Thursday 22nd January
Matthew 4:18-22
“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.” (NIVUK)
One pivot point in Matthew’s gospel has just passed. ‘From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ (Matthew 4:17) (NIVUK). That key phrase, ‘From that time on Jesus’, is repeated in the gospel to mark transitions in the narrative from Nazareth to Jerusalem and the cross. We don’t know this yet if we are reading or hearing the gospel for the first time but we will come to expect change.
That first change occurs when Jesus takes up His mission, continuing John’s, with these words. The mission will, like the pivot, signal change in people’s hearts and bring them into contact with the heavenly kingdom.
The calling of the two pairs of brothers is a physical and practical picture of what ‘change’ looks like. When Jesus calls, lives change. Four fishermen followed Him and became fishers of men. Fumbling at first, their understanding of what they have done is immature, but ultimately effective. For when one changes in response to the call of Jesus the kingdom of heaven does draw near.
We have passed a pivot point in the gospel and we should now expect to find out what the kingdom of heaven looks like and what the change means.
