Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Co 1:3). Amen.
It is just one word. You use it whenever you extend an invitation whether you give your hand or grab one. Can you guess it? It is: “Come.” You say it when you want someone to enjoy something special or experience something significant.
A friend calls, “Come over to try how good my spaghetti is.”
A child commands, “Come upstairs to see how clean my room is.”
That is what Jesus did with the ones sitting in darkness and the brothers fishing on a lake. “Come, follow me.” That was some offer. We are in on it too. Come, follow Jesus. He is the One who was sent. And he is the One who does send. We read from …
Matthew 4:12-23
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, the Light of the World,
It has to be worth it if you are going to go with a person when they ask you.
You are not about to traipse across town to eat one noodle from a plate.
Nor are you inclined to get excited about one Lego off the floor.
“Come.” They request. You refuse.
Not so with Jesus. It is not a waste of time when it comes to him. It is an encouragement of love: “Come, follow me.” Yes,
Come, Follow Jesus
1. He is the One who was sent (12-17)
2. He is the One who does send (18-23)
1. He is the One who was sent (12-17)
It might not be smart to go anywhere with a complete stranger. If you walk into a store in the mall, just because another states, “Come here. Check this out,” doesn’t mean that you automatically do. You look for a logo on his shirt or a lanyard around her neck. That is a salesperson whom the retailer sanctions to sell clothes or computers. The Father sent his Son (Jn 3:16). Come, follow Jesus. He is the One who was sent.
John the Baptizer had been faithful as the forerunner of the Messiah. He pointed out sin and pointed to the Savior. But that had cost him his freedom. He found himself in Herod’s prison because John called him out on his recent adulterous marriage to his brother’s wife (Mt 4:12).
That is the time when Jesus withdrew from the south in Judea and went to the north in Galilee (Mt 4:12). He set up shop, not in Nazareth where he had grown up, but in Capernaum (Mt 4:13). That was going to be his home and his headquarters for a while. It made sense. That metropolis was located on the Sea of Galilee and on a major trade route reaching from Syria to Egypt. That made it a thriving center of commerce which led to a bigger population than the surrounding cities. But Capernaum would serve as a hub from Jesus could work to other towns, reaching out to many more.
But there was more to it than an excellent base of operations. Matthew zeroes in on the real reason—divine purpose and plan. It was in fulfillment of prophecy. The pen of the prophet Isaiah had recorded it and Matthew referenced it (Mt 4:14): “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles” (Mt 4:15; cf. Is 9:1). Back when Joshua and the Israelites entered the Promised Land, that was the section allotted to those two tribes.
But because of where it was situated, they often were the first ones to bear the brunt of the boots of foreign invaders. The Assyrians had conquered and carted off a good chunk of the residents and repopulated it and resettled the area with others. With Gentiles. Through the years other armies came—the Babylonians, Greeks, Romans. It really did deserve the title, "Galilee of the Gentiles."
And that led to a problem. It was gloomy and gray there. Not because the sun never rose like in Alaska in winter causing sadness. It was a spiritual issue: “the people living in darkness” (Mt 4:16). In the Bible that stands for unbelief. And the result is fatal: “those living in the land of the shadow of death” (Mt 4:16). That ugliness hung over them.
But God did not leave them in that dreariness. They “have seen a great light” (Mt 4:16). And on them “a light has dawned” (Mt 4:16). If God said so, it would be so. When he speaks, he keeps (Nu 23:19). That region had the honor of the Light—Jesus (Jn 8:12). The Light of Jesus chases away the darkness of the devil like the sun in the morning drives out the blackness of the night. Darkness and light cannot be in the same place at the same time.
And so Jesus started preaching and proclaiming like a courier who is sent to make known and make ready. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Mt 4:17). He echoes the message of John before him (Mt 3:2). It is a hard one because it hits pride, but helpful because it heals hearts. The difference was that John highlighted Jesus as the Messiah to come. Jesus heralded himself as the Light who had come, the One who was sent to bring salvation. He was on his mission to get rid of sin. He would head to the cross and then out of the grave. That was all at hand.
Light makes all the difference when you walk into an obscure room. Even more so when we walk around in the dreariness of guilt. But there is Jesus. He shows us our sin, but shines in our hearts. We repent. There is a radical change of heart. We come to the realization that it is not what we do for God, but what he does for us. We trust, not in ourselves, but in our Savior who forgives our sin. And then there is a change of actions. We don’t live for ourselves, but for our Savior who gives us strength. In Jesus we have the light of life (Jn 8:12). We declare with David: “The LORD is my light and my salvation” (Ps 27:1). Jesus has rescued us. Come, follow Jesus. He is the One who was sent to dispel darkness and deliver light.
