Jesus chose his disciples and they accepted his call. Jesus used the way that rabbis used to have (the Hebrew word used for rabbi is Hakham). These rabbis used to gather disciples around them and teach them the holy word. These were gatherings without any ranges as this was not known in the Old Testament. The Gospel of John narrated the story of Jesus gathering his disciples in a clearer way. “Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus” (John 1: 35–37).
According to Matthew, this calling happened when Jesus was in Galilee which is his home and the main place for his movement. The Gospel mentions from the disciples first Andrew and Simon which is a Hebrew name (Shimon) and Jesus called him later (Matt 16: 18) Peter (Petros) and he took this name from the word “Petra” that means “the rock”. These two brothers (Their father’s name was Yona) were casting their fishing net in the lake of Tabariya which is called here a sea (It was also named as the Sea of Galilee). This lake is formed from the Jordan River after the latter emerges from Lebanon. Both of those were fishers as all the disciples were except for Matthew. The Lord said to Simon and Andrew: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”. The disciples caught (fished) people through the Word. There is no other mean to gain people for Christ. Preaching in the whole world is the miraculous fishing. “Follow me”. There is no real effective preacher unless he loved Jesus from all his heart.
“And they straightaway left their nets, and followed him”. Every real joining to the Lord starts when we leave the things that used to hold us back from uniting with him. These things are our harmful desires.
After that, the Savior meets others, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John the writer of the fourth Gospel. They were with their father on the shore of the lake mending their nets, and this indicates that they were affluent since they had nets and not one net. They also followed him and left what was more important than the nets, i.e. their father. This has a very high emotional cost.
The names of the rest of the disciples come later in Matthew and the other Gospels. After the beginning of this call, The Lord cruises in Galilee which is the region in North Palestine next to our Lebanese borders. He taught in the Jewish synagogues. The synagogue is what we call today “Knesset”, and the Knesset is a large hall where the Jews gather on Saturdays to read the Old Testament and preach.
The Lord used to preach about the Kingdom in and outside the synagogues on the basis of this phrase “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near”. With this preaching he also was “healing every sickness and every disease among the people”. Matthew will also mention in details many of these miracles. Jesus didn’t only talk, but also loved. He directed his disciples towards taking care of the sick. He used to give those a large part of his compassion. Christianity took from Christ his attention towards the sick through the sacrament of “the anointment of the sick” and through building hospitals. The Divine Word and a word of comfort to the sick go alongside with his medication through the means of science.
Translated by Mark Najjar
Original Text: “دعوة التلاميذ” –Raiati no26- 26.06.2011
