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MARK 1:16 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Mark 1:15Mark 1:17
“Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.”
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 — the first disciples are called not from the synagogue or the schools but from their workplace, mid-task, in the ordinary moment of a working day. Simon and Andrew are working professionals, not religious students. The casting of a net communicates that they are in the active moment of their trade, not waiting or resting. Jesus observes them before he calls them — the call is not impulsive but intentional. The Sea of Galilee setting grounds the kingdom's arrival in the ordinary working world before it ever reaches the corridors of religious or political power.

Church Fathers on Mark 1:16

As the Evangelist John relates, Peter and Andrew were disciples of the Forerunner, but seeing that John had borne witness to Jesus, they joined themselves to him; afterwards, grieving that John had been cast into prison, they returned to their trade.

Theophylact · 11th century

Now fishers and unlettered men are sent to preach, that the faith of believers might be thought to lie in the power of God, not in eloquence or in learning. It goes on to say, 'and immediately they left their nets, and followed Him.'

Bede · 8th century · in Marc., 1, 6

Further, we are mystically carried away to heaven, like Elias, by this chariot, drawn by these fishers, as by four horses. On these four corner-stones the first Church is built; in these, as in the four Hebrew letters, we acknowledge the tetragrammation, the name of the Lord, we who are commanded, after their example, to 'hear' the voice of the Lord, and 'to forget' the 'people' of wickedness, and 'the house of our fathers' ' [Ps 45:10] conversation, which is folly before…

Pseudo-Jerome · 5th century
Read all 6 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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Mark 1:16 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy