Following Jesus, Part 1: Fishing with Jesus

In the 5th chapter of Luke's gospel we find Jesus calling Peter and others to become fishers of men. What is peculiar about this passage is Jesus' use of the metaphor. The Old Testament prophets were quite fond of the metaphor of fishing but used it in the context of judgment. They used it to denote pulling disobedient people out of the chaotic and confusing realm of idolatry and social injustice to be judged by God (Jer. 16:16-18, Amos 4:2, Hab. 1:14-17). Fishing was a metaphor of Divine punishment. In Matthew 13:47-50 Jesus uses the metaphor consistently with the Old Testament, while putting it in the kingdom context. In Luke 5, however, Jesus is not talking about judgment at all. The metaphor is still refering to two different realms: the dark and cold realm of the sea (symbolic of the state without God's presence and rule) and the realm of God's kingdom. The two realms are also emphasized in Col. 1:13, 1 Peter 2:9 and Eph. 5:8. Jesus fishes for Peter and other future disciples. He catches them, like fish, and pulls them out of the darkness into the light. Jesus transfers them into the realm of His kingdom. So, our first lesson about following Jesus has to do with following Him into the realm of His kingdom, being transfered, fished out, pulled into the sphere of His rule. To be a disciple means to live in the realm of His word and His rule.
This passage also teaches us that following Jesus means to assume the mission of fishing others out of the sea of chaos and confusion and transferring them into the kingdom of God. We are not supposed to catch and release them back into the realm of darkness, nor are we supposed to catch them and put them on ice by suffocating them with fear and rules. We are to see people transformed from lovers of self into lovers of God.
So, why can Jesus change the metaphor? Why can He replace the realm of judgment with the realm of His glorious rule? Because He was caught in the Garden of Gethsemane, dragged through the streets of Jerusalem and hooked on the Cross of Golgotha where he suffocated like fish out of water. Jesus went into the realm of confusion and brought clarity, He went into the realm of chaos and brought order, He went into the realm of idolatry and brought true worship.
That's why He can change the metaphor of judgment. And that's why He is right to call us to follow Him.