When Jesus got word that John had been arrested, he returned to Galilee. He moved from his hometown, Nazareth, to the lakeside village Capernaum, nestled at the base of the Zebulun and Naphtali hills. This move completed Isaiah’s sermon:
  Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
     road to the sea, over Jordan,
        Galilee, crossroads for the nations.
  People sitting out their lives in the dark
        saw a huge light;
  Sitting in that dark, dark country of death,
     they watched the sun come up.
  This Isaiah-prophesied sermon came to life in Galilee the moment Jesus started preaching. He picked up where John left off: “Change your life. God’s kingdom is here.”
Walking along the beach of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon (later called Peter) and Andrew. They were fishing, throwing their nets into the lake. It was their regular work. Jesus said to them, “Come with me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass.” They didn’t ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed.
A short distance down the beach they came upon another pair of brothers, James and John, Zebedee’s sons. These two were sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their fishnets. Jesus made the same offer to them, and they were just as quick to follow, abandoning boat and father.
From there he went all over Galilee. He used synagogues for meeting places and taught people the truth of God. God’s kingdom was his theme—that beginning right now they were under God’s government, a good government! He also healed people of their diseases and of the bad effects of their bad lives. Word got around the entire Roman province of Syria. People brought anybody with an ailment, whether mental, emotional, or physical. Jesus healed them, one and all. More and more people came, the momentum gathering. Besides those from Galilee, crowds came from the “Ten Towns” across the lake, others up from Jerusalem and Judea, still others from across the Jordan.
2 thoughts.
1. I resisted the temptation to edit the Americanism of this translation because I love the image of James and John mending their “fishnets” rather than fishing nets!
2. More seriously, I feel a rant coming on. We’re only at Chapter 4 and already its been very clear that this is radical, dangerous, supernatural, revolutionary, in-your-face, scary, all or nothing stuff.
I am so sick of the domesticated, nice, polite, lifestlye-friendly, consumerist, tame, impotent Christianity I see in the church and even more in me.
Jesus picked up where John left off “change your life. God’s kingdom is here”
Poor Zebedee- I wonder if he understood why his sons had to go and leave him to catch all the fish alone!
Too right about the revolutionary, in-your-face etc. nature of the passage Richard. Just noticed how the message John then Jesus stressed is ‘Change your life’, not ‘See if you’re doing anything wrong and then change it’. Theres no compromise, no way out for people who appear to be doing a better job as human beings than others. The command is there regardless, and I for one find it a bit daunting….but then i think the rest of Jesus’ time on Earth was spent showing us practical ways of how to positively change our lives. Guess there’s no excuse then *groans*….
Jesus had just been tested, John had been arrested and Jesus travelled, on his own, away from his family to Caperneum……..
……….and then he chose his disciples. It has just struck me that at that time of vulnerability Jesus himself, in his humaness, had the same need for community as we all do……people not only to disciple and teach….but people to sit down and eat meals with, to travel on the road with, to pray with, to heal with……
As well as feeling like this is a radical place, Ricahrd, it is also feeling like the beginnings of a community place. I love the uncontrolled nature of the thing, the fact that God is revealing different stuff to different people……the vulnerability that is beginning to emerge. If if it was good enough for Jesus!
The challenge for me is, however, how do we draw others into this community that is Dream…both the physical dream and this virtual dream. Jesus needed community…but the challenge he gave to that community is “GO!”
For me this passage illustrates Jesus’ gentleness and his concern for the marginalised and oppressed. But ………… it seems Jesus is also a no-nonsense proponent of “tough love”. Encounters with him are not always easy or convenient. To change our lives is radical and challenging especially when we are normally reminded not to burn our bridges.
I guess burning our bridges is what following Jesus is all about.