We have just completed the 50 days from Passover to Pentecost ending today at 6:00 p.m. It was the climax of Jesus’ public ministry as He completed the redemption plan having laid down His life as a sacrifice for sin, His victory over death in resurrection, His 40-day appearances and final words to His followers, and His instructions to them to tarry 10 days in the upper room awaiting the outpouring of His Holy Spirit upon them. Jesus told the disciples, “He abides with you and will be in you.” (John 14:17) God’s Holy Spirit had come alongside the disciples during the time with Christ, but following the completion of Jesus’ work on earth, He would dwell within them to empower them to take over and carry on the work He had started. Jesus selected 12 disciples from among His early followers to become His closest companions, and each of them had unique characteristics that would benefit the Lord’s mission. These men became the pioneering leaders of the New Testament church that continues after almost 2000 years. The phrase “fishers of men” was spoken by Jesus when He was calling two of His disciples—Simon Peter and Andrew to follow Him. “As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed Him.” (Mark 1: 16-18) God chose the disciples for a purpose—to fan the flames of the Gospel that continues to spread across the face of the earth today. The command to “Come, follow Me and be fishers of men” is also our marching orders today!
Not one of the chosen apostles was a scholar or rabbi. Jesus was a threat to the Pharisees for fear that He would overturn their positions and status as the religious authorities of the day. In John 11: 47-48 we read “Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, ‘What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” Christ purposely passed over the elite, aristocratic, and influential men of society and chose mostly the men and from the dregs of society. That’s how it has always been in God’s economy. He exalts the humble and lays low those who are proud. The disciples had no extraordinary skills but were ordinary people, like you and me. The disciples were Jews, uneducated commoners, and simple men of faith who gave up everything to be followers of Christ. They were from rural areas, farmers, and fishermen.
Jesus spent three years training these men to be leaders. Jesus planned to eventually have the disciples take over and carry on the work He had started. We will be judged according to the truth we know about the Lord, the occasions we had to share it, and how we glorified Him in those circumstances. Jesus made it clear to the disciples in John 4: 34 that “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” Jesus lived to do the will of His Father. He wanted nothing more than to hear God’s voice and please Him by depending on His Spirit to do exactly what He commanded. From the very beginning, God desired that the entire world come to know, love, worship, and serve Him. Intimacy with God is His highest priority everywhere on earth.
The religious sects of the day wanted to hold on to their traditions and did not recognize that Jesus is Messiah—the promised King of the Old Testament. They cling to the Law and refused to accept Jesus—the Way—the Truth—the Life. In Matthew 22: 37-40 Jesus answered the question of a lawyer who wished to test Him in the Law saying “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus said to Him: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it. ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” The religious sects of the day knew the Law but missed how deeply intertwined they are. To love God with all your heart, soul, and strength is also to love your neighbor. The two are inseparable. If we claim to adore God but harbor bitterness or indifference toward those around us, we aren’t fulfilling the first commandment at all. As John said, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar.” (I John 4: 20) Jesus didn’t give us abstract ideals; He gave us a way of to live. His commandments are not just rules, but daily invitations to shift our hearts from selfishness to love. Every act of kindness, patience, or selfless love toward others reflects our love for God. When we serve instead of demand, forgive instead of retaliate, and bless instead of curse, we’re not just doing good—we’re mirroring the character of our God. The heartbeat of the Kingdom is love that flows upward in worship to God and outward in love, mercy, and grace toward people. It’s not a love that stays in the pews or within the pages of Scripture—it moves, it serves, and it sacrifices. When we reflect the heart of the One who loved us first, whose life was the perfect picture of love in action will we fulfill the call to be fishers of men. They will know we are Christians by our love—it becomes our way of life.
God asks us to make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28: 18-20) Just as we need equipment to be fishermen, we need equipment to be fishers of men. We are to have the shield of faith with which we ward off the opposition from demonic forces who don’t want to see men saved by the Gospel of Christ and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Without these two pieces of spiritual equipment, we will find fishing for men’s souls impossible. Putting on the armor of God helps us to be ready at all times with everything we need according to Ephesians 6: 10-18. But like the disciples who were all together in the upper room awaiting the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we too must be empowered by His Holy Spirit. It’s not through our own strength or might that God’s presence will be given, and that the light of the Gospel will shine but rather through His Spirit. (Zechariah 4:6) The Gospel message has the power to change lives, shine light into darkness, and deliver evil men from hell. There is power in no other message and no other “net” can catch the fish of God. “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” (Romans 1: 16) This was Jesus’ message to Peter and Andrew—follow Me, learn of Me, know and understand My mission and My message. Only then will we be able to be “fishers of men.”
