it does resemble some ways of preaching. The Christian’s business is not to stand in an appointed place and say to men, “Here am I; come up and take what I give you as you should.” The Christian’s business is to find out what men are, and to take them by that which they will bite at. (Ibid.)
Fishers of men:—Christ came upon these men when they were busy at their everyday work. He saw them casting a net into the sea. His eye is upon us in all the work we do in the world. And as He looks upon us, so He calls us. It is true we may be so absorbed in other pursuits as not to hear the call. I. What was His call? They were to leave their work that they might engage in higher work. II. How shall we hope to be successful? 1. We must follow Christ. 2. We must submit to His teaching and influence. 3. Christ only can qualify us for the work. (A. Thomas.)
Industry an indication of worth:—Whether, as He watched them putting out the net, He saw signs, which were indications to His penetrating and prophetic eye of fitness for the higher work to which they were to be called, we cannot tell. It is possible. For a very small thing will serve as a revelation of character to those who are keen-sighted, and who understand how the little is allied to the great. Just as a student like Owen will construct the entire skeleton if you give him a single bone, so the master, in the study of the human nature, will often be able to give a fair judgment of the whole character if he sees only what many would regard as casual and meaningless acts. (Ibid.)
Men miss the call of Christ through over occupation:—You cannot attend to many things at once. There may be a glow of heavenly light on the mountain-top, but it will be nothing to the man whose eyes are fixed on the path along which he is painfully toiling. There may be the sound of sweet music carried on the night breezes; but it will be lost upon those who are disputing loudly and striving angrily with each other. (Ibid.) 1. A fisherman must be acquainted with the sea—we must know the locality in which we have to work. 2. A fisherman must also know how to allure fish. 3. The fisherman must be a man who can wait with patience. 4. A fisherman is one who must run hazards. 5. The fisherman must be one who has learned both how to persevere and how to expect. (C. H. Spurgeon.) A fisherman must also know how to allure the fish.—I saw on Lake Como, when we visited Bellagio, some men fishing. They had torches burning in their boats, and the fish were attracted to them by the glare of the light. You must know how to get the fish together. You know there is such a thing as the ground-bait for the fishes. You must know how to allure men. The preacher does this by using images, symbols, and illustrations. You must know how to catch the fish, throwing out first. (Ibid.) The Church enriched from the ranks of poverty.—A few years ago, on a wintry morning, a boy in the habiliments of poverty entered an old school-house among our western mountains, and avowed to the master his desire for an education. There was poverty laying one of her richest gifts on the altar of religion, for that boy was Jonas King. On his humble shoemaker’s bench, Carey laid the foundation of British Baptist Missions. John Newton found in his congregation an unfriended Scotch boy, whose soul was then glowing with new-born love to Christ. He took him to John Thornton, one of those noble merchants whose wealth, whose piety, and whose beneficence increased together. They educated him, and that boy became Claudius Buchanan, whose name India will bless when the names of Clive and Hastings are forgotten. John Bunyan was a gift of poverty to the Church. Zwingle came forth from an Alpine shepherd’s cabin; Melancthon from an armourer’s workshop; Luther from a miner’s cottage; the apostles, some of them, from fishermen’s huts. These are the gifts of poverty to the Church. (Dr. J. Harris.)[3]
19. Follow me (literally ‘come behind me’) would immediately suggest the disciples of a Rabbi (see Davies, pp. 422–423), who literally followed him around to absorb his teaching, though this was by their own choice, not by his summons. A good teacher would be expected to have a group of such ‘followers’. But Jesus calls his disciples not only to listen and learn, but to take an active part as fishers of men. Jeremiah 16:16 had spoken of fishing for men, but this was to catch them for judgment (cf. Amos 4:2); Jesus’ ‘fishermen’ will save men from judgment.[4]
Ver. 19.—Follow me; come ye after me (Revised Version); δεῦτε ὀπίσω μου. There is no thought of continuous following from place to place (ἀκολουθεῖν), but of immediate detachment from the present sphere of their interest and of attachment to Jesus as their leader. And I will make you fishers of men; Mark, “to become fishers of men,” laying more stress on the change in their character necessary for success in this new kind of fishing. Luke 5:10 brings out the change in the nature of the work (ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν). Fishers. The word suggests care, patience, skill, besides habits of life fitted for endurance of privation and fatigue. The same promise is, as it seems, related in Luke 5:10, where notice: (1) It is connected with the miracle of the draught of fishes. (2) It is not verbally identical with this: Μὴ φοβοῦ· ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν ἀνθρώπους ἔση ζωγρῶν. (3) The words are addressed individually to Simon.[5]
[1] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., Whitehead, M. M., Grigoni, M. R., & Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Mt 4:19). Lexham Press.
[2] Utley, R. J. (2000). The First Christian Primer: Matthew: Vol. Volume 9 (p. 31). Bible Lessons International.
[3] Exell, J. S. (1952). The Biblical Illustrator: Matthew (pp. 40–42). Baker Book House.
[4] France, R. T. (1985). Matthew: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 1, p. 109). InterVarsity Press.
[5] Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. (1909). St. Matthew (Vol. 1, p. 109). Funk & Wagnalls Company.
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