The phrase fishers of men
describes the disciples’ future ministry—gathering God’s people into his kingdom—as shown in the image of the fishing net in Matthew 13:47 and given in language that would have been familiar to the disciples, who had made a living as fishermen (Matthew 4:18). The challenges of catching fish—difficult labour and risk of a poor catch—were like those of fishing for men, and the metaphor of fishing as the work of God was already used in Jeremiah 16:16 and Ezekiel 47:10.
The phrase I will make you fishers of men
pertains to the future ministry of the disciples. They will gather together the people of God in the kingdom of heaven (see the image of the fishing net in Matthew 13:47). There is, of course, one condition for becoming a fisher of men: one must first become a disciple of Jesus and follow him. In calling these fishermen, Jesus employs the kind of language that they would be familiar with (Matthew 4:18).1 Jesus, in other words, describes their calling in terms of their vocation. The brothers knew full well the amount of labour required for a good catch, and how often very little or no success has been achieved, and how often the catch is worthless (Matthew 13:48). They will experience these same challenges when labouring in the service of Jesus. It is only through great effort that their service of the Lord will bear fruit. By diligently following him, they will win souls for the Saviour. Furthermore, the image of fishing to describe spiritual work was already used in the Old Testament—see Jeremiah 16:16 and Ezekiel 47:10.2
19 Il leur dit: Suivez-moi, et je vous ferai pêcheurs d'hommes.