1 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:14,000 Hi everyone, and welcome back to the podcast. 2 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,400 We're going to take a look at the Gospel reading from today's 3 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:22,200 mass, which is Matthew 4, verses 12 to 23. 4 00:00:22,300 --> 00:00:26,700 So let's start by reading the text Hearing that John had been 5 00:00:26,700 --> 00:00:30,100 arrested. Jesus went back to Galilee and 6 00:00:30,100 --> 00:00:32,100 leaving Nazareth. He went and settled in 7 00:00:32,100 --> 00:00:35,100 Capernaum. A Lakeside town on the borders 8 00:00:35,100 --> 00:00:39,300 of zebulun and naphtali. In this way, the prophecy of 9 00:00:39,300 --> 00:00:45,000 Isaiah was to be fulfilled. Land of zebulun land of naphtali 10 00:00:45,300 --> 00:00:49,300 way of the see, on the far side of Jordan, Galilee of the 11 00:00:49,300 --> 00:00:53,200 nation's, the people that lived in darkness have seen a great 12 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:58,500 light on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death, a 13 00:00:58,508 --> 00:01:03,200 light has dawned. From that moment, Jesus began 14 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,200 his preaching with the message, repent. 15 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:08,600 For the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand. 16 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,600 As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers 17 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,400 Simon, who is called Peter and his brother Andrew. 18 00:01:17,900 --> 00:01:20,800 They were making a cast in the lake with their net. 19 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:25,500 For they were fishermen And he said to them, follow me. 20 00:01:25,500 --> 00:01:27,500 And I will make you Fishers of Men. 21 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:31,300 And they left their Nets at once and follow him. 22 00:01:32,500 --> 00:01:34,700 It going on from there. He saw a another pair of 23 00:01:34,700 --> 00:01:38,600 brothers, James, son of Zebedee. And his brother John. 24 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:41,700 They were in their boat with their father Zebedee. 25 00:01:41,700 --> 00:01:46,700 Mending their Nets, and he called them at once leaving the 26 00:01:46,700 --> 00:01:49,000 boat and their father, they followed him. 27 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,400 He went around the whole of Galilee teaching in their 28 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:55,900 synagogues. Proclaiming the good news of the 29 00:01:55,900 --> 00:02:00,500 kingdom and curing, all kinds of diseases and sickness among the 30 00:02:00,500 --> 00:02:05,400 people. So that's our reading. 31 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,400 It's a bit of a longer one today, and this is in Matthew's 32 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,600 gospel, it's situated right? At the start of his ministry. 33 00:02:12,100 --> 00:02:16,100 It's fairly similar to other passages in Mark and Luke. 34 00:02:16,700 --> 00:02:20,600 Although Matthew here brings out that quote about the land of zef 35 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:24,400 zebulun and naphtali. So let's start at verse 12, so 36 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:26,500 hearing that John had been arrested. 37 00:02:27,100 --> 00:02:30,700 So later on in the gospels, we find out why John the Baptist 38 00:02:30,700 --> 00:02:34,200 has been arrested and we know that Jesus was quite effective. 39 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:39,500 To buy John's arrest. It appears that the arrest of 40 00:02:39,500 --> 00:02:43,600 John, the Baptist is Jesus motivation to leave and to go 41 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:45,800 into Galilee. So at the moment before, this is 42 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:50,200 been in the wilderness where he's tempted in Judea and now he 43 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:52,900 hears about John the Baptist death and apparently that's what 44 00:02:52,900 --> 00:02:55,300 makes him leave the Wilderness and come to Galilee. 45 00:02:57,300 --> 00:03:00,700 Perhaps it's a case of Jesus thinking if John can no longer 46 00:03:00,700 --> 00:03:03,200 preach the kingdom then I need to take his place. 47 00:03:04,500 --> 00:03:08,000 Some schools also think that maybe Jesus was an actual 48 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:12,600 disciple of John the Baptist. And since John has been captured 49 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:15,600 now, Jesus is perhaps sort of running away to flee, the 50 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:19,800 authorities in that area who might come looking for John's 51 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:21,900 disciples as well, that's possible. 