Daily Reading 9/16

Today's reading from the Gospel of Matthew (4:18-25) takes us to the calling of the first disciples and the earliest days of Jesus's public ministry. When Jesus started preaching and teaching, the book of Matthew tells us that he went throughout Galilee and healed those who needed it, which in turn attracted people from the neighboring regions. All of this is happening after his period of fasting in the desert and right before we get more specific messages from Jesus, like the Sermon on the Mount, so in a way it's kind of an introduction to the adult, public person of Jesus. What I find most interesting about today's reading, though, is the calling of the disciples, especially when he calls Simon (Peter) and Andrew:

"Walking along the beach of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon (later called Peter) and Andrew. They were fishing, throwing their nets into the lake. It was their regular work. Jesus said to them, "Come with me. I'll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I'll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass." They didn't ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed." Matthew 4:18-20 (The Message)

Wow. This passage seems a bit spartan to me--Jesus doesn't really give an introduction. No "Hey my name's Jesus and this is who I am and what I'm all about" kind of thing. Just "Come with me." Even MORE amazing is the brothers' response: "They didn't ask any questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed." Had they heard news of Jesus? Did they have any idea what he was about or who he really was??? We don't know! This passage doesn't tell us, and uses the simplicity of Jesus's request they follow him and the disciples' compliance to emphasize even more their faithfulness from the very beginning. I seriously can't even begin to fathom this. If someone came up to ME and asked this sort of thing, I would have some serious questions. Who are you? Who are you connected with? What are you doing? Why? Why me, for that matter? How did Simon and Andrew do this? I have no idea, to be totally honest. This is definitely a lesson in faith, but I don't even know where to begin to follow it. Should I follow those who come asking things of me without asking for an explanation in response?

This post has more questions than it does anything else, but that's what this passage has always been about for me: the questions. It makes me think about what I would do if a similar question were asked of me today. Just think for a moment about what was at stake for Peter and the others who said "yes": they gave up their livelihood (at a time when life was not easy) and their families (for common folks one of the most important social structures around) to follow someone they didn't know. This would be like someone I didn't know and about whose cause I knew nothing asking me to give up my job, leave my family, and work for him/her. That would take some commitment. Did Peter and Andrew know what they were committing themselves to?