Upheld at the Fish Gate #2

Provision

As we continue our figurative walk around the gates of Old Jerusalem, we come to the Fish Gate. It is located about where the big toe moves on the footprint. This is where provisions were brought into the city.

I can picture a bustling market, all kinds of meats, fish, fruits and vegetables examined, then haggled over before eventually appearing on a table for the family meal.

As with most things with God, it is no accident that the Fish Gate would come right after the Sheep Gate. For once we have believed Jesus for our eternity, our next joy and duty is to seek those still outside the gate. We become “fishers of men” as Jesus called His disciples.

Fishers of Men    

I wonder if it was a sunny morning when Jesus began to walk the shores of the Sea of Galilee seeking followers? Shortly after His temptation in the desert, Jesus moved to Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee to preach.

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” Matthew 4:17.

He strolled up the beach one morning and saw two brothers. Simon and Andrew were fishermen plying their trade. Did Jesus sit on a rock and watch them for a while before they brought their boats back in to shore with their day’s catch? His next words, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men,” immediately drew them and they went with Him. What did they see in Him to drop their livelihood and follow?

Jesus sauntered up the beach, apparently with Simon and Andrew, to call others. Two more brothers left their old life to join Jesus.  He loved them. He taught them. He discipled them. He allowed them to make mistakes so that they would learn to trust Him to equip them fully for the task ahead He had called them to do: Fish for Men (and Women and Children…).

Draw the Lost

Jesus desires for everyone to enter His City (the new Jerusalem still to come). But if we don’t tell those still on the outside, how will they know? And if we don’t live our lives openly—struggles and all—how will those on the outside know that it’s ok to struggle and still enter? 

Alfred Bouter said that to follow Jesus is to be with Him. Learn from Him. Work for Him.

Great care and discernment is needed to capture those still unable to see on their own. It takes a certain blindness, too, in letting rejection wash over us. But Jesus did it, and He rose again! And He still seeks the lost wherever they are.

Ray Stedman said that every Christian is to be a witness to Jesus.

If you are no witness, what gate is broken in your life that you need to (repent of) ask Jesus to fix?

For Consideration

How are we doing? Are we sharing the Gospel? Are we living our lives openly and honestly? Who is watching us? What do we want them to see?

“And He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men’” Matthew 4:19.