Thursday, January 1- Matthew 4:12-22

12When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee.
-John must've been important to Jesus if he moved because of him.

13Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
15"Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, along the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned."
-More prophecy being fulfilled. With Jesus its like one thing after another after another. Prophecy is so important in his life. He's not going out of his way to fulfill these things, but they are coming to pass as he lives.

17From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
-Same message as John preached. Change your ways because there won't be a second chance once heaven rolls around.
-We need to pay attention to this today as much as they did in their time.

18As 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.
-Jesus spotted them. It doesn't seem that there was anything extra ordinary about them.

19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
-Jesus asked them to follow. His claim to them was that he would teach them to catch men. Confusing, but enticing.

20At once they left their nets and followed him.
-Immediate answer to the call. Amazing that there wasn't a lot of thought or indecision in this, but instead it was a very easy decision for them.
-I'm guessing there would have been a bit more conversation we don't get insight into beyond this, but its also possible that the call was just this simple.
-They weren't perfect after the call, they were still sinful knuckleheads that needed to be refined over and over again.

21Going 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, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
-Similar deal.
-Maybe Jesus' reputation went before him such that it was easy for them to follow this miracle worker. If John gave Jesus his overwhelming approval it would be silly of them not to follow.
-We need to answer this same call at some point in our lives. Not saying we'll be perfect as we are called, but just that we're following Jesus. Sinfulness and all.