52 00:03:23,500 --> 00:03:26,300 Anyway, something about John's arrest makes Jesus moved to 53 00:03:26,300 --> 00:03:28,900 Galilee. So he's walking from Judea to 54 00:03:28,900 --> 00:03:35,200 Galilee that's about 160 km or 34 hours of walking and he first 55 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:37,800 goes to Nazareth which is his family's Hometown. 56 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:39,600 That's when Mary and Joseph live. 57 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:41,600 But he's only there for a short time. 58 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,800 He then decides to move to Capernaum and he sets up his new 59 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,100 base in Capernaum, which is about 50 kilometers from 60 00:03:48,100 --> 00:03:52,500 Nazareth. So Capernaum is a fishing 61 00:03:52,500 --> 00:03:54,400 Village. It's reasonably large. 62 00:03:54,500 --> 00:03:56,900 It's right on the Sea of Galilee, and it was quite a 63 00:03:56,908 --> 00:04:00,000 thriving town that it's time. You can go see it today. 64 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,500 And it's where Peter lived and some of the other disciples live 65 00:04:03,500 --> 00:04:06,300 there and Jesus makes this his home as well. 66 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,600 So this is his new base of operations for his ministry. 67 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:18,000 Jesus does most of his early ministry here from Capernaum. 68 00:04:19,899 --> 00:04:23,700 And Matthew now tells us the Capernaum is in the territory of 69 00:04:23,700 --> 00:04:27,400 zebulun and naphtali. So that's according to the Old 70 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:31,600 Testament, tribal divisions, each of the twelve sons of Jacob 71 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,000 was given a different share of land, two of his sons zebulun 72 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,000 and naphtali were given that area of land, that's now basic. 73 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:41,900 Well, that was basically Galilee in the time of Jesus. 74 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:45,800 So, Matthew mentions that he wants his readers to know, 75 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:49,600 Galilee is in the area, in the region of zebulun and naphtali. 76 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:54,600 So that the prophecy is about to quote, make sense verse 14. 77 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,900 Matthew says in this way, the prophecy of Isaiah was to be 78 00:04:57,900 --> 00:05:01,900 fulfilled. So Matthew often does this, he 79 00:05:01,900 --> 00:05:05,500 wants to highlight how the Old Testament, prophecies are 80 00:05:05,500 --> 00:05:11,000 fulfilled in Jesus and he quotes from Isaiah 8:23 through to the 81 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:15,900 start of chapter 9. And in the context of Isaiah 82 00:05:15,900 --> 00:05:19,800 chapter 8, it's the 8th Century BC, the land of Israel has been 83 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:24,100 overtaken and zebulun and naphtali was one of the 84 00:05:24,100 --> 00:05:26,800 significant areas that saw a lot of Destruction. 85 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:29,900 It's saw a whole lot of people taken away to slavery, and 86 00:05:29,900 --> 00:05:33,100 that's the reference to Darkness and death here. 87 00:05:34,500 --> 00:05:39,900 And at that time, it had sort of been, a lot of Gentiles were 88 00:05:39,900 --> 00:05:44,500 also in that area too. And certainly the time of Jesus, 89 00:05:44,500 --> 00:05:46,500 it still had a lot of Gentiles as well. 90 00:05:47,100 --> 00:05:48,900 So let's keep that perspective in mind. 91 00:05:48,900 --> 00:05:53,900 As we read the quote, which is in verse 15, of our text, land 92 00:05:53,900 --> 00:05:56,600 of zebulun, and land of naphtali way of this. 93 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:01,000 See, on the far side of Jordan, Galilee of the nation's, the 94 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,200 people that lived in darkness have seen a great light on those 95 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:08,000 who dwell in the land and shadow of death, a light has dawned. 96 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:13,100 So, Matthew sees this prophecy about the land of zebulun and 97 00:06:13,100 --> 00:06:17,400 land of naphtali being shrouded in darkness. 98 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:21,400 But seeing a great light, he sees this as fulfilled in Jesus 99 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,900 preaching, because Jesus is the great light, and he now lives in 100 00:06:25,900 --> 00:06:28,200 Galilee. The great light has moved and 101 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:32,800 settled in Galilee. Maybe Jesus chose this region to 102 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:35,100 live in deliberately, if you think about, he could have 103 00:06:35,100 --> 00:06:38,000 chosen any number of places and some Scholars. 104 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:44,000 Think that because this part of Israel is everyone at NAFTA. 