Jesus calls the first disciples in Capernaum

Jesus is motivated to enter a new phase of his ministry by an unjust and negative event, the arrest of John the Baptist by Herod Antipas, a son of Herod, who ruled Galilee and Perea until 39 CE with the consent of Rome. Avoiding a direct confrontation of Herod in Judea, Jesus moves to a safer area, the city of Capernaum, a city on the Sea of Galilee in territory associated with the northernmost tribes of Israel — Zebulun and Naphtali. Matthew underlines the location, for it was Zebulun and Naphtali from which, as Isaiah promised in the first reading, the Assyrian army would be expelled because of the promise to David (Isaiah  9:1, 5-6): “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who lived in a land of gloom a light has shone.” Isaiah goes on to mention David’s kingdom, assuring his hearers that the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. In other words, Jesus, faced with the hostility of Herod, quietly trusted in the promise made to David. Already, at the start of his public ministry, Jesus has confidence in God’s control of history.  

But Jesus does not wish to go it alone. He wants to share with others his project of introducing the kingdom of God. In Capernaum, he walked along the shore of the lake and saw two pairs of brothers plying their trade as fishermen, Peter and Andrew, James and John. To call them fishermen understates their actual situation. Presumably they owned their boats and equipment, making them, in a sense, small businessmen maintaining their equipment, navigating the sometimes-dangerous lake, and getting the best price for their catch. That men of such shrewdness and skill remained with Jesus over his three-year ministry says much about their character as about Jesus’s leadership skills. 

What would Jesus have insisted on with these and his other disciples? The second reading, St. Paul’s Letter to the congregation in Corinth, suggests three points – unity, loyalty, and reliance on God’s quiet power. It meant avoiding rivalries such as who is the best disciple; making sure to it was Jesus they preached not their own message; and accepting the cross in their own lives by facing down opposition and rejection by many. A high bar, to be sure, but eleven of the twelve he chose proved to be up to the task.   

 Richard Clifford, S.J., has taught biblical studies for 55 years, most recently at the Clough School of Theology and Ministry, Boston College, and has written many scholarly and popular books and articles.