NOTES for Mat 4:19

Gradually one can get used to it, but reading this phrase the first time is unpleasant. Simply because one cannot speak of people as of fish. And in general, when one imagines it: a little fish swims, plays freely, and then a fisherman appears with a net, first deprives the fish of freedom, then drags it out to where it cannot live, and finally simply eats it! And what, the same with people? Horrible!

Now let us imagine another picture. A little fish swims and plays in a muddy pond and does not realize that the water is poisoned by runoff from a chemical plant. Then an environmentalist appears with a net, catches it, transports it to an ecologically clean place, and releases it into a clear, huge lake full of oxygen and food. Somehow it all looks different, does it not?