105 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,900 Lee was the first region of Israel to be judged by God and 106 00:06:47,900 --> 00:06:50,400 destroyed. So when the armies came in in 107 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:55,000 the eighth Century BC and destroyed Jerusalem, sorry I 108 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,800 destroyed the northern part of Israel. 109 00:06:58,500 --> 00:07:02,600 This was the area that was hit first zebulun and naphtali. 110 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,600 So maybe because that was the area of Israel that experience 111 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:09,400 God's judgment first, maybe Jesus gives them the chance. 112 00:07:09,500 --> 00:07:11,800 Chance for a neural on repentance first. 113 00:07:11,900 --> 00:07:16,200 That's possible. So he settles there in Galilee 114 00:07:16,300 --> 00:07:20,500 and verse 17 from that moment, Jesus began his preaching. 115 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,300 So this is the beginning of Jesus public preaching here in 116 00:07:23,300 --> 00:07:26,000 Matthew chapter 4. And we know that it's about 117 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:30,200 three and a half years long. And Matthew says that, a summary 118 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:34,000 of Jesus teaching, is this repent for the kingdom of God is 119 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,600 at hand? That's a summary of what Jesus 120 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,000 is all about. So the Jews did believe that the 121 00:07:39,008 --> 00:07:42,600 kingdom of God was coming, that was part of the thinking Jewish 122 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:46,900 prophecy But they had different expectations of what the kingdom 123 00:07:46,900 --> 00:07:50,100 would look like than what Jesus was going to tell them. 124 00:07:50,100 --> 00:07:54,700 So that the Jews at that, most of them at that time, believed 125 00:07:54,700 --> 00:07:57,200 that the kingdom of God was going to come automatically, all 126 00:07:57,200 --> 00:07:59,800 the Jews would be part of it, and there was no role for 127 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,200 repentance in that Kingdom. But Jesus says, if you want to 128 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,600 be part of that Kingdom, you have to have repentance. 129 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:09,300 John the Baptist says the same thing. 130 00:08:09,700 --> 00:08:14,500 So the core idea of the kingdom of God as presented to us in the 131 00:08:14,508 --> 00:08:19,000 gospels is that God, is now establishing his will and Reign 132 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:23,700 on Earth through the Messiah. That's the idea of the kingdom 133 00:08:23,700 --> 00:08:25,600 of God. He's establishing his will and 134 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:29,200 Reign on Earth through the Messiah in Matthew. 135 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:31,700 The kingdom of God is often translated as the Kingdom of 136 00:08:31,700 --> 00:08:33,900 Heaven. It's the same thing, it's just 137 00:08:33,900 --> 00:08:38,500 that Matthew because he's a Jew, avoids, you In the word God, 138 00:08:39,100 --> 00:08:41,400 where possible. So that he doesn't offend 139 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:45,500 people, it's sort of a Jewish way of avoiding using God's 140 00:08:45,500 --> 00:08:49,800 name, but it's the same concept. Now notice that Jesus message is 141 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:53,100 basically the same as John's message repent for the kingdom 142 00:08:53,100 --> 00:08:55,800 of God, is here. Very similar to what John said, 143 00:08:55,800 --> 00:09:00,600 so the strong continuity between Jesus and John so neat. 144 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,900 Now, in verse 18, this could be some time later. 145 00:09:03,900 --> 00:09:08,900 Jesus is walking along the Sea of Galilee and that's New 146 00:09:08,900 --> 00:09:13,300 component, where Jesus Lives. It's a relatively small Lake and 147 00:09:13,300 --> 00:09:15,700 Jesus spends a lot of time walking around and preaching. 148 00:09:15,700 --> 00:09:19,100 There, you can still go there today, can see the beautiful Sea 149 00:09:19,100 --> 00:09:21,600 of Galilee with heels on either side. 150 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:26,500 And he sees Simon and Andrew, they're both professional 151 00:09:26,500 --> 00:09:28,300 fisherman on the Sea of Galilee now. 152 00:09:28,300 --> 00:09:31,000 They're not recreational fishermen, they're not there to 153 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,200 destress. This is their job to be 154 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,300 fisherman and it was quite common in that time for people 155 00:09:36,300 --> 00:09:40,000 to be in the family business together and he sees them 156 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:44,200 casting their net into the sea. So probably a large circular net 157 00:09:44,500 --> 00:09:47,100 and they're thrown from a standing position in the shallow 158 00:09:47,100 --> 00:09:50,100 water and they gather a whole lot of fish and then they would 159 00:09:50,100 --> 00:09:52,300 make money by selling the fish at the market. 