January
6th Christ
calls four fishermen
18:
And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon
called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for
they were fishers. 19: And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will
make you fishers of men. 20: And they straightway left their nets,
and followed him. 21: And going on from thence, he saw other two
brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship
with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
22: And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed
him.
Christ’s
mission in Galilee
23:
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and
preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of
sickness and all manner of disease among the people. 24: And his fame
went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people
that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which
were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those
that had the palsy; and he healed them. 25: And there followed him
great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from
Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.
Matthew
5 The Beatitudes
1:
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he
was set, his disciples came unto him: 2: And he opened his mouth, and
taught them, saying, 3: Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven. 4: Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall
be comforted. 5: Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the
earth. 6: Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7: Blessed are the merciful:
for they shall obtain mercy. 8: Blessed are the pure in heart: for
they shall see God. 9: Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be
called the children of God. 10: Blessed are they which are persecuted
for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11:
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and
shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12:
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven:
for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
The
next major thing in the ministry of Christ is to call disciples to
follow him. He finds two brothers, Andrew and Simon Peter casting a
net into waters of Galilee. He simply says, follow me and l will
teach you to catch men. Notice he takes the initiative and he
promises to teach them. And he tells them clearly what his objective
will be. Then going on further he finds James and John. They leave
their father to follow him. Jesus takes them with him a goes through
all the synagogues of Galilee teaching, preaching and healing. He
teaches the true meaning of the Law, he preaches the good news that
the kingdom is coming and he reverses the physical effects of
unfaithfulness to the Mosaic covenant. The fame of Christ spreads
like wild fire through out all Syria and the people came searching
for him. None were disappointed. The fame of Christ extended from
north to south and east to west. Christ at the height of his
popularity teaches the people in an open air meeting on a hillside.
In this passage Matthew records the most sublime things that Christ
ever taught. He is not giving Christian ethics or church truth, but
he is describing the blessing of God that comes to those who are
touched by the Holy Spirit in the ministry of Christ. It is the
complete opposite of what the world and the scribes would say. Gods
blessing is on the poor in spirit because they will possess the
kingdom of heaven. Then Christ says the blessing of God is on those
who will mourn (in spiritual bereavement) because one day they will
re-united with the LORD. The blessing of God rests on those who are
meek. (that is they are gentle and restrained in their dealings with
hurting people) because they will become heirs of the very earth upon
which the messianic kingdom will be built. Christ says the blessing
of God rests on those who long for righteous living according to the
law of God which will be written on their hearts. They will be filled
with the Holy Spirit to enable them to live righteously according to
the New Covenant. Christ says the blessing of God will rest on those
who show mercy and through this act of righteousness will find mercy.
The blessing of God will rest on those whose minds are pure, because
they will see the King of kings seated in glory. (Who shall ascend
unto the hill of the Lord and who shall stand in his holy place, he
that hath clean hands and a pure heart etc, etc.) The blessing of God
will rest on those who make peace between brethren because they will
be called ‘the children of God’. Lastly Christ says the blessing
of God will rest on those who persecuted because they are righteous
before God. They will possess the Kingdom of heaven. Christ says the
blessing of God will rest on all those of you who are reviled,
persecuted and slandered because of Christ. In that day, they are to
rejoice and be exceedingly glad because their reward will be very
great. And they are in great company, they are in the company of all
those who prophets who were persecuted before them.
- Why did Jesus call these fishermen to follow him?
- What did Jesus preach in the synagogues of Galilee?
- Make a list of the Beatitudes and then your your thoughts about each one?
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