Grace and peace from God our Creator, hope in our Redeemer Jesus the Christ, and the promised gifts of the Holy Spirit are with you, always.
Last week, we began in the middle of a story, and this week is no different! John the Baptizer went from baptizing, to pointing his disciples in the direction of Jesus, to now being arrested by Herod Antipas, the despot in charge of Galilee and the surrounding area.
Herod Antipas was a son of Herod the Great, who ruled the region when Jesus was born, and will be the same Herod who eventually sends him to Pontius Pilate’s court to be tried and executed. Herod Antipas divorced his wife and married the former wife of his brother, which drew criticism from John the Baptizer, among others. The controversy led to a border dispute, and a war, and his eventual exile. Not a great guy, Herod Antipas.
He arrests John the Baptizer for this crime of publicly denigrating him, and it serves as a warning to other would-be detractors. Herod’s choices, policies, and power are not to be criticized.
Jesus hears of the arrest of John, and knows that his association with John puts him at risk of a similar fate. He leaves his home in Nazareth and makes a home in Capernaum. But he does not disappear into obscurity. Rather, he takes up the mantle of John the Baptizer, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near!” just as John had done.
The author of the Gospel According to Matthew is unknown to us, despite the seemingly obvious choice of “someone named Matthew”. But we do know that the author, like Jesus and his friends, lived as a subject of the Roman Empire. In their world, the social strata was hierarchical, topped with “provincial governors, centurions, client kings”—like Herod—“priests, local aristocrats, peasant farmers, artisans, fishermen” and the “expendables”—lepers, bandits, and beggars—rounding out the bottom. The tension between the aristocracy and John, Jesus, and their disciples, comes from their support of the lowly. [1]
This gospel author has Jesus quote the prophet Isaiah so that we see the connection between God’s work in the world in generations past and in our present moment. This word that John and Jesus used for the “kingdom” of heaven or the “reign” of God is exactly the same one that might be used to describe an earthly empire. This is not to say that the reign of God resembles the reign of Herod or Caesar or any other earthly ruler, but rather that a new power is on the way. If the reign of God draws near, the reign of Herod or of Caesar is eclipsed, rendered obsolete.
Within any reign of terror, God’s reign breaks in and liberates God’s people from oppression. The Hebrew prophets and historians tell us this, and Jesus is telling us anew.
The “kingdom of heaven” is in direct contrast to the “kingdom” of Rome. John and Jesus openly defy earthly rulers at every turn. With the arrest of John the Baptizer, it is clear that Herod Antipas has chosen a side in this cosmic power struggle. Jesus and his new disciples choose another, and will bring about another kingdom. Just like his father, this Herod is weak and afraid, and will try to control and subjugate people to get his way. If God reigns, Herod cannot.
To join him in the work of overpowering this earthly kingdom, Jesus chooses a handful of fishermen. He comes to the beach, where they are doing the daily labor that places them at the bottom of the social ladder, mending their nets and preparing for another catch.
These fishermen that Jesus has invited to join him on the way are among the poorest of the working poor. Yes, they perform an essential service in their community, but they are greatly undervalued. Similar to farm workers and other food service workers in our society, they are rendered invisible by those who rely on them. To begin his ministry, Jesus does not step into the halls of power. After arresting John the Baptizer, would Herod Antipas turn around and take a meeting with the Messiah? Jesus knows that those marble halls are not where the change will begin. Allegiances with the empire are not the first steps in a revolution.
What does this tell us about the work that Jesus is about to do?
What does this tell us about what the reign of God will be like?
Perhaps this is why these fishermen so readily drop their nets and follow Jesus. Remember, they were in the middle of their workday. John and James literally leave their father sitting in the boat in order to join. They leave their nets, their boats, their families, their friends, their livelihoods. Just like that.
Perhaps it was not so sudden. Probably, these men had been struggling in an oppressive kingdom for their whole lives. Probably, they were fed up with the way things were. They worked so hard, for so little, never getting ahead. They were feeding the kingdom! And for what? Wages just sufficient enough to head back out onto the sea the next morning and do it all again.
I wonder if, while they worked, they talked about how they might change their station, and dreamed of a different way of life. I wonder how many of them longed for something different to come along and take them away from this. They were probably the umpteenth fishermen in a generations-long caste system, never offered a different life.
The invitation from Jesus, to follow him and fish instead for people, comes as an opportunity to “leave that system behind.” They can “join him in ushering in a whole new way of living, economically, socially, and otherwise.” [2] They leave the kingdom of Rome behind and follow Jesus toward the kingdom of heaven.
You may be a skeptic and you may have been one if you’d stood on that beach, too. To join Jesus was risky, no doubt. It would cost them their livelihoods, and could cost them their lives. But they would certainly die if they stayed where they were. Jesus reminds them, with those words from the prophet Isaiah, that God has delivered their ancestors before them, and will do it again.
Part of how any of us have been caught up in an oppressive system is that it seems too big to fall. The power wielded from the top is overwhelming to those who fall below. But in any sort of pyramid-like structure, the masses are more powerful than anyone imagines. When we hear the call to follow Jesus into an entirely new world, we can build it.
The psalm assigned to this morning puts the words right into our mouths: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
It is easy, natural, understandable to fear the power and might of the earthly empire. That is their goal, they have designed it that way. But we are called out of that fear, from death into life.
Stories like these from our Gospels are not one-size-fits-all, and your calling to follow Jesus will not be a carbon copy of these fishermen. For example, I am not asking you to drop your nets and follow me. I am not Jesus, for one thing. But what I am asking you to do is slough off your allegiance to the empire. What is it that you can drop, today, in order to pick up the struggle for justice, liberation, and hope? Is this a decisive moment for you? Maybe yes, maybe no.
As we read the stories of God calling people into life, we can wonder what God’s calling looks like for us. You may be full of questions today, ready to listen for answers from God. Or, maybe you wish it was simpler and that Jesus would just appear at your proverbial shore and say “this way.”
Our callings, our vocations, the purpose of our lives is not a one-and-done event. All throughout our lives, we have new opportunities to listen for an invitation and accept it.
The reign of God has come near! Amen.
[1] Dennis C. Duling, “The Gospel According to Matthew: Introduction” in The HarperCollins Study Bible, 2006.