Why Did Jesus Choose Fisherman?
Have you ever stopped to think about this: why were the first disciples chosen by Jesus fisherman?
One answer is so that we could have that wonderful pithy statement that acted as a proleptic lesson of Jesus’s ministry: I will make you fishers-of-men.
However, if we dig into some inter-testamental history we can find a much better explanation.
In the Apocrypha, (which means hidden books), there are the ‘extra’ books that Roman Catholics and Easter Orthodox add to the Old Testament. As an aside, neither can agree precisely on what these extra books are. If you are worried, they are an interesting read but clearly the Jews never thought them to be part of the canon of Scripture. Hence why Protestants do not include them.
And… now back to my point. In the book of Tobit (which is in the Apocrypha), Tobias’s son was going to marry the widow Sarah. Only she had one problem, which in the grand scheme of things was a pretty big one. A demon (Asmodeus) was killing off her husbands before they consummated the marriage (seven of them, to be precise). The angel Raphael (for whom the Ninja Turtle of the same name was named), comes to Tobias and explains to him how to get rid of the demon. He marries Sarah and proceeds to send the demon packing.
How you might be asking? By making incense out of fish guts (Tobit 8:1-3). The smell which would send mere mortals packing, apparently has a curious effect on demons as well. Asmodeus flees to the remotest parts of the world never to bother Sarah again.
The odour of the fish so repelled the demon that he fled to the remotest parts of Egypt (from The Apocrypha, NRSV)
Let’s tie this up. So why choose fisherman? Who else could get their hands on large quantities of fish guts?
So now you know the secret. The demons flee from Jesus, not because he has all power and authority, but because of the disciples musk … their eau de toilette, fish guts, smoked, and aerosolised.
If you are thinking this smells of a wide eyed conspiracy theory, please check the date of the post and get back to me.
(As an aside, all the stuff from Tobit is actually there!). And just to clarify, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the uncreated creator. He has all authority on heaven and earth, he sends demons packing merely by his word regardless of the personal hygiene or fetid stink of his disciples!
