Jesus’ Big Fish Story (Gospel of Thomas)

The eighth saying in the Gospel of Thomas is a big fish story. Jesus said, "The man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of little fish. Among them the wise fisherman discovered a fine large fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea, and easily chose the large fish. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!" 

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Transcript

We have all heard about the one that got away. It is a standing joke among fisherman. The one that got away is always the biggest fish we have ever seen. Like Walter the Trout in the 1981 movie On Golden Pond, which was filmed a few miles down the street from where we live. Golden Pond is actually Squam Lake in New Hampshire. In the movie they caught the big fish and let it go. In the fish story in the Gospel of Thomas, the fisherman did not let it go.  Neither did it get away. 

In the canonical gospels there are several fish stories, which only makes sense because Jesus lived not far from the Sea of Galilee, and several of his disciples were fishermen. There is the story of the disciples’ haul of fish that was so big that it almost sunk the boat when they tried to haul in the nets. There is the story of Jesus telling Peter to take a coin out of a fish’s mouth to pay the temple tax. 

The eighth saying in the Gospel of Thomas is a big fish story. Jesus said, "The man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of little fish. Among them the wise fisherman discovered a fine large fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea, and easily chose the large fish. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!" 

The main character in the story is called a wise fisherman or a thoughtful fisherman in another translation. He is meant as an example to follow. He cast his net into the Sea of Galilee, and when he hauls it back in, it is full of fish. But unlike in the canonical gospels, he does not keep all the fish. He sorts through them and picks out one large fish. He keeps that one, and throws all the smaller fish back into the sea.

That story has a couple of meanings. First of all, it extolls the value of the one over the many. It has similarities to the parable of the pearl of great price, where the merchant sells all he has to buy that one pearl. And the parable of the parable of the lost sheep, where the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine and goes in search of the one. In the Gospel of Thomas that one sheep is identified as the largest, so it is a parallel to the large fish. It is talking about the exceeding value of the One thing. 

It reminds me also of the story of Mary and Martha. Jesus came to visit at their home. Martha is busy playing the hostess, and she gets angry at her sister Mary who is sitting at the Master’s feet listening to him teach instead of helping her.  The story says, "Martha was distracted by all the preparations to be made. She came to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me!’ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord replied, “you are worried and upset about many things. But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.”

That has the same message as the story of the big fish. There is only one thing necessary; we are to set our attention on this One. In all these stories the one thing represents the Kingdom of God, better translated the Divine Realm or Spiritual Presence. It is Ultimate Reality, Nondual Reality, Enlightenment, Salvation, Liberation. This is the One Thing necessary.

Life is filled with many little things, little fishes. There are so many things that demand our attention, that we have to be careful not to get distracted by them. The modern maxim says: Don’t sweat the small stuff, and it is all small stuff. The Buddha calls this right effort. You focus on what is most important and not all the other stuff. 

That is how the Buddha attained enlightenment. He spent years trying many different spiritual techniques and practices, but they did not get him anywhere. They were all small fish. So he sat down under a tree and resolved not to arise until he was awake. That is what did it.

We see the comparative value of the many and the one, and we choose the One. The decision of the wise fisherman to choose the One is easy. Just like it was easy for those Galilean fishermen – James and John and Andrew and Peter - to leave their nets and follow Jesus. Jesus is the big fish. They left everything to follow him. It was an easy choice to follow him. 

According to the story this decision of the wise fisherman to choose the one was not difficult. Various translations say, “he easily chose to keep the large one.” He “chose the large fish without difficulty.” “He chose the large fish effortlessly.” This is the Taoist wu wei, which means "effortless action" or "non-doing." Wei wu wei, “action without action.” 

I have been to mindfulness retreats where the leader made mindfulness into a chore. The participants are exhausted by the effort of always keeping one’s attention in the present. They are glad when the exercise is over so they can relax. Wei Wu Wei is not like that. It is effortlessness that transcends the mind. Perhaps it ought to be called mindlessness. It is resting in the Divine Mind, and not controlling the human mind.

There is an interesting possibility about the type of fish Jesus was talking about in this parable. I was reading about the different types of fish that were present in the Sea of Galilee during the lifetimes of Jesus and his disciples. (The Hidden Gospel of Thomas, by William Duffy). The largest fish in that freshwater lake at that time was the African catfish, which could grow to four feet in length and weigh over a hundred pounds. That is huge! The reason why it grew so large is that it had no natural predators in that lake, and the Jews did not eat that type of fish. It had no scales and therefore it was considered unclean according to the Torah and forbidden for Jews to eat.

If this is the type of big fish that Jesus had in mind, then it adds another dimension to this story. Jesus would be saying that the large fish is the one that all the other fishermen would throw away as worthless. They could not eat it or sell it, so they discarded it. Yet this wise fisherman kept this one and threw away all the other fish! 

The point is that people not recognize the value of the One Ultimate Reality. It is right there in their nets and in front of their faces and they do not see the value of it. The most valuable thing in life is right in front of our face, as I said a couple of episodes ago. This is what Jesus was talking about when he said, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” The big catfish which the fishermen rejected is the best fish; it represents the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of Heaven is all around us, and people do not see it. In our nets. It is in our hands. The Kingdom of God is “at hand,” Jesus said, yet we throw it away. That which is of most value  – more valuable than anything that the world has to offer – is right here right now. But people ignore this great treasure, and they spend their lives accumulating trinkets that will not last. 

There is one final big fish story that I have to mention. It is the famous story of Jonah and the Whale. Actually the Bible calls the “big fish.” Jesus used the story of Jonah and the big fish as a metaphor for his death and resurrection. The thing to remember is that death and resurrection is itself a metaphor for spiritual rebirth. Jonah’s big fish is a womb, and Jonah is reborn from that womb and pushed out onto dry land. 

When we catch the big fish, or the big fish catches us, we are reborn. Spiritual awakening happens. So if you are spiritually fishing, doing your spiritual practices, and one day by the grace of God you catch the big fish or the big fish catches you, don’t throw it away. Don’t let it get away. Recognize the eternal value of what is at hand. When we do, then we have a real fish story to tell.