Matthew 4:12-23 Called
Matthew 4:12-23 (Evangelical Heritage Version)
12When Jesus heard that John was put in prison, he withdrew into Galilee. 13He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14He did this to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
15Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
along the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
16the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light,
and on those dwelling in the region and the shadow of death a light has dawned.
17From that time, Jesus began to preach: “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near.”
18As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen. 19He said to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20They immediately left their nets and followed him. 21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
23Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.
Called
I.
Back in the olden days—not all that long ago, actually—when you were planning a vacation, you would open up the atlas or unfold a map to determine your route. If you were highly sophisticated, you used a computer map to help you plan, but you still printed the directions and the map itself to actually get you to your destination.
These days, most people punch the destination in to the phone, click a button, and blindly follow the blinking arrow, expecting to get to the destination. Maybe you mix a little old-school with the new ways. You override the blinking arrow. You’ve been to this destination before—many times. There are other options, so you trust your experiences and your instincts. Still, the navigation screen is open and active; there might be traffic situations or road conditions you didn’t know about when you chose the alternate route.
How does a person get right with God? What is your relationship with God like? Those are life’s most important questions.
People like to think they have life all figured out. Just like planning your vacation route, it’s tempting to trust your instincts and experiences. Are you sincere? Are you serious about your morals? No doubt if you are, and you are “religious” enough, you’re on the right track.
Scripture is far less optimistic about your instinct and experiences.
In today’s First Reading, Israel was under threat from Assyria. The people were desperate for guidance. But where did they turn for answers? Anywhere but God. Anywhere but his Word and his promises. Mediums and spiritists promised insight and control over their problems. Isaiah said: “To the law and to the testimony! If people do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them” (Isaiah 8:20, EHV). Failing to listen to God’s Word is like trying to navigate in the dark. Isaiah continued: “They will pass through the land, distressed and starving..., 22 they will see only distress, darkness, and the gloom that brings anguish. They will be banished into thick darkness” (Isaiah 8:21-22, EHV).
Darkness, gloom, and distress. That’s what we find when we choose our own way, or listen to godless advisors. John sharpened the point in today’s Second Reading: “The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is still in the darkness” (1 John 2:9, EHV). The darkness can be subtle; these people say they are in the light, yet they are not.
Psalm 27 is the Psalm of the Day: “The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1, EHV). Using the Psalmist’s words, we confess the same thing: God is our salvation, there’s nothing to be afraid of. But, if that is true, why do fear, resentment, and confusion still shape so much of our lives?
Matthew quoted Isaiah. The Galileans, along the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, are: “The people dwelling in darkness... those dwelling in the region and the shadow of death” (Matthew 4:16, EHV, quoting Isaiah 9:2). We are confident, but not clear-sighted.
II.
“From that time, Jesus began to preach: ‘Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near’” (Matthew 4:17, EHV). “Repent” is a present imperative. Repentance isn’t just a spiritual tune-up. Repent means to admit that we are not standing in the light we thought we were.
Repentance is a collapse of self-trust. That’s why we use the confession and absolution as part of our services week after week. Repentance is not a “one-and-done” thing. Repentance is to keep going and going—it’s a continuous process.
“The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and on those dwelling in the region and the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Matthew 4:16, EHV). The darkness is not just “out there” somewhere. The darkness is closer than we would like to admit.
We know God’s Commandments, yet we continually try to “bend” them a little bit to fit ourselves and our own desires. “The Lord is the stronghold of my life” we sang in the Psalm. Yet, we fear the future as if he were not our stronghold. We are among those from the Second Reading who claim to walk in the light, but we hold grudges and contempt for others. John said: “The one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:11, EHV).
That’s the problem. Darkness disorients. Darkness lies to us about who we are and where we are.
Repentance is required. The darkness is deeper than we can fix.
III.
“When Jesus heard that John was put in prison, he withdrew into Galilee” (Matthew 4:12, EHV). Just two weeks ago we witnessed Jesus being baptized by John at the river Jordan. Last week we saw John point to Jesus in the two days after that and identify him as the Lamb of God. Today’s Gospel begins about a year after Jesus’ baptism. Matthew doesn’t include many details about that year.
Now it’s a year later. John the Baptist had been put in prison, and Jesus withdrew to Galilee. It wasn’t a fearful retreat, but a fulfillment of prophecy once again. Isaiah had said it, now it was coming true. “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, along the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, 16the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and on those dwelling in the region and the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Matthew 4:15-16, EHV). Notice what Matthew does not say. He does not say that they found the light; they didn’t work toward the light. No they “have seen” the light. They have seen it because it has come to them.
Jesus doesn’t wait for the darkness to clear, he steps right into it. Those living in Galilee heard the Gospel proclamation from Jesus himself: “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17, EHV).
The Light of the world doesn’t begin his ministry in the temple courts, but along the shoreline. “Repent,” he says, but he came to bring about the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation even though our repentance would be ever ongoing, never complete, never really enough to accomplish anything.
He accomplished it for us. The heart of the Epiphany season is that God reveals himself to us not by demanding our sight, but by giving us his Son.
On them a light has dawned, Isaiah told us. Not advice. Not inspiration. A Person. A Savior. This Light will keep on moving, all the way to the cross, where darkness thinks it has won. Even there, the Light shines, and the darkness will not overcome it.
We sang in the Psalm of the day: “One thing I ask from the LORD. This is what I seek: that I live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD, and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4, EHV). God’s solution isn’t our striving against the darkness, but Jesus’ invasion of our darkness.
IV.
Peter and Andrew had already met Jesus a year earlier. Andrew had been one of those who followed Jesus after John the Baptist pointed him out. They had gone with Jesus to the Wedding at Cana, and had experienced a few other things, as well. But eventually they had returned to their profession: fishing.
This particular day, Jesus met up with them again. This time: “He said to them, ‘Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ 20They immediately left their nets and followed him” (Matthew 4:19-20, EHV). Jesus also called James and John that day. All of them were fishermen, not scholars. They were hard working, blue collar men.
In other words, they weren’t called because of their magnetic personalities. They weren’t called because of their eloquence and brilliant turns of phrase. They were called by God’s grace.
Just like those first disciples, we are called to follow Jesus in faith. We didn’t earn salvation or choose it, we received it.
Peter, Andrew, James, and John were transformed into fishers of men—people who, because of their devotion to Jesus wanted to tell others about Jesus. Isaiah said: “You have multiplied the nation. You have increased its joy. They rejoice before you like the joy at harvest time” (Isaiah 9:3, EHV). That’s what we do, too. Rejoice before God and teach others about the salvation Jesus bought and paid for for all.
Just like Jesus’ first disciples, you are called. Remember the word Jesus used for repent? Repentance is an ongoing thing. Live in daily repentance and faith. That will let Christ’s light shine through in the forgiveness he gives you. It will shine through in your relationships as you live as fishers of men, just as you have been called. Amen.
