nets

January 21, 2019

No fish here (Lk 5:5-5:5)

“Simon answered.

‘Master!

We have worked

All night long.

But we have caught

Nothing!

Yet,

If you say so,

I will let down

The nets.’”

 

καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς Σίμων εἶπεν Ἐπιστάτα, δι’ ὅλης νυκτὸς κοπιάσαντες οὐδὲν ἐλάβομεν· ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ ῥήματί σου χαλάσω τὰ δίκτυα.

 

Luke said that Simon answered Jesus (καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς Σίμων) by calling him Master or Teacher (εἶπεν Ἐπιστάτα).  He said that they had worked all night long (δι’ ὅλης νυκτὸς κοπιάσαντες), but caught nothing (οὐδὲν ἐλάβομεν).  However, he indicated that if Jesus said so (ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ ῥήματί σου), he would let down the nets (χαλάσω τὰ δίκτυα).  In John, chapter 21:6-8, Jesus told them where to let the nets down to catch some fish, after a night of not catching anything.  Simon already called Jesus a teacher or master, something similar to a Rabbi.  Simon explained that they had not caught any fish, but at Jesus’ word, he would do whatever Jesus wanted him to do.  Thus, Simon was faithful from the beginning.

November 30, 2017

No more just people (Mic 7:1-7:2)

“Woe is me!

I have become

Like one

After the summer fruit

Has been gathered.

I have become

Like one

After the vintage

Has been gleaned.

There is no cluster to eat.

There is no first-ripe fig

For which I hunger.

The faithful have disappeared

From the land.

There is no one left

Who is upright.

They all lie in wait

For blood.

They hunt each other

With nets.”

Micah started this lament with a woeful thought about himself.  He was lonely, because the late summer fruits had been harvested.  All the vineyards had been picked and gleaned.  There was nothing left to eat.  It did not make any difference, because Micah had no appetite for fig clusters or anything.  All the faithful people had disappeared from the land.  There was not even one good upright person left.  They were all waiting to steal from each other.  They were hungry for the blood of others, so that they were hunting each other with nets.

August 2, 2016

Drying up of the Nile River (Isa 19:5-19:10)

“The waters of the Nile

Will be dried up.

The river

Will be parched.

It will be dry.

Its canals will become foul.

The branches of Egypt’s Nile

Will diminish.

They will dry up.

Reeds will rot away.

Rushes will rot away.

There will be bare places

By the Nile,

On the brink of the Nile.

All that is sown

By the Nile

Will dry up.

It will be driven away.

It will be no more.

The fishermen will mourn.

All who cast hooks

In the Nile

Will lament.

Those who spread nets

On the water

Will languish.

The workers in flax

Will be in despair.

The carders,

Those at the loom,

Will grow pale.

The weavers

Will be dismayed.

All who work for wages

Will be grieved.”

Next this oracle takes on a river, the Nile River. The waters will dry up with dire consequences to follow. The Nile River canals and branches will be foul smelling like dry wells. All the reeds, rushes, and plants along the river will dry up and rot away also. The fishermen will have a problem, since their hooks and nets will not catch anything. The flax and cotton looms will be useless. The weavers will be distraught. In fact, anyone who works for any kind of wages will be upset since the Nile River was so important for all kinds of commerce in Egypt.

March 1, 2016

Life is a game of chance (Eccl 9:11-9:12)

“Again I saw that under the sun.

The race is not to the swift.

Nor is the battle to the strong.

Nor is bread to the wise.

Nor is riches to the intelligent.

Nor is favor to the skillful.

But time happens to them all.

Chance happens to them all.

No one can anticipate

The time of disaster.

Like fish taken in a cruel net,

Like birds caught in a snare,

So mortals are snared

At a time of calamity.

When it suddenly falls upon them.”

Qoheleth sees human life under the sun like a game of chance. The swiftest runner does not always win the race. The strongest do not always win the battle. The wise do not always have the best food. The intelligent are not always rich. The skillful do not always succeed. Time and chance play a role. No one can predict when disaster will come. Just as fish and birds get stuck in nets and snares, so too mortals get caught when calamity suddenly happens to them.

October 18, 2015

God protects his people (Ps 66:8-66:12)

“Bless our God!

O peoples!

Let the sound of his praise be heard!

He has kept us among the living.

He has not let our feet slip.

O God!

You have tested us!

You have tried us as silver is tried.

You brought us into the net.

You laid burdens on our backs.

You let people ride over our heads.

We went through fire.

We went through water.

You have brought us out to a spacious place.”

God has been good to the Israelites. They should bless God. The sounds of praise should be heard because he kept them among the living. He did not let their feet slip. They were tested like silver is tested in minting it. They fell into nets. They had burdens on their backs. People ran over them. They went through fire and water. However, in the end, they settled into a spacious place, the Promised Land.

August 16, 2015

The wicked plan murders against the weak poor people (Ps 10:7-10:9)

“Their mouths are filled with cursing.

Their mouths are filled with deceit.

Their mouths are filled with oppression.

Under their tongues are mischief and iniquity.

They sit in ambush in the villages.

In hiding places,

They murder the innocent.

Their eyes stealthily watch for the helpless.

They lurk in secret,

Like a lion in its covert.

They lurk,

So that they may seize the poor.

They seize the poor.

They drag them off in their net.”

The wicked people curse. They are deceitful. They oppress the poor. There is mischief and iniquity in their mouth. They sit in ambush, in hiding places to murder the innocent. They carefully watch the helpless. They lurk in secret like a lion about to catch its prey. They seize the poor and drag them off in nets.