“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
There are lots of translations to Jesus’ quote above from Matthew. Most often the quote “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime” is mistakenly thought of coming from the bible and from around this quote.
But it’s not. Although there are plenty of references to similar teachings throughout the Old and New Testament concerning fishing and its analogies, Matthew 4:19 is not one of them.
Usually, a teacher or Rabbi would have disciples gathered around them, quoting and teaching them scriptures, etc. The Rabbi or teacher is teaching about experiences and religious history.
But when Jesus saw Peter and Andrew, to whom Jesus was calling to as he was walking by the sea and they were on their fishing boat… what Jesus of Nazareth was saying and implying was that he didn’t want to make them disciples but Teachers themselves. He wanted not only to make them teachers “of men” but to all of humanity.
He wanted to give them “The Experience”, the peace within, the freedom from bondage, so that they may teach others to have the same experience.
Christ gave those very instructions to The Apostles to give to all whom they taught as well. The Christ wanted all “To be that Peace Within” as He was.
