Some Roman Emperors even had to interfere to regulate the fish trade, which underlines the importance of it. Fish was a popular food among the Jews of the 1st century as well. We can know this from the New Testament itself (See Matthew 7:9,10; Mark 6:38, 8:7; Luke 24:42; John 6:9, 21:9). Even Christ used the fish trade as an example in some his teachings (See Matthew 13:47,48). Moreover, many of the Apostles of Christ were fishermen. Since fish was in constant demand, a majority of the fishermen of that time were well to do in comparison to other craftsmen. In this scenario, this issue is the tale of a Jewish fisherman who lived in 1stcentury Galilee.
(2) Even though fishing was a profitable occupation, the Jewish fishermen had a problem. Jewish Law separated fish as good fish and bad fish. And hence the Jews ate only those varieties of fish that were deemed as good by their Law (See Leviticus 11:9-12; Deuteronomy 14:9,10). So, Jewish fishermen could not sell all the fish that get trapped in their nets. They had to throw away the bad fish. Jesus mentions this in one of his parable too (Matt 13:47,48). Many Jewish fishermen caught their fish in the Sea of Galilee which was to the north of Jerusalem. Salted fish were popularly sold in the Galilee of that time. Even though there were Gentile fishermen as well in Galilee, most Jews bought their fish from Jewish fishermen fearing that Gentile fishermen would mix bad fish along with the good ones. This was very convenient for the Jewish fishermen. However, for the Jewish fishermen of Galilee competition came from fellow Jewish fishermen who caught fish in the river Jordan. It was in such 
a time that a fisherman called Simeon lived in Galilee. The name Simeon was a common name among the Jews of that period. Simeon was the Son of Jonas (Matthew 16:17). He belonged to the town o f Bethsaida which was near Galilee (John 1:44). Though Simeon belonged to Bethsaida, he lived in the Galilee town of Capernaum (Mark 1:21,29,30). There was a reason for this. Bethsaida was to the east of river Jordan and to the northeast of the Sea of Galilee. For the fishermen of that time it was in the town of Magdala that factories were available to process and preserve fish. As shown by the map to the left, Magdala was situated to the west of both river Jordan and the Sea of Galilee. Philip was the Governor of the region of Gaulanitis, that lied to the northeast of the Sea of Galilee, wherein Bethsaida was located. On the other hand, Herod Antipas was the Governor of the region of Galilee, wherein both Capernaum and Magdala were situated. Infact, Capernaum was the defacto starting point of the territory under Herod Antipas. As a result, the fishermen of Bethsaida, who were under the reign of Philip had to pay a special tax if they wanted to process their fish in Magdala which was under the reign of Herod Antipas. This tax was collected without fail. So much so that in the town of Capernaum, which was the starting point of Antipas’ territory, tax collectors were present to collect tax from the traders who came from the region under Philip (See Mark 2:1,14). Simeon and his family might have migrated to Capernaum to avoid this tax. Simeon was a wealthy fisherman. He had many partners (See Luke 5:5-10). As a matter of fact, the son of Zebedee, Jacob and John, who were partners of Simeon were able to afford even servants who worked under them (Mark 1:19,20). Hence there was no doubt that Simeon was a wealthy man. Archaeological excavations have discovered the house of Simeon and researchers have concluded that it has the look of a wealthy home. It is worth mentioning that it was in this very same house that Jesus stayed and performed quite a few miracles (Mark 1:29-34, 2:1-12). Simeon was married (Mark 1:30). There is high probability that he also had children. Moreover, since the fishermen of the Galilee of that time had to communicate with Gentiles of many nations for business reasons, they were knowledgeable in Greek and certain other languages. Simeon must also have had similar knowledge. Infact, he is not called as Simeon, a Hebrew name, in most places of the Bible, but as Simon, the Greek version of Simeon (Matthew 4:18). Hence Simeon had a Greek name as well. Simeon, like the other Jews of that time spoke Aramaic, with a Galilean accent (Mark 14:70). On the whole, in the beginning of the 20 A.D’s Simeon was a wealthy fisherman who was married, and was living with his brothers, mother in law, and children in Capernaum. If his life had gone on like that, we, who are thousands of miles away from Galilee and living nearly two thousand years after him would not be discussing about him. But his life changed. Let us travel with the story of that change and try to understand the lessons we can learn from it.