2. He is the One who does send (18-23)
I suppose that it is the HR department who authorizes the credentials or IDs that allows a salesperson to stand in an aisle or behind a counter. One doesn’t just try to make others purchase a product without being on the payroll. It would be hard to get an outstanding commission from a company by making an offhanded recommendation to a fellow shopper. Jesus has all authority (Mt 28:18,19). He dispatches others with his word. Come, follow Jesus. He is the One who does send.
The Sea of Galilee is no small body of water. That is why fishing was a popular profession. That is how two brothers put food on the table—Andrew and Peter. Andrew had been a disciple of John the Baptizer. He was there that when two days in a row John named Jesus as “the Lamb of God” (Jn 1:29,36). He was the One who would pick up sin and put it on his shoulders. On the second day, Andrew spent a big chunk of time with Jesus. Afterwards he raced to Peter and reported: “‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ)” (Jn 1:41). Those two had hung out with Jesus for a while, but then they went back to catching fish.
But that was about to change while they were along the shore, “casting a net into the lake” (Mt 4:18). It was one of those round nets with weights on the ends which would spread out when thrown. When it would sink, it would surround whatever was below it, capturing anything as it closed around it. Jesus was about to change their careers for good. Notice that he sought them out, not the other way around.
Without a long and lengthy interview, he uttered: “Come, follow me … and I will make you fishers of men” (Mt 4:19). They would need the same patience and perseverance as before, but not with a net of mesh to drag fish to the beach, but the words of Jesus to draw others into God’s kingdom. They didn’t weigh their options or take their time: “At once they left their nets and followed him” (Mt 4:20). Immediately. Now they would be fulltime listeners and learners as Jesus taught and tutored them as apostles.
The same scene repeated itself with another set of siblings a bit farther down the coastline—James and John. They were busy taking care of their nets—cleaning, mending, folding them for the next time. It was a family business. (I don’t know they had “Zebedee and Sons” stitched on their robes or stenciled on their boats.) They worked with their father and for him. When Jesus called them, they quit right away. Thus Jesus would prepare these men to carry on the work. He was the One who sent them.
They might not have had any formal education. Their collars were pretty blue. But now it would be on the job training. When I was growing up, my brother and I had a paper route. He would do half and I would do the other half. But it wasn’t until after we went together for a time. He didn’t just turn me loose. Which houses? Which doors? Jesus didn’t either. Matthew gives a summary statement of what those four saw shadowing Jesus: “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people” (Mt 4:23).
Those three things characterized Jesus’ ministry—teaching, preaching, and healing. Think of all the lessons and the sermons they sat through—from the hillsides to houses of worship. And the miracles that they witnessed—from lepers cleansed and lame ones cured. Those were proof that Jesus was the Son of God and Savior of the world. He attended to their physical and spiritual needs. Those two sets of brothers observed Jesus who would send them out after his resurrection from the tomb.
The One sent is the One who sends. Us. At first that might be intimidating or terrifying. But we don’t go unprepared or untrained. If you don’t know how to fish, you go with someone who does. They instruct how to bait a hook or find a spot. Andrew and Peter and James and John knew that occupation. Now they would acquire another.
Certainly God commissions some to fish for men fulltime. But we ought not leave it to those or latch on to one like those Christians in Corinth: “‘I follow Paul” … ‘I follow Apollos’ … ‘I follow Cephas’ … ‘I follow Christ’” (1 Co 1:12). It is never about the messenger, but always about the message. Finally, all of us are sent. We are united, not divided.
So maybe we need to study. We sit at Jesus’ feet as we scour the Bible. We are not comfortable with what we know, but look for opportunities to grow—strengthened and supported by Word and sacrament. And then to go (Mt 28:19; Acts 1:8)—letting the Light shine and letting our lights shine (Mt 5:16; Php 2:15). Come, follow Jesus. He is the one who sends—common messengers with an uncommon message.
“Come.” And so we invite. Possibly some are disappointed with a subpar meal or a substantial mess. But not with Jesus. Come, follow Jesus. He is the One who is sent. He came for us. He is the One who does send. He comes though us. He reveals himself as the Light and we reflect him as the Light. We hold on to that Light and hold out that Light. Happy Epiphany. Amen.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you (1 Co 16:22). Amen.
January 22, 2017
No comments:
Post a Comment