Third Sunday, Ordinary Time
About once a year, I search out my favorite musical Les Miserables and bask in the beauty of the music, the longing lyrics, and the tragic stories of love sought, love lost, and ultimately love found. I did this recently and as usual, several of the songs brought a tear to my eye. Two of these moments occur at the end of the musical, one after the other. The first occurs at the death scene of Jean Valjean, the hero of the story. As he passes over into heaven, the choir sings a verse that gets me every time: “To love another person is to see the face of God.” And as that final note floats up and away, the music segues to the final song, aptly titled “Do you hear the people sing?” That final song is an anthem to hope, an invitation to get involved in the messy reality of our time. The song asks a simple, profound question, “Is there a world you long to see?”
Would you like to become fishers of men?
Today’s gospel features the story of Jesus calling his first disciples, the two sets of brothers, Peter and Andrew first, then James and John second. This depiction matches Mark’s gospel virtually word for word, so clearly Matthew had no problem with Mark’s account and simply repeats it. Luke takes a much more dramatic approach, tying Peter’s decision as a response to Jesus telling him to lower his nets and shockingly pull in an enormous number of fish.
Our immediate reaction to Matthew’s account is one of surprise – the story implies that Jesus just happens to see these two guys fishing, stops a moment, asks them to follow him, and they agree “at once,” leaving their nets behind. Shortly thereafter, he does the same thing with James and John, and they too leave their boat (and poor Dad) behind to follow Jesus. Does this make sense? No, of course not, but the story is indeed meant to startle us. How to explain this odd behavior?
Matthew is making a point, tying Jesus’ actions to a prophecy, a prophecy declared by Isaiah in our first reading:
First the Lord degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the end he has glorified the seaward road, the land west of the Jordan, the district of the Gentiles.
Where is this land? Zebulun and Naphtali are two of the northern tribes of Israel, and their lands roughly correspond to Galilee. So here comes Jesus, walking the seaward road, “glorifying” the seaward road, if you will. Isaiah goes on in his beautifully poetic style, stating:
Anguish has taken wing, dispelled is darkness: for there is no gloom where but now there was distress. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown.
So, here is Jesus, walking the seaward road, spotting these random men, inviting them with a mysterious challenge, and the glory of God emanates from Him with such irresistible power that of course they drop everything and follow him. Andrew, Peter, James, and John are literally seeing a great light, and they are drawn to Jesus like moths to a flame. You can imagine the early Jewish readers of Matthew’s account smiling as they recognize the reference – it would be obvious. And likewise, you can understand why Luke, who was writing to a non-Jewish audience, would go in an entirely different direction.
Matthew loves to tell Jesus stories that fulfill prophecies. He does this over and over again in his gospel. Remember that the gospel is not so much an historical account as an invitation to get to know and understand Jesus. Of course, we think we know and understand Jesus, but do we really? The physical person Jesus must have been a compelling figure. Given his reported style of preaching and teaching, there’s no doubt that he had a booming voice, a commanding presence, a face that drew you in. I know that when I reach heaven, I hope to have a chance to be sent back in time to witness Jesus walking the earth, to see for myself what he looked like, how he spoke, and how he changed lives. Wouldn’t that be cool?
In the end, however, people are people, and it remains for us the same question that has to be answered. Would you give up everything for the opportunity to follow Jesus? If Jesus walked up to you with that same bizarre challenge, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men,” what would you do? If you’re like me, my answer would be, “huh?” Followed by, “I need a minute to think about what that means to my life…” So here’s the challenge for you this coming week. Answer the question. Really think about it. I’ll make it a bit easier on you – what is the one step you need to take to start saying yes to that question? What would you change in your life right now? It doesn’t matter how old you are, or how rich you are, or how messy your life is.
So play it out. Use your imagination. Go for a walk on the beach. Go fishing. Stare out at the waves. Smell the salt water. A stranger approaches you. You know that it is Jesus. He looks at you with tremendous love in his eyes and says: come and follow me. You reply, “[fill in the blank]” Do you hear the people sing? Is there a world you long to see?