Practically Calling

Matthew 4:12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 15 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: 16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned." 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. 23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. 24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. 25 Great multitudes followed Him--from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

It is fascinating where Jesus headed to begin the works of His ministry. He headed away from the bright ministry lights and history of Jerusalem to the dark northern extents of the country.

And it’s a good lesson to us in the sense that Jesus chose to begin His ministry at home, in the territory He was most familiar with.

We are told Jesus chose to leave the south, and the region surrounding Jerusalem for Nazareth, and eventually Capernaum, because John the Baptist had been arrested by Herod.

We have already seen Jesus led by the Holy Spirit, spiritually – into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil himself. Having completed this important test, now we see an example of the Holy Spirit directing in a very practical way. The assumption is Jesus fled to escape the same kind of fate suffered by John, and we see result of this kind of practical direction…

The men Jesus would call to Himself would not be the religious types assembled in and around the temple at Jerusalem, they would be the practical types at the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. The type of men used to hard work for a living rather than sumptuous robes. The type men who smelled of fish, with calloused hands, who could tie knots blind-folded in a driving rain-storm. The types of men who knew their business, but were also used to reading the signs to insure the practical success of their mission.

They may not have been greatly Spiritual men when Jesus called them, but they would be by the time He was finished with them. Jesus would take these men used to hard work and devotion-to-task to accomplish success, and He would forge them into the kinds of men who would found the church. That was no business for men in soft robes. That was the business for men with calloused hands.

-Pastor Bill