Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men

 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 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.    We remember that Jesus has made Capernaum His new home (see yesterday's reading, above), and so He walks by the Sea of Galilee in this headquarters town for His ministry.  My study bible comments that these first disciples had already heard the preaching of John the Baptist, and so were prepared to accept Christ immediately (see also John 1:35-42).   Although they were illiterate and unlearned in religion, these "people of the land," my study bible says, whom Jesus calls, will be revealed at Pentecost to be the wisest of all.

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.  These great multitudes followed Jesus, my study bible points out, not when He commands repentance, but rather only when He begins to heal and work miracles.  This shows that from the beginning the people misunderstand the true nature of Christ's Kingdom.  It also shows, as Theophan comments, Christ's concession "to give credibility to what He teaches" among the fickle crowds.  (See yesterday's reading, above, for Christ's immediate ministerial call to "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.")

Christ's ministry is couched in healing, as "concession" my study bible says, to give credibility to what He teaches" (quoting Theophan).  But healing, as we understand it in its manifold forms, is the overall direction of what Christ does to save.  We might not understand it, and neither apparently do these crowds who flock to Him for healing, but healing is the entire meaning of the Incarnation.  That is, it is for the life of the world, all of the creation, to set us right, to heal, to transform -- and that includes a patterning of righteousness that puts us in right-relationship among ourselves and even extending to the creation.  In this sense, we shouldn't forget that repentance (as we wrote in yesterday's reading and commentary) is a means -- indeed, the chief means -- whereby that healing and transformation take place.  Repentance in this sense becomes the major means of healing in a holistic sense of an entire human being, for we are made not simply of body, soul, and spirit, but we are also made in relationship to all that surrounds us.  Repentance then becomes the chief means whereby we seek through our own adjustment to Christ's call of discipleship to becomes "right-related" to God and by extension to creation, including all of our fellow creatures.  It's not for nothing that we have saints who were known to preach to the birds, or that the early monastics dwelt in the desert wilderness or as hermits, or that even today the Church sees its mission as one of redemption for the entire creation, the whole of the world.  In the prayers of the Church, we pray for the entire creation, and not merely for ourselves.  Therefore is the mission of Christ seen as healing and in the context of repentance on our part, for repentance is simply the turning to God to find God's way for us, even as a kind of constant state of prayer.  Repentance is linked to notions of time, for it is only through time that such transformation occurs, and indeed, our journey of faith is not one of simply a one-day commitment or realization.  It is, rather, a lifetime's passage of work and growing awareness:  there is always something new we must learn, a work ahead or in front of us toward which Christ calls.  Those who have been married for a while -- even many decades -- know that a marriage is a constant work in progress:  as our lives change, we go through transitions that always require a re-orientation in love.  And so it is with our relationship to Christ.  It is one that gets renewed, in which each day passes as we come to know more of our Creator and what is expected of us, and understanding and depth hopefully grows, including its ups and downs.  So we start out with these first disciples called.  This is not a one-day event, as the Gospels attest, but a growing stage of transformation in discipleship.  These men who are called today will not be remain the same persons who come to Him as fishermen; neither are they the same people they were before the ministry of John the Baptist.  All is preparation, all is of a pattern of growth and of transformation.  Each one will have his failings in discipleship that need correction, and each will grow in stature and fullness and disciples and as apostles.  The foolishness we read in one passage will be transformed into the most persuasive and strong character to carry Christ's word into the world.  And St. Paul will also be changed from one striking fear into all the believers, to one unshakable in his conviction to serve the Gentiles.   But all of this is gradual and works through time, and so we should also see Christ's ministry and work in our own lives.  We might not be the same people -- at all -- who started out in faith.  We might be transformed through this ministry, and participation in His life, into those who are quite different from the people we once were.  But this is all a part of healing, both to cut out what needs to be torn away for the health of the whole person, and also to grow the positive good things necessary for true health.  We might not have compatible relationships any longer with those with whom we were once comfortable, and we may find ourselves keeping company with those who are somewhat strange to the persons we used to be.  We may find ourselves with interests and ideas that surprise us, that don't fit an old pattern, or disappoint even the ones whom we love.  We may find ourselves doing "good works" (such as writing Bible commentary blogs!) that we never thought we'd do.  But life in Christ forms a transition, a pattern of change.  It asks us -- when we are called -- to follow, and to trust where we are led.  Each act, in my experience, requires courage, and each one a call to a response in which we realize the importance of our choice and our capacity for change.  Each new "repentance" a form of taking responsibility, and understanding that we are not simply pawns of fate, but rather those who -- even in the most desperate and limited of circumstances -- have some sort of choice to make.  This is the way of Christ, to show us the way.  We learn through prayer, we affirm our faith, and enter into mysteries.  We might not ever understand how it works, nor can we fully explain why, but we know it is a way, and we can look back and see the change.  Let us enter into His life and His call for the journey, even just today, for right now, each mindful moment of where He asks us to be and to affirm our choice for trust in His love and ministry and our part in it.