Thoughts going in, Sun Jan 23rd

12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali-- 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: 15 "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-- 16 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." 17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."18 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. 19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 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, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. 23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

There are actually several things going on in this passage, but in **general terms, it could be said that the passage as a whole is the inauguration--or beginning--of Jesus' earthly ministry. SOME chronological details are omitted, for instance, the temptation scenes. Those will resurface on the first Sunday of Lent. Another way to look at this passages is from that of the perspective of "light." With Epiphany being about Jesus as the "light of the world," this passage illustrates that Light going out into the world.

Beyond those initial remarks, the passage breaks into sections. Vss 12-17 have to do with the establishment of Capernaum as 'home base' for Jesus' activity. As the text informs us, this is Galilee.....the north country. It's difficult to figure out the Galilee of Jesus' day. On the one hand, it was considered the 'hinterland' by those of Judea and especially Jerusalem. Its history is that of having only been Judaized in recent memory. Given this, their religious 'pedigree' was suspect by the religious establishment. This would come up later when in John 7:41 some thought Jesus was the Messiah, while others pointed out that the Messiah couldn't (in their thinking) come from Galilee. Yet on the other hand, even though Galilee seems to have come late to the Jewish religion, they were among the most willing to revolt and take up arms against Rome. Galilee at the time of Jesus was a seedbed of Zealotry. It is thus within this context....a context of having one's religious credentials suspect on the one hand, and being religiously motivated to revolt on the other hand, that Jesus appears. The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. Of course as many of the Gospel accounts point out, part of Jesus' struggle up north was the constant thought on the part of some that he would be the NEW LEADER of their revolt activities.

Vss 18-20 are about the call of the first disciples. People are usually perplexed with the IMMEDIACY of the response of these guys. After all, they are busy (and successful) tradesmen....and this wandering rabbi walks up & says "follow me" and that's all it takes? Most bible scholars read between the lines and find a lot of room for "pre-call" dialog between Jesus & his followers. This may very well be the case--but I would simply point out that this question doesn't seem to bother Matthew. From Matthew's perspective and the telling of his story, he seems very comfortable with the idea that the divine call of the Son of God is really **that influential; that it causes them to stop in their tracks, put down their nets, and begin following Jesus.

Then, finally, vss 23-25 are about the programmatic ministry of Jesus in Galilee. He is a teacher/healer who teaches in the synagogues, and who attracts a large following from all over the area.

Points to ponder: As I attempt to connect this reading to who/where we are today, I would note that as Jesus begins his public ministry, he issues two commands: “Repent” and “Come after me.”

The gospel suggests that both repentance and following Jesus are ways of walking in the light....THE WAY to walk in the light, more precisely. And when we walk in the light, we SEE and are a PART of the kingdom of heaven.

The kingdom of heaven is neither earthly realm (yet) nor distant place (only). The kingdom of heaven is present in our response to Jesus. The kingdom of heaven is ANYWHERE God is active, ruling in grace & mercy through the presence of his Son Jesus.

This week, as is often the case, is a week of CONTRASTS: darkness vs light; repenting vs not repenting; following Jesus vs following something else.

cheers,

TM