Men Called Him Master

m the shore knew the sun had risen, for the mist was full of white light. Between the boats was a great net, partly under water. The fishermen, two in each boat, were pulling the opposit

f we could catch fish," rema

caught," replied Andrew. Th

his work again. After a few minutes the boats

s, the brother of John, "and so has my father, Zebedee,

Simon and James, but all he

flames. Zebedee had chosen several fish for their breakfast. He raked some hot coals from the fire and laid the fish among them. They smelled good

shing so poor this

nd Judea. But in years like this, the people of the five cities on our lake go hungry." H

ake matters worse,

money! If riots come, we are sure to be taxed even more." He took two of the fish off the coals and laid them on a smooth rock. When

e ye t

s unto the Lord w

the upright, and i

food unto them

be mindful of

erend is his

who is in the other boat this mornin

r, with our new man,

ou hire a gentile, fath

illing to work for us." He paused. "But I c

ou ask

ons about himself. But he knew

ss working with gentiles. And besides, if he

ee are gentiles. Every day we see them.

sun was driving away the mist; Simon pointed

er than we did, Gide

as rugged in spite of stooped shoulders. "No better; maybe worse. It's

nd hungrily ate the fish

the wheat is poor," said Simon. "Wha

that lay beyond them. "My guess is that there will be enough."

a smile. Old Gideon never got tir

erod takes one fourth of all our grain. That goes into the bellies of the Romans. Then there is the tithe. That takes enough to feed a hired man! Then we pay the Temple tax to feed the priests. They get the first-born of all the sheep too. When a man's first son is born, he must make a big gift to t

paid for the sake of God,

ooked sharply at James and snapped: "Do the landlords pay religious taxes? No!" His voice was

farm that you became a fish

had to serve a

p his head and said,

for twelve years," answered Gideon

s make much troub

sely. "In Galilee the slaves d

in a way, our whole nation is a slave to Rome." His eyes challenged the gentile and no one misse

wiftly around the group. The men

slave?" demanded

spoke shamefacedly

ans treat us all the same way. No one here will

l us where you are fr

e of a Roman soldier. We were sent to Sidon." He waved his hand toward the wes

he synagogue? If you are going to work

y god who will giv

n has always suffered greatly." He looked at Andrew. "But we belie

k his head. "I d

aid to Simon. He turned to the slave and said, "God

god do for you?"

"God is not our servant! We a

God will soon set up h

interrupted Simon. "After all, you have to make

Zealots?" ask

are always staging riots agains

were busy hunting down bands of th

defeated in every rebellion." Simon turned to his brot

the Feast of the Passover, they came out of their hiding places in the northern hills." He pointed toward the mountains where the snowy crest of Mount Hermon shone

The Roman commander saw men with swords in the crowd of pilgrims filling the Temple an

rallied his men, and they climbed on the roof of the wooden buildings which surround the Temple courty

ad to get down. Some killed themselves rather than surrender. Others leaped among the Romans and died fighting. Those that es

of trumpets and a group of Roman soldiers came marching down the street. From the roof of the house where I stayed

I was only a young boy, I knew that Judah would be killed for

ime. We had come in joy, remembering how at the first Passover Feast God had protected us fro

bits of this story before, but listened eagerly for details as Simon talked. John's eyes seemed to be s

spread on a wooden cross. His hands were nailed to the crossbeam. His feet were nailed also. The cross was set upright be

f crosses on both sides of the road. On each cross hung a brave Galilean. When

hought, the men gazed at the dead fire. Finally Simon said: "It seems that every time we fight

g about it that I reme

ng along the road

d Zebedee briskly. "We

circular net with weights around the edges. He waded to his knees and threw

s, patiently picking out the sea

d to a knot of people following a m

e trader," re

ike a teacher to

er and see?" s

ilean whom Andrew and I saw with John the Baptizer! Andre

ter finish cleanin

man is a

isgusted look. When he turned toward the crowd of

Jesus walked nearer the fisherman. Everyone was listening to a scribe who was a

is Kingdom you are tel

swered: "You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul,

ive." Simon's hands were busy, but he smiled t

answer his own question. Hoping to escape embarra

y, but when he caught sight of the man lying in the ditch bleeding, he went on without even looking a second time. A Levite came along a little later and he too passed by on the other side o

y and took him to an inn by the road. He paid his bill so that he could stay as long as it would take to get well. When the Samaritan left, he said to the manager: 'Take care of him.

d to him," admitted

like that yourse

Baptizer would say the Samaritan was better than the others, he thought to himself. No w

m the road. They were pressing in on Jesus so much that he

t he quickly recovered himself

people on the shore. "The Kingdom of God does not come like a flash of lightning

mies will be destroyed soon,

l that you should kill persons whom you hate. You should love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you! Pray for those

to? Even bad men do that! It is your enemies that you must lo

ble!" exclaimed

tiny bit of yeast quickly works its way through all the dough until every bit is changed. The Kingdom of God is also like a tiny mustard seed. It is s

not say anything, but he doub

p water?" asked Jesus. "I want you t

hed them put up the oars; the boat drifted slowly in the wind. The two men lowered the net. It had hardly sunk below the surface of the water when the fishermen knew that they had dropped it directly in the pat

the boat, which was now filled with fish to the point of sinking. Simon looked at Jesus and a strange fear took hold of him. There had been no fish all night-and now

om now on you shall fish for men." From the other boat, James and John had been listening to every word that Jesus

t haul of fish, but the catch meant nothing to the four fishermen. With