by Harvey Block
(2023/12/28)
My three websites each end in ".Net". They do not end in ".com" because they are definitely not "commercial". There is nothing to sell, and no annoying ads to distract you.
I could have chosen something like ".org", but I am not running any kind of "organization." And ".edu" is for "educational" establishments like colleges and universities, but I'm not going to claim that status.
So why ".Net"?
Well, ".Net" is of course short for "Network" including the "Internet", But that is not why I chose this "top level domain name" (that is what those are called.)
While I do desire to "network" with other people, there is a much greater meaning in the word "Net".
When Jesus called his first disciples, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, they were fishermen. And He said to them "follow me and I will make you fishers of men."
Today when people talk about wanting to take a day to get away and "go fishing," you immediately think of fishing poles, bait, fishing line and hooks.
But these men were commercial fishermen. It was their occupation, how they earned money to live on. They didn't usually fish with a line and a hook, they used a fishing net!
If you are serious about catching fish... to pay your bills, you fish with a net!
When Jesus said "I will make you 'fishers of men'", the context was clearly fishing with a net.
Jesus purposely chose commercial fishermen as his first disciples (learners), because they already knew how to fish with a net. That was the background experience needed so Jesus could teach them how to catch men.
Well, it took a while for Jesus to train his disciples in many things, but ultimately the result was really started on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after His resurrection.
The account given in the book of Acts, chapter 2 tells us what happened when Peter, the fisherman, the first disciple Jesus called... when he finished speaking.
I will give the account from the New King James Version, including the heading added by the translators:
A Vital Church Grows
And the text, verses 40-47:
And with many other words he [Peter] testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
So after Jesus trained His learners to become "sent-ones" (apostles) and finished His work of redemption by giving His life on the cross, then He created a new thing on the earth—the Church. This was the net for catching many more men.
When I began thinking about writing this piece, I considered having a picture of some men in a boat fishing with a net. But I am not an artist, and I wanted some details that were quite unique. So a "canned" picture you could find on the Internet was out of the question. So...
Well, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Back to Jesus calling His learners (disciples). As I said, Peter was a fisherman, and Jesus called him while he was fishing with a net.
We have in Matthew's account, chapter four, the very beginning of Jesus public ministry. And again I will include the section heading added in the New King James Version:
Four Fishermen Called as Disciples
And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
(Matthew 4:18-22)
This short account of Jesus calling His first four learners is way more profound than most Christians ever imagine.
The first two, Peter and Andrew, were fishing with a net. But "going on from there," He found two more fishermen, James and John. They were in the boat with their father "mending their nets."
Now, at the very beginning of the church, on the Day of Pentecost, it was Peter who spoke. And 3000 were caught that day!
Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called "the Synoptic Gospels." Here is a Google search definition of the word "synoptic":
affording a general view of a whole
Well, that may not be much help, I might say "they give an overview of the whole of the Gospel." But the three are labeled this way to group them together in contrast to John's Gospel which is quite different in some important ways.
The first three are all about the "kingdom of God." Matthew calls it the "kingdom of heaven," but the terms refer to the same thing.
Now if we look at how many times the word "kingdom" appears in the four Gospels, we see one of the ways that John is different:
Matthew: in 55 verses
Mark: in 19 verses
Luke: in 45 verses
John: only 5 times in 3 verses
Furthermore, the word "gospel" occurs in Matthew, 5 times; in Mark, 8 times; and in Luke 4 times. But "gospel" is nowhere in John's account, (except in the book title, which was added later.)
When Jesus first appeared on the public scene, and even John the "baptizer" before Him, both came preaching "the Gospel (Good News) of the Kingdom." This was amazing NEWS! It made the "headlines" in big bold letters, so to say.
So Matthew, Mark and Luke are telling this "Good News" (the "Gospel".) This amazing, exciting news caused 3000 to be added on the very first day. And in the days following;
And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
(Acts 2:47b)
But John wrote his account sometime later. We don't know how much later. Probably decades later. Things had changed. The net was torn. The church had been heavily persecuted and scattered.
