We know that Jesus has encountered John the Baptist by this point. We know from the Gospel of John that Jesus had met Peter, Andrew, Philip and Nathaniel as fellow spectators at John's ministry events. He has by this time established himself as a noteworthy preacher at Caphernaum, and as persona non grata (unwelcome person) in his hometown of Nazareth. It is at this point that Jesus takes his program a step forward, by recruiting several of his hearers to join his team, and become participants in his work:
Luk 5:1 Halk, Ginnesar Gölü'nün kıyısında duran İsa'nın çevresini sarmış, Tanrı'nın sözünü dinliyordu.A fisherman learns that he is about to become a fisher of men. His new career is in some way an extension of his old.
Luk 5:2 İsa, gölün kıyısında iki tekne gördü. Balıkçılar teknelerinden inmiş ağlarını yıkıyorlardı.
Luk 5:3 İki tekneden Simun'a ait olanına binen İsa, ona kıyıdan biraz açılmasını rica etti. Sonra oturdu, teknenin içinden halka öğretmeye devam etti.
Luk 5:4 Konuşmasını bitirince Simun'a, "Derin sulara açılın, balık tutmak için ağlarınızı atın" dedi.
Luk 5:5 Simun şu karşılığı verdi: "Efendimiz, bütün gece çabaladık, hiçbir şey tutamadık. Yine de senin sözün üzerine ağları atacağım."
Luk 5:6 Bunu yapınca öyle çok balık yakaladılar ki, ağları yırtılmaya başladı.
Luk 5:7 Öbür teknedeki ortaklarına işaret ederek gelip yardım etmelerini istediler. Onlar da geldiler ve her iki tekneyi balıkla doldurdular; tekneler neredeyse batıyordu.
Luk 5:8 Simun Petrus bunu görünce, "Ya Rab, benden uzak dur, ben günahlı bir adamım" diyerek İsa'nın dizlerine kapandı.
Luk 5:9 Kendisi ve yanındakiler, tutmuş oldukları balıkların çokluğuna şaşıp kalmışlardı.
Luk 5:10 Simun'un ortakları olan Zebedi oğulları Yakup'la Yuhanna'yı da aynı şaşkınlık almıştı. İsa Simun'a, "Korkma" dedi, "Bundan böyle balık yerine insan tutacaksın."
A little later in the chapter, Luke tips his hat to his fellow gospel maker, Levi / Matthew. Peter comes on board with an incredible haul of fish. Matthew immediately throws a loud party for all of his disreputable friends and associates. And, as the calm, but energizing center of the excitement, Jesus continues to teach.
As an educated man, who aspires for an academic career, this chapter arouses mixed feelings. Jesus had little time for or patience with the scholars of his day, the men who'd given their lives to erudite, recondite analysis of sacred text. He sought out people who were successful in business, people enmeshed in the thick of life, rather than pointy-headed ivory-tower intelligentsia.[1] Those who read history note that successful reformations are scholarly endeavors. Luther and Calvin were both academics. Many of the unsuccessful reformations were launched by charismatic lay folk, untrained enthusiasts, like Hong, whose "heavenly kingdom" led to millions of deaths in 19th century China.
One of my favorite historical figures, Francis Asbury, "the prophet of the long road," started out as a blacksmith. This first native-born American Methodist bishop taught himself to read Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. In his journal, he once complains about not getting much rest the night before -- he'd been the guest of a Jewish shopkeeper, and they stayed up late reviewing the vowel points of the Hebrew alphabet.[2]
The old rabbis had some insightful proverbs:
- The man who does not teach his son Torah and a trade teaches him to become a fool and a thief.
- The unemployed man who tries to explain the Scripture distorts it.
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[1] This word comes to us from Russian. Theodore Dostoevsky frequently featured the alienated intellectual in his novels.
[2] My first foray into Hebrew ended when the vowel points overwhelmed my motivation. One of these days ... !
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