160 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,900 It's and it says that Jesus saw these two men and that's 161 00:09:55,900 --> 00:09:59,100 probably not an accident. Jesus is the son of God, he 162 00:09:59,100 --> 00:10:01,200 probably knows that. He's going to find Simon and 163 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:06,100 Andrew there. Now Jesus is actually already 164 00:10:06,100 --> 00:10:11,400 met Simon and Andrew earlier in the Gospel of John, Jesus meets 165 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,700 Simon and Andrew just before Jesus own baptism. 166 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:20,300 And that's the time at which he gives the name Peter to Simon. 167 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,400 So he's met these guys before but he hasn't officially called 168 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:28,900 them now, he calls them So he says to them, follow me. 169 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:32,900 So at that time, Jews would have been familiar with this idea of 170 00:10:32,900 --> 00:10:35,800 following a rabbi because they did, they could choose to follow 171 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:38,500 a rabbi. And there were lots of traveling 172 00:10:38,500 --> 00:10:41,900 preachers moving around Israel, that people could choose to 173 00:10:41,900 --> 00:10:44,000 follow. But what's different here? 174 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:46,500 Is that usually the student chooses the rabbi. 175 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:49,100 But here, the rabbi Jesus comes up. 176 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:54,600 To these men and says, follow me and they must be something quite 177 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:56,900 captivating about him because they immediately dropped their 178 00:10:56,900 --> 00:11:00,200 Nets and they follow him, which is quite significant because 179 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,800 they're leaving behind their entire livelihood and they 180 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:06,400 choosing to follow Jesus. Wherever he goes, they don't 181 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:08,900 really know this man and they don't know what the future looks 182 00:11:08,900 --> 00:11:11,100 like, but still something about him. 183 00:11:11,100 --> 00:11:15,500 Makes them want to leave behind their old life and follow him. 184 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:19,400 And he says he's going to make them Fishers of Men. 185 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:23,800 So what that probably means is currently, you're fishing for 186 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:26,700 fish. I'm going to make you fish for 187 00:11:26,700 --> 00:11:30,100 something far greater something far greater than catching fish, 188 00:11:30,100 --> 00:11:33,300 you'll catch people. So what he means by catching 189 00:11:33,300 --> 00:11:36,200 people is your bring them into the kingdom of God. 190 00:11:37,300 --> 00:11:40,500 With your grace spiritual Nets, you'll gather people into the 191 00:11:40,500 --> 00:11:45,300 kingdom of God. So this is the call of Simon and 192 00:11:45,300 --> 00:11:49,400 his brother Andrew. Sort of the to innermost 193 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:52,600 disciples or two of them verse 21. 194 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:58,200 Jesus, now finds the other two close Apostles of Jesus and they 195 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:00,100 are James and John the sons of Zebedee. 196 00:12:00,100 --> 00:12:03,000 So he goes on a bit further and he sees James and John who are 197 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:07,500 also fishing on the Sea of Galilee these two men, the sons 198 00:12:07,500 --> 00:12:10,700 of Zebedee. Say goodbye to their father as 199 00:12:10,700 --> 00:12:13,400 well as their business. This is probably quite a wealthy 200 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:18,100 business because they have men working with them and And they 201 00:12:18,100 --> 00:12:19,900 say, have to say goodbye to their father. 202 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,200 So again, there must be something captivating about 203 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:26,900 Jesus, that makes James and John, these wealthy fisherman, 204 00:12:26,900 --> 00:12:28,900 dropped, their Nets and followed Jesus. 205 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,000 So, who would James and John? Because there's a quite common 206 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,600 names in the New Testament. James, the son of Zebedee is 207 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:39,500 sometimes called James the great and he's not Jesus brother. 