Remember Jesus called John while he was "mending their nets."
No matter what the news is, when it comes out, many days later it is no longer even called "news." It is "old news," at best.
Now indeed the Gospel is still Good News to someone who has not yet heard it, but for John, the "news" was not his focus.
By the time John wrote, the net was completely torn and badly worn. Now it was John's turn to "mend the net." John focuses on the basic principles of Jesus teaching to bring us back to the essentials. And what he says in chapter three is most interesting. Two of the only three verses where we find the word "Kingdom" in his book are just before the most well known verse in the Bible, John 3:16. The word "kingdom" is in verses 3 and 5:
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
(John 3:3-5)
So, you see that the "good news" was all about the kingdom. But here John is going back to the most basic starting point, "being born again," without which you can't even "see the kingdom," let alone "enter it."
There is a lot of mending to do before the kingdom can again be manifest like it was at the beginning!
Now as I started to say, when I was getting ahead of myself, I wanted a picture to illustrate this torn net, (I didn't mention the "torn" detail back there.)
As I was wondering how to get a picture to add to this article, I thought of something that I have found quite helpful in my work lately.
Let me digress for a moment to say that in November of 2022, there was a news headline something like "In November the new AI program ChatGPT was released into the wild."
I have used ChatGPT about forty some times, and have found it to be very interesting, and quite helpful in my writing software and working with my websites and other questions in a wide variety of subjects. At first it was a rather frightening idea, but after getting up the courage to try it, I have been amazed at how helpful it can be.
So concerning wanting a picture of a torn net, and knowing that there are quite a few AI programs out there now, with various capabilities, including creating photo-realistic pictures of whatever you ask for, I decided to ask ChatGPT if it could make a picture.
Here is the full unedited conversation as it happened:
Me:
Can you paint me a picture?ChatGPT:
I'm just a text-based AI, so I can't create visual art or images directly. However, I can help you create a mental image with words. Please describe what you'd like to see in your picture, and I can provide you with a vivid description that might help you visualize it in your mind's eye.Me:
I want to describe the divided Christian church as a fishing net that has been torn so badly that there is no way it could catch a fish except by accident. Where the net is connected together by a few knots here and there and a lot of very thin threads, where many parts of the net are connected to other parts by only a single thread.ChatGPT:
Certainly, I can help you create a descriptive text based on your analogy.
Picture a vast fishing net, weathered by time and torn in countless places, hanging haphazardly over turbulent waters. This net, which was once whole and strong, now appears as a fragmented web of threads, its integrity compromised. The tears in the net are so extensive that it seems impossible for it to fulfill its primary purpose - catching fish - except by sheer accident.
Here and there, a few knots stubbornly hold parts of the net together, reminiscent of small islands of unity in a sea of division. These knots represent the enduring bonds of faith and tradition that still connect various branches of the Christian church, even in the face of profound discord.
Yet, most of the net is connected by thin and fragile threads, like delicate spider silk stretched across the chasm of differences. These threads symbolize the tenuous connections that exist between different denominations and interpretations of Christianity, where many parts of the net rely on only a single, fragile strand to remain attached.
In this complex and fragile state, the divided Christian church resembles a once-mighty fishing net now frayed and strained, with only occasional moments of unity amidst a vast sea of division.
It boggles my mind that this was generated by a machine! I saw it real time. From the time I typed and hit the "enter" key it typed out the whole answer faster than I could type the description I wanted! Only a few seconds!
When I read it, I just started bawling. All kinds of emotion! Amazed at "the machine," amazed at the composition, and most of all the mental picture of the church as such a damaged net!
But without regard to the digression of the Artificial Intelligence, think about that mental image.
How could you catch fish (or men) with a net (church) like that!?
It's time to mend the net.