Posts
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 were told when Jesus heard that John the Baptist 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. Here, 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 [verse 22, "He called them, and immediately they left he boat and their father, and followed Him"]. Verse 19 ["Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men"] may be the second time Jesus has called three of these men. . . . 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."
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. My study bible calls this verse "a summary of Jesus' early activity: His miracles bear witness to the presence of the Kingdom (Matthew 12:28) and serve as an introduction to the Sermon on the Mount." Next week, we will begin reading the Sermon on the Mount, as chapter 5 begins.
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. My study bible explains that "Decapolis is a region located north and east of Galilee." It was a Greek-speaking region of ten cities (in Greek, "ten cities" is the meaning of the word Decapolis). From the beginning, Jesus' word takes root among mixed populations and also in Jewish home territory. Healing and the removal of affliction and torment - physical, mental, and spiritual - form the powerful examples of just what this Kingdom is all about.
The fact that God chooses the "least likely" in our estimation is something we can't overlook. One might ask, "Why fishermen?" But these hard-working men, who make up the class of those who form the backbone of the Galilee area, are the ones whom Jesus calls, the ones whose faith is ready and willing. But I think there's more to the story than just what appears on the surface. God knows people in ways that we can't know people. We notice they're also brothers, so the bonds of this early family of the Church are also strong in different dimensions ("Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother" - Matthew 12:50). The Lord calls whom He will, in what is best for His body, the Church, and it doesn't really matter what our "worldly" perspective is about that. This could have been a great source of ridicule, for all we know, an easy target for criticism. But the Lord is "no respecter of persons" (Matthew 22:15, Acts 10:34, James 2:1-13, Romans 2:11, 1 Peter 1:17). Clearly, here, He begins His ministry by making His own judgment as to who will make the right disciples. And so, it is my opinion that we can't judge of ourselves who truly loves God. These men have various flaws, and perhaps the most evidently flawed in the Gospels (Peter) will become a great leader and spokesman for the disciples. It's yet another hint that God's power doesn't work in an easy and simple and straightforward way (to our way of thinking and vision). God reveals what is hidden. And the transformative, healing power of this ministry is also a hint about what the power of God is and what this Kingdom is. It's not about appearances, it's not about what is simple, but is an ongoing and living thing, a human-divine synergy at work within its core and being. We are all works in progress, with the power of God, the Trinity at work within us and among us, and so is the Church. The unlikely may be chosen, as in Mary's song, "God lifts up the lowly" and "fills the hungry with good things." We just don't know what that will be and what it looks like. And there's another reason why Jesus' first words are a call to repentance in preparation for this Kingdom and how it works among us: we have to be prepared to toss out our own ideas and to accept God's instead. Healing is a complete metaphor for this process, healing on every level. Let us remember the calling and choosing, and transformation of these men. These fishermen who will become "fishers of men" is also a herald, a sign, of the extraordinary and good news of the Kingdom.