208 00:12:39,500 --> 00:12:42,500 It's a different guy. He is later killed in the book 209 00:12:42,500 --> 00:12:46,300 of Acts by King Agrippa. We don't hear a whole lot about 210 00:12:46,300 --> 00:12:50,300 this particular James because he's killed early on one of the 211 00:12:50,300 --> 00:12:54,400 first upon First Christians to be killed and his brother John 212 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:56,700 son of Zebedee. He's a lot more well-known. 213 00:12:57,100 --> 00:13:00,400 He is usually identified with the Beloved disciple who is 214 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:05,500 mentioned in the Gospel of John and here's the one, John son of 215 00:13:05,500 --> 00:13:08,600 Zebedee is the one who writes a lot of the New Testament. 216 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:11,900 So he writes the Gospel of John and then the three letters of 217 00:13:11,900 --> 00:13:14,000 John, as well as the Book of Revelation. 218 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:18,600 So, John is very significant in our Christian theology. 219 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,000 Probably, the youngest Apostle and he appears to be the last 220 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:26,200 Apostle to die. So James it appeared. 221 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:30,800 Well, if you don't count Judas, James is the first Apostle to 222 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:33,600 die and his brother. John is the last Apostle to die. 223 00:13:34,900 --> 00:13:37,100 So here we have the call of Peter, Andrew James. 224 00:13:37,100 --> 00:13:40,600 And John, the first four apostles, who make up Jesus in a 225 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:44,000 circle. Some Scholars would say that 226 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:46,700 what we've just seen here with the calling of the for fishermen 227 00:13:46,700 --> 00:13:49,400 is the first miracle in Matthew's gospel. 228 00:13:49,700 --> 00:13:52,400 It seems like a supernatural call-and-response. 229 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:55,800 The fact that they just dropped their Nets and followed Jesus is 230 00:13:55,800 --> 00:14:01,700 perhaps a miracle in itself. So that's your text for today. 231 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,500 How does the Catholic Church develop its teaching based on 232 00:14:06,500 --> 00:14:09,200 Matthew chapter 4? There's a few references in the 233 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:13,500 catechism mostly to Jesus earlier in the passage. 234 00:14:13,500 --> 00:14:16,400 Remember, Jesus is Calling people into the kingdom of God, 235 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:21,000 saying, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand, and that's 236 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:25,500 taken up in paragraph 17 20, which says the New Testament 237 00:14:25,500 --> 00:14:29,100 uses several Expressions to characterize the beatitude to, 238 00:14:29,100 --> 00:14:32,700 which God calls Al's man such as the coming of the kingdom of 239 00:14:32,700 --> 00:14:38,100 God, Etc. And then in paragraph 1989, 240 00:14:38,100 --> 00:14:41,100 which is in the discussion about how men are saved. 241 00:14:41,300 --> 00:14:44,100 It says, the first work of the grace of the holy spirit is 242 00:14:44,100 --> 00:14:47,600 conversion affecting justification in accordance with 243 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:51,500 Jesus, Proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel, repent 244 00:14:51,500 --> 00:14:55,700 for the kingdom of God is at hand, move by Grace man, turns 245 00:14:55,700 --> 00:14:59,800 toward God, and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and 246 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:03,900 righteousness, from on high, Justification is not only the 247 00:15:03,900 --> 00:15:07,600 remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of 248 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:12,700 the Interior man. And then in paragraph, 8 7 8, 249 00:15:12,700 --> 00:15:15,800 which is in the section about the hierarchy of the church, it 250 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:20,500 talks about how the call of the for fishermen here is a personal 251 00:15:20,500 --> 00:15:24,700 call that Jesus gives them. And in the same way each 252 00:15:24,700 --> 00:15:28,700 disciple and each of Christ's ministers, the priests is also 253 00:15:28,700 --> 00:15:31,900 called in a personal way. Just like those first four 254 00:15:31,900 --> 00:15:36,200 apostles, So, I'll put all those catechism references in the show 255 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:38,000 notes for you to have a look at as well. 256 00:15:40,500 --> 00:15:43,200 So hopefully you learn something new there about the start of 257 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:45,400 Jesus Ministry in the gospel of Matthew. 258 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:47,100 Thanks for listening.