Matthew 4:18–20: “As He was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen). He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.’ They left their nets immediately and followed Him.”

This is part of my series on the animal analogies of Jesus. A while ago, I warned against the idea that because Jesus Christ said something, you also should say it in the same way. Maybe some people have gotten that message; maybe some people have not. I want to spend a few more moments expanding on that.

Jesus Christ called people dogs, vipers and hypocrites. I said: do not do that name‑calling. I also used the analogy of Moses. People complained about Moses, but God stepped in. Rather than saying, “Moses was correct,” God said, in effect, “Who are you to think you can question Moses?” It is as if Moses exists in a category of his own.

In the same way, Jesus Christ exists in a category of His own, so you cannot simply say, “Jesus Christ said it, I should say it,” and that should be the end of it. Some people may want to say, “I have this big title, therefore I am also like Moses.” No, you are not like Moses.

There is only one person who is given to us: Jesus Christ. Everybody else is supposed to serve the body of Christ. Everybody else. Your title is not a license to call people names. Your title is not a license to say, “I am also in a different category. I am also like Moses.” No, you are not like Moses.

Some people want to apply the words of the Bible directly to themselves and say, “By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,” and then decide that they themselves are now that prophet. No, you are not. There is only one “Moses” for us, who delivered us from hell, from the spiritual Pharaoh, from bondage. That Moses for us is Jesus.

You are not our Moses. Jesus Christ is our Moses. He is our Deliverer. Did you see that? Deliverer. You are not our Moses. So you must come down from your high horse and recalibrate your self‑concept. You are not Moses. There is one Jesus, and the focus has to be on Jesus, not on you. Your position, your gifting, is for you to build others up, not to tear them down, not to name‑call them.

Do not say, “He is our powerful man of God; therefore he can do all these things.” If someone says, You call me names. But if I also call you names, you will become angry—and now you are also angry? That already tells us there is a problem. We have a problem there.

Here, in this passage, there is a fish analogy. Jesus Christ told them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.” You see a lot of animal analogies of Jesus because the people had all these animals around them all the time.

And the dogs—please do not be offended that Jesus said, “Do not be like dogs.” The dogs Jesus was mentioning are not like our dogs now. They are not domesticated pets. He is not talking about pets. He is not talking about a dog you have as a human companion that you love. He is talking about the dogs the people of that time knew: scavenging, unclean animals. Once He said “dogs,” they had an immediate understanding of what He meant.

Just like the fish He is talking about are not the fish in your aquarium. When people then heard “fish,” they were not thinking of a decorative tank that people look at for pleasure. That is not what He is talking about.

The world has changed. That is why, to understand Scripture, you need to ask: “What did it mean to the people who originally heard these words?” That begins to help us grasp the meaning. Jesus Christ used these examples and analogies to impart messages that people would understand.

He said, “I will make you fishers of people.” He does not need many words. “I will make you fishers of people.” That word was enough for Peter to leave his nets and follow Jesus. He is telling him: “You were doing something natural; you are going to start doing something spiritual.” That is what He is saying.

So He is using the natural things we see to communicate spiritual truth—not as a license for you to call people names.

That is the truth.

God bless you.