Walking
in Galilee
“As
he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is
called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea,
for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I
will make you fish for people.” Immediately, they left their nets
and followed him.”
Matthew
4:18-20
It
is after John's beheading. Jesus has retreated to Galilee. There is
no more voice crying in the wilderness; no ragged, wild-eyed prophet
preaching repentance in such a compelling way that people left their
homes and trekked into the desert to be dunked in the Jordan river
and washed clean of their sins. Jesus knew it was now or never. Time
for him to step up and take John's mantle, and not allow the message
of a new way of life to be silenced. John had been what, nowadays, we
would call a “hell-fire and brimstone” prophet in the mold of
Elijah. He spoke truth to power when he called Herod out for taking
his brother's wife, and that got him imprisoned and then killed. John
had side-stepped the religious authorities of the day by baptizing in
the river. He had no place in the Temple, and no use for those who
did. The very image painted of him is...well, kind of terrifying.
Jesus
was not like John. He didn't go into the desert and eat locusts and
honey, and wear a hair mantle and scream about retribution. He was
more interested in letting people know about the compassion of God.
He was a wisdom prophet, more like Solomon than John. His way of
reaching people was to teach, which is why they called him
Rabboni—Teacher. Instead of baptism, he sat down among them and
spoke words that made ordinary people believe that God had not
forgotten them, that God loved them and therefore they must love one
another.
Jesus
gathered his followers like a mother hen gathers her chicks, and
folded his wings around them. People were drawn to him, not because
he scalded them with his fiery preaching, but because he embodied
love and forgiveness. That is why men like Simon and Andrew, James
and John, were willing, at a moment's notice, to drop what they were
doing to follow him. I've always loved the image of the empty boat, nets
heaved aside, rocking in the waves.
What
does it mean today to be a follower of Jesus? Do we need to leave
home and hearth, cast aside family and friends and give up the life
we live every day to follow him? I don't think so. I think we are
expected to live from a place of compassion; we are to be aware of
and concerned about injustice, we are to live simply, and walk humbly
with God and our fellow human beings. We are to embody the kindness,
forgiveness, and wisdom that Jesus demonstrated on the shores of
Galilee so long ago.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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