(3) Simeon had a brother called Andrew (Matthew 4:18). He was also fishing alongside Simeon. At this time, around 26 A.D – 29 A.D, there arouse a strange teacher among the Jews who wore Camel’s hair, and had a leather belt around his waist. He was none other than John the Baptist (Matthew 3:4). He preached a message of warning to the Jews and claimed to be preparing the way for someone who was to come after him (Matthew 3:11). His fame spread across Judea and Galilee. John the Baptist was highly critical of the Jewish priests and Pharisees of his time (Matthew 3:7). Simeon’s brother Andrew started liking the radical teachings of John the Baptist. Hence in his spare time, he went to the wilderness and listened to the teachings of John the Baptist beside river Jordan. As time went by, he became captivated by the teachings of John the Baptist and became a disciple of him. Andrew must have been baptised by John the Baptist in river Jordan. During this time, whenever Andrew was with Simeon, he must have told Simeon about the teachings of John the Baptist. We do not know how Simeon reacted to them. May be he was also impressed by the teachings of John the Baptist or he could have even become worried that his brother had become a victim of strange doctrines. One fine day in 29 A.D, John the Baptist was baptising in river Jordan in the town of Bethabara and suddenly he said the following – ‘I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie’ (John 1:26,27). Hearing this, Andrew must have rejoiced. Being a disciple of John the Baptist, he must have known that John was talking about the Jewish Messiah. A day after this John the Baptist met Jesus alone and realised him to be the Messiah (John 1:29-34). The next day Jesus passed by John the Baptist when Andrew and another disciple were with him. John the Baptist shouted to them, ‘Look, ‘the Lamb of God’ (John 1:36). Through that Andrew came to know who the Messiah was and started to follow Jesus immediately (John 1:37). He spent that whole day with Jesus (John 1:39). In that one day, the teachings of Jesus impressed Andrew so much that he immediately set out to search and bring his brother Simeon to Jesus such that he too can meet the Messiah. When he found Simeon, Andrew exclaimed with joy that they have found the Messiah and brought him to Jesus. We do not know whether Simeon came out of his own interest or because of being compelled by his brother. But on seeing Simeon, Jesus was clear in his statement – ‘You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas’ (which when translated is Peter) (John 1:42). Indeed, the ordinary Jewish fisherman Simeon became Peter which meant Rock. However, Simeon went back to fishing after meeting with Jesus. But Jesus was not to leave him. A few days later Simeon and his fishing partners were washing their nets on the shores of the Sea of Galilee (Luke 5:2). On seeing them Jesus climbed into Simeon’s boat and asked him to take the boat into the sea (Luke 5:3). Simeon obeyed and Jesus taught them being in the boat. Later Jesus asked Simeon to take the boat to the depths of the sea and spread their nets. Simeon replied that despite trying for the entire night they did not catch any fish but still they would spread their nets in obedience to him (Luke 5:5). When they spread their nets, they caught fish in great amount that almost tore their nets (Luke 5:6). Simeon fell down in front of Jesus and said – ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man’ (Luke 5:8). Maybe this was the reason Simeon went back to fishing even after meeting Jesus through Andrew sometime back. He must have thought how a sinful man like him could become a disciple of Messiah. But Jesus came to this world to save the sinners (Mark 2:17). Hence Jesus replied to Simeon – ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men’ (Luke 5:10). Immediately Simeon and his partners left behind their boats and nets and started to follow Jesus (Luke 5:11). From that day Simeon’s world turned upside down. We learn two things from this event itself –
- Even today many have the same doubt as Simeon. They feel that how a sinful man like me can serve and follow Christ. This feeling causes many to leave the path of Gospel. Such people should think about Simeon. A sinner like him was transformed by Jesus into a powerful preacher who caught men. Hence even if we are great sinners, we still have forgiveness and salvation in Christ. This indeed is the gospel of Christ (See Grace – Blossom 25: February 10, Para 6). The life of Simeon is a great example in that regard.
