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Jesus calls the first Disciples (Mt. 4:18-25)

As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.  19 He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  20 At once they left their nets and followed him.  21 He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, 22 and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.  23 He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.  24 His fame spread to all of Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, and he cured them.  25 And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.

Fishing was a prosperous industry in Galilee and Simon, Andrew, James and John would have been making a good living as fishermen.  They were looking for the Messiah (Jn. 1:41), but to give up their livelihood for an uncertain future was no little sacrifice since because they did not know if Jesus was truly the Messiah.  “Come after me (v. 19)” is what a teacher would say to his disciples in OT times, but Jesus added “and I will make you fishers of men (cf. Jer. 14:16).”  Fishermen and shepherds were two key images used for ministry in the NT.  Just as God gathered together a nation from the Hebrews, Jesus began gathering the nucleus of his Church from among the Israelites.  Matthew presented Jesus as expecting anyone who wanted to be his disciple to drop everything immediately and follow him (Mt. 8:21-22).  The Gospel of John indicates a more gradual process took place (Jn. 1:35-51).  The nets the fishermen left could be a symbol of them leaving their worldly entanglements behind.  Peter, James, and John became Jesus’ inner circle and were allowed to see Jesus when he was transfigured (cf. Mt. 17:1-8).  In following Jesus, the four would have disrupted their normal natural family lives and become the nucleus of the family of Christ, the adopted children of God.  

Jesus taught in the synagogues, preached the Gospel of the Kingdom which was enthusiastically received, and showed his authority by healing many and exorcising demons from many throughout the region who came to him.  

Almighty God, help us to hear your call and respond with urgency, joy, and commitment as your first disciples did.  Heal us spiritually so that when we are called home we may be transfigured into your image and likeness as you planned for us from the dawn of creation.  This we pray through Christ our Lord.  Amen!

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References

Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.

Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Expanded Edition, Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.

Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.

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