Jesus Shows His Authority

^{NIV.Matt.4.18} As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ²⁰ At once they left their nets and followed him.

²¹ Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Today meet another writer who is new to us. Paul T. Reynolds lives in the Cayman Islands, and you can read more of his writing (and his recipes) at his blog. Click the header below for this one to read at source.

Jesus flexes his authority

Matthew 4:13-22 (AD 27)

…Jesus walked through a crowd of people who were trying to throw him off a cliff…with them failing miserably to throw him off the cliff. That scene has always blown my mind. What did it look like? What did it sound like? Did God paralize the would-be murderers? Blind them? Force a temporary change of mind? Chalk that up as another of those ‘God isn’t telling you because you don’t need to know’ passages.

Whatever the reason, that was it for Jesus in Nazareth (just as he prophesied in Luke 4:24). He moved to Capernaum (just as Isaiah prophesied); further north and on the shores of  the Sea of Galilee.

Once there, Jesus began his preaching ministry (v.17), which is summarized in precisely the same words as John the Baptist’s ministry (John 3:2): “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near”. In John 3:6 it is further noted that the people responded to that message by “Confessing their sins” and being baptized.

Jesus then called his first disciples, Peter and Andrew, with nothing more than a cryptic message about making them fishers not merely of fish, but of people. As we know, Jesus had gained a certain notoriety by this point, but he was by no means a celebrity. And with his recent past including a failed murder attempt against him, rejection by his entire local religious community and having to forge a new life away from his home town…he wasn’t in a good place to be attracting followers.

It was his authority, and Holy Spirit, who inspired these men to follow him. Busy men with families and mouths to feed, who knew that they had to be where he was, and to listen to what he said, and to learn from what he did. That authority came from the same place as the authority to walk through a murderous crowd unmolested.

Same deal with James and John. No explanation. Just a command. And they obeyed.

Jesus’ commands to us are the same:

Repent and believe the good news.

Follow Jesus.

That’s it.