Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan

 

 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 

 

In yesterday's reading, we were told 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.  These first disciples had already heard the preaching of John the Baptist and were prepared to accept Christ immediately (see John 1:19-42).  although they were illiterate and unlearned in religion, my study Bible says, these "people of the land" 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. My study Bible remarks that the crowds do not swarm Jesus when He commands repentance (see 4:17, from yesterday's reading, above), but only when He begins to heal and work miracles.  This fact, it says, shows that the people misunderstand the true nature of Christ's Kingdom.  It also shows Christ's concession, as Theophan puts it, "to give credibility to what He teaches" among the fickle multitudes.  

What is the power of the presence of God, of God being extraordinarily near -- of God manifest as one of us?  How can we put limits on it, or know precisely its nature?  Jesus is Son of God and also Son of Man, both human and divine.  These signs of healing are signs of the power of the Logos, God who brings order out of chaos and who is always making all things new (Revelation 21:5).  These are signs of the presence and the power of God, these healings which include the casting out of demons, and the healing of various difficult and serious diseases such as episepsy and paralysis.  It's almost as if Jesus can't help it, that the people who come near Him receive the influence of this holy power that is within Him and comes from Him.  We read this quite clearly in the story of the woman with the blood flow (Matthew 9:20-22), in which Jesus is seemingly startled in the midst of a jostling crowd because He feels power going out from Himself; it is the response of this holy power to the faith of the woman who touched Him, desiring healing.  In a sense, the holy power of Christ and how it works in the world provides to us a contrast to the chaos of things we might consider to be the effects of evil, the influence of demons, and ailments and illnesses that afflict humankind in our mortality, also understood in the context of the Bible to be the result of distance from God (Genesis 3, esp. verses 23, 24).  In a very imperfect world beset with ailments and grief, influences of evil and distance from God, Jesus comes among the crowds and heals.  The influence is clearly immediate, as we can see from the swift change as reported in Matthew's Gospel from which Jesus begins to call His first disciples and seemingly extremely quickly is known for His ministry to multitudes from all over Israel who come to Him:  from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.  Perhaps this seemingly swift response is also a factor that involves the mysterious power of God that not only heals but also communicates to us in ways we do not know nor understand.  Note that my study Bible comments that the people respond to healing right away, and seek Him out, but that this response does not come from His first word of preaching, to repent.  And almost as quickly, Jesus will also be making enemies of those who resent Him, who question His power and authority, and envy His place.  So when we look at our world, and we observe Jesus in His ministry in the world, we should not be confused by the fact that we live in an imperfect world, created by God but also with influences that are "against God."  The illustration of our faith is not one in which our lives will fall into place perfectly -- in which people will automatically adore us for our good devotions to our faith -- but rather one in which there will also be difficulties and upsets, stumbling and hurdles put in our way, even at times because we love God.  All of this is put before us in the Gospels, but one thing we know remains true:  it is Christ's influence that helps to put us in order, to get a grip on our lives and discipline over ourselves, God's power that can be at work in our lives through our prayers and through worship to become fruit of the Spirit in us (such as "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control," according to St. Paul), and which we share with others.  God's work in the world has most of all the hallmark of love, and of compassion, and in His strength and power, and through participation in His life, we may also grow in this image that we are given.  Through His power and that of the Spirit, we grow in the ways God holds for us, and we are also led to repent in the ways God holds for us, to cast off that which keeps us from becoming and manifesting the things He calls us toward, changing our lives and setting us on a deep path to His holy work and through our faith.  God's way is surprising, and not easy or simple, but it is always good and good for us, even when we must turn away from things we thought we loved.  Let us remember the power of His healing and how deeply that goes into our lives, even into who we think we are.