“Come After Me”

Awhile back, the angels asked me to dedicate Sundays to the Gospels. With Love and gratitude, here is the Gospel of MT 4:12-23. 

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested,
he withdrew to Galilee.
He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea,
in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,
that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet
might be fulfilled:
Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death
light has arisen.
From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

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.
He said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
At once they left their nets and followed him.
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, and immediately they left their boat and their father
and followed him.
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.

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” Previous to this passage, John the Baptist had called the people to repentance, claiming that God’s final rule was drawing near. Jesus will proclaim what appears to be the same message, yet His emphasis differs considerably from that of John. The Baptizer seems to call the people to repent- to completely change their lives, so that the Kingdom of God can come in fullness. Jesus in contrast, approaches those whom many jews regarded as outside of God’s Offer of Salvation, announcing it’s arrival among them. It is as if Jesus proclaims ,”God is already drawing near to you; now you are able to repent, to turn your lives around.”[see reference] 

The disciples recognized Jesus and heard the call of the Lord, following Jesus as the first fruits of the Living Word. 

Jesus loves to see His Call be answered and so does God. Following Jesus even today is just as important as it was then. God calls each of us to Love and serve one another,and to love Him first. ~channeled with the angels 

Reference : Workbook for Lectors, Gospel Readers ,and Proclaimers of the Word.”