Matthew 4:12-23
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.”[a]
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.
“Come Follow Me”
Come is echoed throughout scripture: Ps 95:1,2; Is 1:18; Is 55::l; Mt, 4:19; Mk. 10:21;
Mt. 11:28,29; Rev 22:17,
,
Come - it is a word of grace and a word of command; it invites us and entices us and commands us to risk ourselves in the venture of faith and discover how true it is that God dwells with us, is for us, lives through us, is above, beneath and in us. And cares about us as well as all!
To follow is to get involved - it is to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. It is to be led by the Holy Spirit to that which God would have happen - through us.
“Repent...And Live It Up, Following Jesus”
Two thoughts regarding this word from Matthew. First on repentance and then on following Jesus.
Repentance:
Repentance is not something we do just to take care of our badness; it is not permission to be bad because we can always be forgiven.
Repentance is a positive not a negative word. It means ‘change from within. It has to do with opening life up, changing ones mind, being open to new possibilities; being open to live from within. To repent means to open up!
Our dogma and our prejudices keep us from repentance. Our fear of change keeps us from opening up to new possibilities. It is what stops God’s grace from having a positive effect in the lives of good, even religious people. And keeps life from happening, as God would have it happen.
Following Jesus:
What an irresponsible thing to do - leave all and follow Jesus.
To follow is to live in the light; not pretend our darkness is light.
It begins with repentance - for we have a lot of darkness in our lives; then it is to be led by the light into that which God would have us be and do- no matter what.
Scott Peck reminds us that evil is doing harmful things and not even knowing it because we refuse to come to the light. Following Jesus is letting the light shine in us first; so we can be a reflection of that light in our world.
This is how the Kingdom of Heaven comes on earth!
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