After John is arrested, Mark has Jesus begin preaching the imminence of the Kingdom of God, i.e. the rule of God over our hearts. Soon he calls his first four disciples: Simon and Andrew, and James and John the Sons of Zebedee.
What does it mean to follow the Lord? Certainly they got up and followed him physically. One of the Fathers correlates each of the four disciples to a virtue based on their name:
PSEUDO-JEROME: Again, Simon, means obedient; Andrew, manly; James, supplanter; John, grace; by which four names, we are knit together into God's host; by obedience, that we may listen; by manliness, that we do battle; by overthrowing, that we may persevere; by grace, that we may he preserved. Which four virtues are called cardinal; for by prudence, we obey; by justice, we bear ourselves manfully; by temperance, we tread the serpent underfoot; by fortitude, we earn the grace of God.
So following the Lord may imply living a virtuous life. The study notes suggest that for us who did not have the same exact honor as these apostles, we can still follow Jesus by sharing fellowship with Him, or imitating Him.
But this fellowship comes with sacrifice. What does it mean to leave our nets behind? It may mean giving up something that is keeping us from following the Lord in the ways mentioned above. Rather than leaving someone we might have to go to a messy relationship in order to follow the Lord more closely, acting as a Christian would. Or it may mean starting (with God's help) something completely new, trusting in the providence of God.
Not that the disciples got it all right the first time. The fathers point out that given the differences in the Gospels, the most natural thing is for the fishermen to have left their nets and started following Christ, and then return to their fishing at some point, perhaps at the death of the Baptist, at which point they were called again by Christ. From this we can see that the Apostles were human just like us and that Christ faithfully met them through their weakness.
Grant us your fellowship, Lord! Remain on our case and come to us even after we leave you in our imperfect humanity. Come establish the Kingdom of God in our hearts, and give us the courage to follow You without counting the cost. Let us be Christian in every way. Let us love to be called Christian.
Mary, mother of divine grace, help us to be more like John, whose name means grace, and to follow Jesus wherever He goes. Help us to share in the fellowship of Simon, Andrew, James, John, and Jesus. Help form in us Christian virtues so that the world will be changed. We beg you to give us the heart of Christ with which to love God and neighbor!
No comments:
Post a Comment