Two distinguishing features of today’s Gospel reading probably appear rather peculiar to modern readers.  The first is Jesus’ invitation to those who would be his first disciples and the second is the newly called disciples’ response to the invitation. 

The Gospel reading says that Jesus had begun his preaching ministry to announce the proximity of God’s reign. (Mt 4:17)  After preaching to the crowds, he walked along the seashore and said to some fishermen, “Come along with me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mt 4:19)  The term “fishers of men” is an unusual metaphor that might sound somewhat predatory to twenty-first century readers. 

In response to the cryptic invitation, Peter, Andrew, James, and John appear to abandon their property and careers all too eagerly.  In ancient Palestine, occupations such as fishing were the endeavors of an extended family.  The loss of these four from the family’s business would have created a serious burden for the relatives who continued to do the work. 

The Gospel author provided no explanation of Jesus’ strange metaphor and the disciples’ strange behavior because the original readers of the Gospel would have understood them without the interpretation needed by readers today.  Although they might appear eccentric to us, the phrase “fishers of men” and the disciples’ abrupt abandonment of their families make complete sense in light of the preaching of the prophet Jeremiah. 

Immediately before the conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Empire, Jeremiah received a prophetic word from God.  Jeremiah’s preaching on that occasion was a prophecy of judgment against the king and inhabitants of ancient Judea because of their faithlessness. (Jr 16:11) 

Jeremiah prophesied impending disaster for the majority and a glimmer of hope for those few who had remained faithful to God.  Punishment of those who had turned away from God and the Law would be carried out by violent men who would catch evil doers in the way that a fisherman catches fish or in the way that a hunter traps game. (Jr 16:16) 

As is typical of ancient Israelite prophecy, however, those pronouncements of judgment and punishment were linked inextricably to a promise by God to protect, preserve, and restore the faithful few to their lands and lives.   

When Peter, Andrew, James, and John heard Jesus’ metaphor of “fishers of men” addressed to them, they understood that this term referred to the fulfillment of God’s promise to demonstrate Divine power by granting authentic knowledge of God to faithful Israelites. (Jr 16:21)  The first audience of Matthew’s Gospel also would have understood these words as the fulfillment of prophecy.  

The four new disciples had heard Jesus’ preaching already, and they recognized in his words a new dispensation of Divine truth.  Jesus’ odd sounding metaphor of “fishers of men” indicated to the new disciples that they were being chosen to participate in God’s work of enlightening those whose faith was weak or non-existent.  This religious experience on the part of the disciples explains their surprising desertion from their family’s business, as well. 

From the time that the exiles returned from Babylon, there was consistent and widespread dissatisfaction with the state of the reconstituted Judea.  Although they had been granted freedom of worship by the Persian Empire, the Judeans chafed at being a vassal state of a gentile nation.  The dissatisfaction with being ruled by foreigners inspired numerous individuals to organize reform movements.  Some reformers proposed political independence from the succession of empires which ruled over Judea; others proposed religious reform.  Jesus was among the latter group of reformers; he rejected a political solution to a religious problem. 

Jesus preached an individual renewal of fidelity to the Sinai Covenant.  He used images and terminology from the prophet Jeremiah.  Speaking on God’s behalf, Jeremiah prophesied, “The days are coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  I will put my Law within them and write it on their hearts.” (Jr 31:31,33)   

The “new covenant” preached by Jeremiah was not a replacement for the Sinai Covenant but the renewal of that covenant.  The first disciples were very quick to follow Jesus because they had heard his preaching about a renewal of covenant faithfulness, and his words precipitated a conversion experience for them.  Rather than a capricious act, their abandonment of their livelihood was the completion of the process of repentance.  Again, the original audience of Matthew’s Gospel would have understood this without prompting or explanation. 

These two peculiar aspects of the Gospel reading provide an explanation of what Jesus meant when he preached about the nearness of God’s reign.  Jesus’ announcement that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” meant that the time had arrived for all people to choose between faithfulness to God and faithfulness to self-serving behavior. (Mt 4:17)  Some people accepted his message and repented; others continued to pursue their own designs, with catastrophic consequences.  Within a few decades of his death, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman Empire in an attempt to end the periodic armed rebellions in Judea. 

“The kingdom of heaven” Jesus preached is not a replacement for any earthly kingdom or political regime.  Neither is it a geographical location or a state of spiritual existence.  The phrase “kingdom of heaven” has the same meaning as Jeremiah’s “new covenant.”  It is an individual renewal of faithfulness to God and God’s Law.  God intends for all people to repent and experience God’s favor.  Those who do so find the same enlightening experience that led simple fisherfolk to embark on a mission to fish for people.  Today, in this moment, is the time for all people to choose between faithfulness to God and faithfulness to self-serving behavior. (Mt 4:17)