Matthew 4:12-25 (NRSV Updated Edition)
Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the gentiles—
the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light has dawned.”
From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
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 fishers. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people. Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, people possessed by demons or having epilepsy or afflicted with paralysis, and he cured them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
~
"So it's a very interesting beginning, the universality of the mission does seem to start very early on in Matthew's Gospel, and we'll see how that works itself out over time as we as we get on. But anyhow, here at the very beginning [...] of his ministry Jesus is kind of marking his territory. Once John is arrested he moves into place and starts. And he starts by saying the same thing as John: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
"And then he already begins to create the sign of the Kingdom that is coming and in the face of which, therefore, people are going to be able to repent. Because, of course, it's always God showing God's self first that enables repentance, rather than a moral instruction followed by something nice. The indicative always comes before the imperative in practice, even though in rhetoric sometimes it's the other way around. That's central to Matthew, as it is to all the Gospels and to any understanding of grace. A powerful beginning, with Matthew setting up quite clearly how he is going to be tackling these things from now on: first teaching and then signs."
- James Alison, from video "Homily for Third Sunday in Ordinary Time 2023 A" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Mao7mtdLLQ)
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"In Mt. 4:17, Jesus says: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Repenting does not mean to make a laundry list of our little sins and try to stop doing them. Repenting means to turn around, to switch our minds and our hearts, to see life in a new way. This is the fundamental thrust of the Kingdom. But what specs can we get from the blueprint?
[...]
"What does the Kingdom of God, founded on the foolishness of the cross look like? The blueprint we have in these readings doesn’t look like much, but then a crucified criminal in Roman times doesn’t look like much either. When we read just a bit further in Matthew, we enter the real-life rooms of the Kingdom outlined in the blueprint. We find many rooms, many mansions, all of which offer contagious possibilities such as being blessed for being poor or for being a peacemaker, or turning the other cheek or walking the extra mile, and then finding in these weaknesses the rock that supports the house of faith we are building against the storm of Rome and Assyria and the power brokers of our time."
- Andrew Marr, Abbot of St. Gregory’s Abbey (Three Rivers, MI), from blog post titled “Blueprint of the Kingdom.” (http://andrewmarrosb.wordpress.com/2014/01/23/blueprint-of-the-kingdom/)
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"Repentance is about where we place our bodies…and where we place our bodies is always close to Jesus. And Jesus' body is always close to the vulnerable, the oppressed, those in anguish. Matthew's story about Jesus and the Kindom of God, about repentance and transformation, is about where we place our bodies. “Immediately, they left.” [v.22] Their leaving is a bodied movement. It's a change in the location of their bodies. It's a change in their focus and attention. It's a physical, visible change in the placement of their bodies and lives.
"And it is also a spiritual and internal change and transformation. The verb translated “they left” is the same Greek verb we encountered two weeks ago: aphemi. To let go, to release, to forgive. Jesus, the light shining in the darkness, is inviting us to keep our bodies close to his body. But more than just our bodies, in order for the light to shine in the darkness, we let God's Spirit breathe our repentance.
"The Spirit of God is the life and breath of our transformation. It is the Breath of God breathing in us that makes it possible to live letting go, releasing, forgiving. We listen and watch Jesus with Andrew and Peter and James and John. And everywhere they went, Light shone on those where were in anguish. And there was no gloom. The Light of the world, the Light of Christ, was being embodied.
[...]
"There is darkness. There is anguish. And we may we be foolish enough to trust the Light of the world. May we be foolish enough to follow the Light. May we be foolish enough to embody the Light... in all places... with all bodies."
- Suella Gerber, from sermon delivered on 22 Jan, 2017 (https://girardianlectionary.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Gerber-012217-sermon.pdf)
[Source of links to Andrew Marr blog post and Suella Gerber sermon, and for analysis and discussion on all the lectionary texts for this Sunday, see: https://girardianlectionary.net/reflections/year-a/epiphany3a/]
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