ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 MONITE NOVEMA 13, 2023

Violent Fishers of Men

Ko e Kau Toutai tangata ‘oku hamu fakamalohi mai ke fakahaofi

JEREMIAH 16:16

"BEHOLD, I AM SENDING FOR MANY FISHERS, DECLARES THE LORD, AND THEY SHALL CATCH THEM. AND AFTERWARD I WILL SEND FOR MANY HUNTERS, AND

THEY SHALL HUNT THEM FROM EVERY MOUNTAIN AND EVERY HILL, AND OUT OF THE CLEFTS OF THE ROCKS."

SELEMAIA 16:16

Ko au eni ‘oku ou fekau ke omi ha kau taumāta‘u tokolahi–ko Sihova ia mei he Ta‘ehāmai–pea te nau taumāta‘u‘i kinautolu; pea hili ia te u fekau ke ‘omi ke lahi ha kau tulimanu, ‘a ia te nau pō kinautolu mei he mo‘unga kehekehe, pea mei he ngaahi potu mā‘olunga kehekehe, pea mei he ngaahi ava‘i makatu‘u.

We have wrongly romanticized what it means to be a "fisher of men" (Matt. 4:19). In its Hebrew context, fishing for men is a savage affair. In Jeremiah, fishermen are God's instruments of judgment: (16:16-18). In Ezekiel, God spreads his net to catch the runaway prince to ship him into exile (12:13). In Amos, he wields fishhooks to drag people away (4:2). In Habakkuk, Babylonians net Israel like fish (1:14-16). Every OT instance of men fishing for a "human catch" involves violence. So in Hebrew, for some-

one to dig ("fish") for you, to hook or net you, means that your life, as you once knew it, is now over.

So when Jesus calls his disciples to be "fishers of men," he is not sending them on a quaint mission. He's sending them to make sure that those sinners they hook or net by God's Word will know that their lives, as they once knew them, are now over. They must die, ironically, in water. We, human fish, die in the baptismal river and are raised in that same river to a new life in Jesus Christ.

Praise to you, heavenly Father, for killing us and making us a new creation in your Son.