- Next we notice that on receiving the call of Christ, Simeon cast aside his earthy concerns and started following Christ immediately. Truly a life of baptism is one such life. Think about it! Simeon was a wealthy man; he had a wife, children, mother-in-law and brothers. Still, when Jesus called him, Simeon did not worry about his job neither did he worry about what his wife or other relatives would say. He started following Jesus immediately. How great a lesson is this for us! We too should not give priority to worldly affairs like work or family but give our highest priority to a life of Baptism (Matthew 10:37, See Grace – Blossom 36: Dec’ 10, Paras 4,5).
(4) From then on Peter started to follow Jesus. Later on when Jesus designated twelve of his disciples as Apostles, Peter was one among them (Mark 3:13-16). Infact, wherever the twelve Apostles are listed in the New Testament, it is Peter’s name that always gets mentioned first (Matthew 10:2, Luke 6:14). When Peter was with Christ, he was a very lively disciple. For example, one day Christ asked his disciples to go ahead of him to the other shore and later when the boat was in mid sea he came to them by walking on water (Matthew 14:20-25). His disciples were scared to see that. Jesus calmed them down and said it was him. But Peter replied ‘Lord, if it’s you, “tell me to come to you on the water’ (Matthew 14:28). When Jesus said Yes, Peter started walking on the water towards him. But midway he became scared of the strong winds and started to drown. He shouted towards Christ to save him. Jesus lifted him up and said ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ (Matthew 14:31). Though this is just an event in the life of Peter, God has allowed this to be recorded in the New Testament to stress the importance of Faith. It was because of faith that Peter was able to walk on the water towards Christ. In the same way, our spiritual life is also a walk of faith. In that walk, severe sufferings will come upon us like strong winds. If we lose our faith because of them, we will stumble and fall. It is to be noted from the experience of Peter that since he was a fisherman, Sea was a very familiar territory to him. But the winds were so strong that an experienced fisherman like him became afraid. In our spiritual lives as well, since the whole world is against us severe trials will come upon us to test the depth of our faith in Christ. This is a given. Hence we should be ready and have the strength of mind to overcome such trials. Whenever our faith gets weakened we should learn from Peter who shouted to Christ for help. Likewise if we shout to God in the name of Christ for help, God will most certainly answer our prayers. Even when we are overcome by some worldly temptations and sin, if we repent and pray to God, He is willing to cleanse us of our sins (1 John 1:8,9).
(5) Moving on, another quality that can be noticed in Peter is that, he was a man of many questions. He asked Jesus a lot of questions, having a curious mind. Indeed we see in the Bible that more than the other disciples of Christ, it was Peter who asked Jesus the most number of questions (See Matthew 15:15, 17:4, 18:21, 19:27; Mark 9:5, 10:28, 11:21; Luke 9:33, 12:41, 18:28; John 13:6, 37, 21:21). Truly, as a result of the many questions asked by Peter, we have been provided with many important truths. Indeed asking questions is an important part of our spiritual lives. Jesus said this once – ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 18:3). We must have seen little children. One of their natures is that they ask questions without any hesitancy. Because they do not think that people will see them as fools if they ask questions. So they are not afraid or ashamed about asking questions. The reason many older people hesitate to ask questions is a fear of shame. Peter was not like that. Instead he was like a little child. We too should be like Peter. Moreover children tend to keep asking questions till they get satisfactory answers. They have the eagerness and interest to learn. In the same way if a Biblical doctrine is not properly understood by us, we should seek out answers from elders or senior brethren till we gain proper understanding. If they do not have the right answer, then we have to keep searching the Bible till we get to the right answer. Only then we will mature in the truth. If we are careless or ashamed to ask questions we cannot grow in the truth. Even if we are the elder of a Church or a senior brother, we should not have an attitude of superiority but must be humble enough to ask and learn from other brethren the things we do not know. Moreover if a doctrine or a prophecy or say Biblical Chronology is confusing to us, we should not continue to live in that confusion. By seeking answers from others or by doing self research we should solve that confusion as soon as possible. Peter was a man like that. He never lived in confusion. He sought answers immediately. Moreover Peter did not hesitate to ask questions even to the Messiah. In the same way, if we have a doubt or a criticism of a doctrine or sermon preached by even a senior brother, we should have the maturity of the mind to seek answers from him immediately. Truly, if we have the same mindset as Peter not only us but also our Church will be healthy. Let us keep this in mind. This infact is also the advice of Jesus – ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened’ (Matthew 7:7,8). Hence let us not have any spiritual laziness and let us have the curiosity that is found in little children. If we search the scriptures with a curious mind it is certain that we will find answers to all the questions that arise in our minds.
