Matthew 4:12-23 or 4:12-17
Chapter 4
His Proclamation Begins
Then Jesus learned that John had been arrested, he retreated into Galilee.He left Nazareth and moved to Capernaum by the sea, at the border of Zebulun and Naphtali.
In this way, the word of the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled:
Land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
crossed by the Road of the Sea;
and you, who live beyond the Jordan,
Galilee, a land of pagans:
The people who lived in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those who live in the land
of the shadow of death,
a light has shone.”
From that time on, Jesus began to proclaim his message:
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
He Calls His First Disciples
As Jesus walked by the lake of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake because they were fishermen.
He said to them:
“Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”
At once, they left their nets and followed him.
He continued on from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in a boat with their father Zebedee, repairing their nets. Jesus called them,
and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Narrative Summary of Jesus’ Activity
Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, while healing all kinds of sickness and disease among the people.
The news about him spread throughout all of Syria, and people brought all their sick and those suffering: the possessed, the insane, the paralyzed; and he healed them all.
Large crowds followed him from Galilee and the Ten Cities, from Jerusalem, Judea, and across the Jordan.
Commentaries
His Proclamation Begins.
Capernaum, by the lake, will be his city (9:1). Galilee, once pagan or at least paganized, a meeting place of peoples and cultures, will serve as the setting and platform for his revelation, similar to the great oracle of Isaiah 8:23-9:1. Thus begins the fulfillment of the universal mission to preach the Gospel to the whole world (28:18f).
He Calls His First Disciples.
Jesus calls, and in this he differs from the teachers of his time, whose disciples he chose. Jesus chooses his own. The call is clear and direct; the response is quick and unconditional: they respond to his call and, leaving everything behind, begin to follow him.
With these qualities, a new form of discipleship begins: the Christian discipleship—an unavoidable and binding calling, a lifelong commitment involving all aspects of the Master’s life and mission: “I will make you fishers of men” (19).
Narrative Summary of Jesus’ Activity.
Good news that only focuses on the “soul” rather than seeing men and women as whole persons is not the true Good News of Jesus; therefore, where Matthew mentions “all kinds of diseases and infirmities,” we should also understand today: everything that burdens us and weighs us down, like oppression, injustice, and marginalization.