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And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
- Matthew 4:18-25
Yesterday, we read that when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned." From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. My study bible tells us: "These first disciples of Christ had already heard the preaching of John the Baptist, which prepared them to accept the Messiah immediately. . . . As His disciples, Jesus chooses men who have not been trained in any sacred school, most of whom are unlearned and illiterate, considered by the various religious groups within Judaism as 'people of the land,' or peasants. At Pentecost these men will be revealed to be the wisest of all, by the power of the Holy Spirit." Some of these men, it is suggested by other Gospels, Jesus has known before; it may be the second time He has called some of them. Peter, and James and John Zebedee, will form Jesus' inner circle of disciples, present at several notable events in the Gospels.
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. "This is a summary," says my study bible, "of Jesus' early activity: His miracles bear witness to the presence of the Kingdom (12:28) and serve as introduction to the Sermon on the Mount." Decapolis is a region of ten Greek-speaking cities located north and east of Galilee. The great multitudes who follow come from all over Israel and Jewish territory.
Jesus' ministry begins, and is summed up in a few short verses. It's interesting that the Gospels do not spend a lot of time on the choosing of the disciples. Our impression is one of an immediate calling and following. But it seems quite probable that Jesus knew several of these men (particularly John and James Zebedee) for a longer period than indicated -- before His public ministry; it's also implicated elsewhere that several disciples were first disciples of John the Baptist, who directed his disciples to Jesus. Nevertheless, the impression of a kind of immediate selection and acceptance is interesting and, I feel, important. There is not a lot of time spent wrangling over choices, agonizing over various individuals and relationships, or questioning the wisdom of this choice to choose or to follow. I think what's important here is the trust in God that is implied, the surety of desire and intention, the faith in God's plan at work for the kingdom. We know that one of His chosen will betray Him; nevertheless, this is the way things will unfold. The Gospel presents these events in a very quick fashion in terms of the unfolding of His ministry, and again we are given the sense of a plan unfolding. The several times we will hear of Jesus withdrawing for prayer or for discussion with His disciples come at several points in His ministry which we could call points of expansion, or key new points of unfolding of this ministry. We know, also, that Jesus has been "thrown by the Spirit" for forty days of fasting and temptation in the wilderness as He began His ministry -- an important indication of just what type of preparation is really necessary for Christ. Again, the whole implication of this type of pondering or contemplation (if we could call it that) implies trust in God. At each new turning point, it is to prayer Jesus will turn. And I think that for today the Gospel teaches us this very important point. In our lives it's important to proceed with all due diligence, but it's really important to keep things in perspective, in the same sense that Jesus does. There is a trust in God, a turning to prayer as preparation before each new turning point in the ministry, a reliance on the Father for guidance and for the unfolding of a plan. We know what that plan holds for Jesus, and we know the fruits of this ministry in the world! Let us understand what effectiveness is through the ranking of priorities here. We put first our trust in God, and all else follows. We trust in prayer. And we put things in the hands of God. We can't control everything ourselves, but we can trust to prayer. We don't all have the same role to fill that Christ did; we are not each of us the Messiah. But we can live the way He did, and learn from Him. None of us has His power, but neither did He attempt to control all that happened in the world, or even the actions of all of His disciples when He was betrayed. Let us remember we have far less power, and less capacity for control. Let us start our journeys with prayer, our turning points with this trust and preparation, so that we may move forward as He did. In this way, we may "Follow Him" as well.