(6) Another good quality that is found in Apostle Peter is that, he was able to let go of his narrow Jewish identity and the prejudices that came with it for the sake of Christ. Today, even after coming into Christ and getting baptised, many still look at their identities associated with caste-race-language with pride and meaning. This results in divisions and inequalities within the church. Peter was a well to do Jew. After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Gospel of Christ was preached predominantly among the Jews for some time. At that time, God selected Apostle Peter to send the blessing of the Holy Spirit to Cornelius, a Gentile man (See Chapter 10 of Acts). Though Peter was hesitant at first, after he realised that it was God’s will, he obeyed God completely, not minding the prejudices of his Jewish Identity. Not only at that time. Due to the ministries of Apostle Paul, countless non-Jews baptised into Christ and a debate arose amidst the early churches about whether the non-Jewish Christians needed to adhere to the Jewish Law or not. To resolve this debate, around 51 A.D., a meeting of important leaders of the early church that included Paul, James and Peter took place in Jerusalem. In that historic meeting as well, Peter guided the church perfectly by proclaiming that the non-Jewish Christians need not follow the Jewish Law (See Acts 15:7-11). Hence, it is clear that Peter was not restricted by his Jewish identity in anyway. Even we should not give priority towards our cultural norms after coming into Christ. It is indeed not wrong or sinful to follow one’s own cultural practices like dresses and other such norms. But it is not beneficial if we insist that everyone in the church should follow the same norms. We should never forget that only the Bible (not our culture) is binding on us.
(7) Another quality found in Peter is that, he possessed a lot of love. This is good indeed. But sometimes his love was a fleshly love. For example, in response to Peter’s answer that Jesus was Christ, Jesus says that upon that strong rock like faith, he would build his Church (This portion of the Bible is probed in detail in the appendix). After that, Jesus started preaching that he would be killed but would resurrect on the third day. In response to that, Peter, overwhelmed by his fleshly love towards Jesus, rebuked him and said the following – ‘Never, Lord! he said. This shall never happen to you!’ (Matthew 16:22). As we know, Jesus rebuked Peter for saying this (Matthew 16:23). In the same way, owing to his fleshly love towards Jesus, Peter cut off the ears of one of the soldiers who came to arrest Jesus (John 18:10). Once again Jesus had to rebuke Peter (John 18:11). Similarly, due to his fleshly affection for Jewish Christians, he did not want to offend them in the city of Antioch and hence wronged non-Jewish Christians. Apostle Paul rebuked Peter’s behaviour (Galatians 2:11-13). We should learn from such experiences of Peter that love for others may be present in us but that love should not be a fleshly/worldly love; instead our love should be a spiritual/brotherly love. For example, if severe sufferings befall a fellow brother or sister for the sake of Gospel, then our advice should not be based on fleshly love. We should not ask them to retreat but only encourage them to continue their works for the sake of Gospel. In the same way, sometimes certain questions may trouble the minds of some brethren. For example, they may be within grasp of a better job which may provide them with more money/fame. But, if they accept that job, their time for the works of Gospel may get reduced or affected. For such people, we should not give a worldly advice but must advise them to give their foremost priority for Gospel works. Reflect! If we do not do so, there will be no difference between us and other worldly friends that person may have. Similarly, if an unmarried brother or sister seeks our advice regarding marriage, our first advise should be the one repeatedly told by Apostle Paul – ‘It is good for them to stay unmarried’ – and not some other worldly advise (1 Corinthians 7:8,9,24,26,28). In this fashion, regarding all matters, all our advices and deeds must be based on Biblical principles only. Advises based on worldly knowledge or experience are not appropriate for brethren running in the narrow Christian way. Truly, Peter cutting off the ears of the soldier who came to arrest Jesus is a prudent deed from the perspective of worldly knowledge and wisdom. It is indeed an expression of Peter’s fleshly love for Christ. But, as per divine wisdom and brotherly love, it was not appropriate. We should not do such inappropriate deeds based on worldly wisdom and love.
