Call of Isaiah, Paul, Simon

Old Testament Isaiah 6:1-8

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”

4 The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”

Call of Noah Genesis 6:13, Abraham Genesis 12:1, Moses Exodus 3, 1Samuel 3:1f, Jeremiah 1:4f, Ezekiel 1, Hosea 1:1,2, Micah 1:1

New Testament 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

1 Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, 2 through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.

3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

also see: Acts 9, 2 Cor 12:2f, Gal 1:11f, 1 Cor 9:1

The Gospel Luke 5:1-11

1 Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Call of first disciples: Mk1, Mt4, Lk5. John 1:35f

Miraculous catch of fish: John 21:4f

Unlike Mark and Matthew, Luke doesn’t say “fishers of men” to all four; Luke says “catching people” to Simon only.

10 ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ Ἰάκωβον καὶ Ἰωάννην υἱοὺς Ζεβεδαίου, οἳ ἦσαν κοινωνοὶ τῷ Σίμωνι. καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς τὸν Σίμωνα ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Μὴ φοβοῦ· ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν ἀνθρώπους ἔσῃ ζωγρῶν. men (anthropous, people) you (singular) will be catching

Fishers of Men?

Mark 1:17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you (2nd person plural) fish for people.” ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων fishers of people (men) n-amp. n-gmp, popular, "fishers of men"

Matthew 4:19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you (2nd person plural) fish for people.” ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων fishers of people (men)

Luke 5:10b Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you (2nd person singular) will be catching people. ἀνθρώπους ἔσῃ ζωγρῶν verb future 2nd person singular (to Simon) verb present active

For contemplation:

1. Call of Isaiah. Several other OT call stories are listed. Select and read one other one (or remember that we read the call of Jeremiah last Sunday). Why, do you think, the writer tells the prophet's call story?

2. Call of Paul. Today's reading (c.a. 50 AD?) is about the best we have from Paul himself recounting his call to be an apostle. The Acts 9 story (c.a. 90 AD?), which we like better, is Luke's composition, not Paul's report. It's conceivable that Luke may have had access to Paul's writings, and popular tradition is that Luke traveled with Paul; why might Luke have told the call story at Acts 9?

3. Mark tells the call of Peter and Andrew, James and John, and Matthew copies Mark exactly. John has a different call story altogether. Luke's story (today's gospel) is similar to Mark's, but noticeably different, and is specifically directed at Simon (although the other fishermen also respond and follow), does not even mention Andrew, and adds the story about the miraculous catch of fish that John tells at John 21. What "really" happened, and how do you explain the "discrepancies" between the gospel stories?

4. We are in the Epiphany Season, when our Bible readings are generally relevant to epiphany, and when the church intends, through readings and preaching, to help us with the idea of epiphany, and even to have our own "epiphanies". How do today's readings fit this intention and idea?

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Art: "Miraculous Draught of Fishes"

Goldsmith John Reilly (1928-2010),