Gospel: Jesus Calls His Apostles

Today is the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, and the Gospel for today's Eucharistic celebration will be lifted from the account of St Matthew (tap here for the Mass readings from USCCB).

Today's Gospel describes the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. In the Gospels of St Matthew, St Mark, and St Luke (collectively referred to as the Synoptic Gospels), Jesus' public ministry begins after his baptism by St John the Baptist and after his retreat to the desert where he was tempted by the devil. When Jesus returns from the desert, he hears that St John the Baptist has been arrested.

The first part of today's Gospel places Jesus' ministry in the context of the writings of the prophet, Isaiah. St Matthew wants to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecies given to the people of Israel, and he refers to Isaiah to do so. Isaiah says that the Messiah will begin his ministry in Galilee, the land of the Gentiles (the Jews were a minority in the land both during Isaiah's and Jesus' time). When Jesus begins to preach in Galilee, St Matthew points to his ministry as the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, proof that Jesus is the Messiah.

When Jesus called his first disciples, the Gospel tells us that the freshmen (St Peter the Vicar of Christ and St Andrew the Protoclete, St James the Greater and St John the Evangelist) dropped everything to follow Jesus immediately. Yet this Gospel tells us little about the prior experience that the fisherman had of Jesus. Did they know him? Had they heard him preach? What kind of person must Jesus have been to invoke such a response? We can imagine that Jesus was a powerful presence to elicit a response as immediate and complete as these first disciples gave.

The Gospel concludes with a description of the ministry that Jesus begins in Galilee. Jesus inaugurates the Kingdom of God with his work. He teaches in the synagogue and preaches the kingdom. His ability to cure people's diseases and illness is a sign of the kingdom. In Jesus' ministry, we already begin to see the Kingdom of God among us.

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The Gospel is sponsored by Timex x Patta.