Last week, we read
the story in the Gospel of John of Jesus’ baptism from John the Baptist’s
perspective. John told his follower about Jesus being the messiah – and some of
John’s disciples became Jesus’ disciples.
Today, we read from the book of
Matthew about the calling of Jesus’ first 4 disciples. Because we are reading
from Matthew, he had a slightly different take on things than John. Jesus’ first disciples were fishermen, and
Jesus enticed them to follow him by telling them he would make them “fishers
for men.”
Hear our reading as it comes from
the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 4, verses twelve through twenty-three:
Proclamation of the Scripture Matthew 4:12-23
When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to
Galilee.
Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by
the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—
to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom
of heaven has come near.”
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two
brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a
net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus
said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee
and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee,
preparing their nets. Jesus called them,
and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their
synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and
healing every disease and sickness among the people.
Here ends this
reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Let us pray: May the
words of my mouth and the meditations of our heart be acceptable in thy sight, O
Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Message Called
Together
A few weeks ago, this scripture came up in our
Confirmation Sunday School class. One of our young people pointed to this
scripture as being particularly odd: the sons of Zebedee, James and John,
jumped out of their family’s fishing boat, walked away from their dad and their
haul of fish, and followed Jesus down the road. It was like Jesus bewitched
them. As soon as these men were called by Jesus, they walked away from their
ordinary lives and followed him.
We
have trouble understanding this kind of devotion. If we heard of one of our
classmates or coworkers met a spiritual leader and immediately abandoned their
lives to follow that leader, we would be worried, not impressed. If we were Zebedee, at work with our kids, and
a strange man walked into our work and our kids dropped everything to follow
them, we would probably be terrified.
But,
we know Zebedee’s wife, further along in the story of Jesus’ life, approached
Jesus to ask him if her sons could rule in glory alongside the throne of Jesus,
one at his right and one at his left. In fact, Zebedee’s wife was Salome, a
female disciple who followed Jesus during his missionary journeys and was
present at Jesus’s crucifixion alongside Mary Jesus’s mother and Mary
Magdalene. Zebedee’s profitable fishing business is believed to have
financially supported Jesus’ ministry during his lifetime and the ministry of
his Apostles after Jesus’ ascension.
So,
yes, the reality that the first disciples immediately followed Jesus as soon as
he called them may have seemed surprising to some observers, but in the case of
the family of Zebedee, it seems like everyone got on board with following
Jesus.
In
today’s reading, we hear what it was like at the beginning of the Good News. Jesus
began sharing the Gospel message of “Repent, for the reign of God, the beloved community
of God, is at hand! It is here.” Jesus called the people of first century Israel,
and still calls us today, to turn back towards God and to share the goodness of
God with one another. Jesus calls us to live lives of faith and to focus on
treating other people with love and respect.
Some
of Jesus’ disciples heard Jesus’ message of love and turning towards God and
were immediately inspired to follow Jesus. Others saw Jesus doing actions that
demonstrated the Good News was being lived and experienced – Jesus healed the
sick and the possessed, Jesus welcomed outcasts to be part of his group, Jesus
raised people from the dead, and Jesus preached a message that claimed that
acting with love was more important than following the rules to a T.
Jesus
shared good news with people who needed good news: people who were weighed down
by the trials of the world, people whose hearts were broken, people who were
being oppressed by the government or being oppressed by the people of their own
cultural group, people who were lost, lonely and hurting.
Even
though Jesus has not been physically present on earth for a long time, as his
followers it is important for us to continue to share and live out the Good News.
It is oftentimes easier to preach the good news than it is to live it. Our work
is to tell people about Jesus, to inform them that the Holy Spirit is present
with us now, and that God loves them…God’s love forgives all past wrongdoings
and all sins. Our work is to also be as loving and as invitational as Jesus. Our
work is to reach out to the kinds of people Jesus reached out to – elderly,
young, widowed, orphaned, rejected, bullied, physically ill, mentally ill, from
different ethnic and cultural groups, -- we are to reach out to diverse people.
We are to be loving and kind to everyone. We are called to be generous and
protective. We are called to have a preferential treatment for people who are
economically and spiritually poor. When Jesus first preached in his hometown of
Nazareth, he read this scripture from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set
the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’”
Like
Jesus, we are called to proclaim good news to the poor. We are to proclaim
freedom for the captives and help the blind to see Jesus. We are to set the
oppressed free and to work for justice for the economically dispossessed. When
we live out the Good News, as well as proclaim the Good News, we will help
those who are searching for meaning to find God. This is our calling. This is
our work.
May
we do so with love in our hearts. Amen.
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