(8) When we look at the life of Apostle Peter, we notice that he was a man who erred now and then. For example, we learn from the Bible that after the arrest of Jesus by Romans, Peter followed Jesus and in due course he disowned Jesus three times as foretold by Jesus (Matthew 26:34,69-74). To disown Jesus is a big sin indeed – ‘whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven’ (Matthew 10:33). Some may think that this was an error committed by Peter before the day of Pentecost. But even after the day of Pentecost, as we noted earlier, Peter erred in Antioch when he sided with Jewish Christians and wronged non-Jewish Christians (Galations 2:11-13; See Grace – Blossom 24: Jan’ 10, Para 7). Hence, Peter lived all along as a man prone to the occasional error. Not only him, all of us are prone to the occasional error for none of us are perfect. On such times, we should also have the repenting heart which Peter had. Even after disowning Jesus three times, we learn from the Bible that Peter repents of his mistake (Matthew 26:75). Similarly, when Apostle Paul rebuked Peter’s partisan behaviour in Antioch, Peter must have repented for he writes in praise of Paul later on (See 2 Peter 3:15,16). Hence, due to our fleshly failings, it is certain that we will sin at times but we must not continue in that sin, instead should repent and be cleansed by God (See Grace – Blossom 31: July 10, Paras 6,7).
(9) Finally, one more nature of Peter which we will do well to imitate is the lack of ego in him. Peter was not a hyper-sensitive person. We note in the Bible that Jesus rebuked Peter many times. As we saw in the last paragraph, even Paul rebuked Peter once and that too publicly. But, Peter never got angry nor did he think he had been insulted. That is a major reason why Peter was able to grow and thrive in his spiritual life. Indeed, only when we are receptive to criticism and rebukes, will we be able to learn and grow in our spiritual life. Instead, if we ignore rebukes or get angry with the people rebuking us, it is not helpful. We should not be a hyper-sensitive person. Let us keep this mind. Infact, some are so hyper-sensitive that they feel insulted even in course of doctrinal discussions and exchange of views that happen within a healthy church. Such behaviour is not only a burden for that person but becomes a trial for that entire church and sometimes can result in the stumbling of many. Such people will have to face God’s judgement (Matthew 18:6,7). We should not be like that. We should be mature enough to have a healthy relationship with everyone. Particularly, even if the person who is pointing out our mistake is younger to us (by age or by experience), we should not ignore them but instead be like Peter who listened to the advice of Paul who was younger to him in terms of Christian experience.
(10) Peter suffered a lot for the sake of the Gospel throughout his life and in the end as prophesied by Christ was murdered for the sake of the Gospel (John 21:18.19). As per church tradition, during the reign of Roman Emperor Nero, Apostle Peter was crucified upside down. We know that Apostle Paul, a bachelor devoid of a family suffered greatly for the sake of the Gospel and was murdered for the sake of Christ in the end. But the fact that Peter as well, who was married and had a family followed the same path of suffering and met the same end is a great lesson to those brethren with a spouse and family. Peter’s life teaches us that family or no family, all should suffer for the sake of Christ. Indeed, we cannot give our familial duties as an excuse. Paul expresses this beautifully – ‘From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them.’ (1 Corinthians 7:29,30,31, See Grace – Blossom 36 : Dec’ 10, Para 5). Peter lived like this and in the end died for the sake of preaching Christ. Did the story of that Jewish fisherman come to an end with that? By no means! Simeon (a) Peter will resurrect with glory in the coming Kingdom of God and be one of the eternal foundations of the heavenly Jerusalem (Revelations 21:14). Truly, the story of Simeon is an amazing one. An ordinary Galilean fisherman rose to become an important preacher and leader of the church. And he is going to rule the entire world alongside Christ. This is most encouraging to all those who are following Christ now! You as well maybe are doing only an ordinary job. But, with the help of the Holy Spirit if you seek and learn from the Bible and do Gospel works to confirm your faith, then when the history of the true church is written, like Peter’s, your story will also be an amazing one. In one sense, we are all fishermen indeed. Like the Jewish fishermen of that time who spread their nets in the Sea of Galilee and caught fish, we need to spread the Gospel net in the world and catch men for Christ. Only then will we attain our heavenly rewards. Let us be a good fisherman for Christ. Amen.
– Read Appendix –