In Matthew 4:12–23, Jesus steps onto the shoreline of ordinary life and issues an invitation. Calling disciples is a very rabbinic thing to do in the first century. Disciples would walk alongside their leader, sometimes for years, to learn their ethos of life. So this story starts ordinary but moves to another level quickly. Walking beside the Sea of Galilee, Jesus calls Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John—fishermen at work, mending nets, earning a living.
His words are simple and direct: “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately, Matthew tells us, they leave their nets and follow him. No lengthy explanation. No guarantee of safety or success. Just a call—and a response.
This scene is not about “bigger-than-life” personalities but about radical availability. I remember from a class in seminary that Jesus does not seek the powerful or the polished. Jesus meets people where they already are, in the rhythm of life, and invites them into a bigger story. It is God’s story. To follow Jesus is not merely a change in direction but a reshaping of the whole person by grace.
These same themes echo beautifully in the hymn we are going to sing in worship, “Pescador de Hombres” (“You Have Come Down to the Lakeshore”), written in 1979 by Monseñor Cesáreo Gabaráin. Gabaráin was one of the most influential composers of Spanish liturgical music after the Second Vatican Council. He was deeply shaped by the faith and struggles of the humble people he encountered in ministry. His hymn draws directly from the gospel accounts of the calling of the disciples, giving them poetic and musical voice.
The refrain of Pescador de Hombres is a prayer of surrender: “Lord, you have come to the lakeshore… I will follow you.” It captures the heart of discipleship—not obligation, but response. The gentle, rocking melody evokes a boat on the water, reminding us that following Christ often begins quietly, almost silently and tenderly, before it leads us into deeper waters.
The hymn’s resonance reaches beyond the church. It appears in the 1993 film Alive, about survivors of the Andes plane crash, and in the Spanish film Camino (2008), underscoring moments of suffering, hope, and trust.
According to the Rev. Carlton Young, editor of The United Methodist Hymnal, it has been translated into more than 80 languages.
Like the fishermen in Matthew’s gospel, we are still standing on the shore, nets in hand. Jesus continues to pass by, calling us not away from our humanity, but to enter humanity in a deeper way.
O Lord, with your eyes you have searched me,
and while smiling have spoken my name;
now my boat’s left on the shoreline behind me;
by your side I will seek other seas.