After Pentecost, every believer has received the Holy Spirit. If Jesus is the vine and we are the branches, then the Spirit is the sap equipping us for the Christian life. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit no longer comes and goes but rather remains permanently. He seals us in Christ—proof of the promise that we are forever in God’s presence. (Ephesians 1: 13-14) The significance of Pentecost to the Jews is something that we shouldn’t ignore, because Pentecost was a Jewish celebration. And so, in our modern-day of the New Testament church, we don’t celebrate Pentecost in the way that the Old Testament Hebrews did. The disciples were all together in the upper room to celebrate the Feast of Weeks or Feast of Harvest. This feast celebrated the end of the grain harvest, and it occurred seven weeks after Passover. Because this was 50 days after Passover, the Greeks called it Pentecost. The connection between Passover and Pentecost is worth noticing. The slaughter of the Passover lamb recalled the great deliverance of Israel’s exodus from Egypt, and it marked the beginning of the harvest with the offering of the first fruits. The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) was the Thanksgiving celebration for the grain harvest. Similarly, Jesus’ crucifixion at Passover was the sacrifice for the deliverance of His people, and the pouring out of the Spirit on Pentecost as the fulfillment of what His sacrifice had promised. (John 14: 16-20; 16:7)
Why was the Holy Spirit given to the Church on an agricultural Thanksgiving feast? The Holy Spirit “pouring out on all people” was first prophesied in Joel 2: 28-32, which Peter quoted in Acts 2: 6-21 when he proclaimed the prophecy had been fulfilled by the events witnessed by the Jerusalem crowd. The connections between when this event was prophesied in Joel and when it happened in Acts adds deeper meaning to Pentecost still celebrated by Christians today. The prophecy in the book of Joel occurred after a locust plague had devastated Israel; every type of crop had been destroyed; the cattle were left without pasture; and they were experiencing a drought. Joel had hope based on what the Lord said: “Even now,’ declares the LORD, ‘return to Me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Joel links the agricultural and economic abundance to spiritual restoration. The verb “pour out” refers to the healing rains God would send upon the land. (Joel 2:23) The prophets saw a link between the material blessing of God (in a rich harvest) and the spiritual benefits (obtained when God gives His Word and Spirit.) The “sacred assembly” that Joel called the people in Joel 2:15 to mourn and repent is also important to the day of Pentecost in the New Testament. It is fitting that the gift of the Spirit in fulfilment of Joe’s prophecy should have come on the harvest celebration day of Pentecost.
Pentecost was a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus. After Pentecost, the apostles spread the Gospel with amazing power and zeal. They preached the Gospel, healed the sick, cast out demons, and even raised the dead as multitudes came to saving faith in Jesus Christ. In Acts 2:39, the apostle Peter spoke about Pentecost, saying, “For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself.” This first outpouring of the Holy Spirit called Pentecost was the early rain referred to in Joel 2:23 and according to the Prophet Joel, in the last days, we will see another outpouring of the Holy Spirit (the latter rains), and it will be more powerful than the first and will be on all people. The early and latter rains are symbols of the spiritual refreshing God gives to His people through His Holy Spirit. (Hosea 6:3) In the natural, both the early and latter rains are needed for the harvest to be reaped. The same is true in the spiritual.
According to Joel, the latter rain will fall on “all flesh,” causing a multitude to receive the conviction of the Holy Spirit and be saved resulting in a great harvest of souls. This latter outpouring is anticipated to bring about a greater manifestation of miracles, healings, and signs. It is also expected to restore a sense of joy and miraculous experiences among believers, contrasting with the gloom and suffering often felt in the world. This empowerment is meant to enable Christians to boldly proclaim the Gospel and perform miracles, as seen in the early Church’s ministry. In Bible times, the physical rain was all about a great harvest. In the end times, the latter rain will be a great spiritual harvest. May the Church be awakened and given extraordinary power and zeal to finish the Great Commission—to be fishers of men in the last days that completes the Bride before the Rapture!
Let us pray that our eyes may see the wonderful provision that God has made for His Church, in the baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire. May God open our eyes to see what the great and fundamental need of the Church to do the work of winning souls for Christ and building up believers for a life of holiness and fruitfulness. Grant us the power of the Holy Spirit on us and in us to do your work!