The Third Sunday After the Epiphany (Year A), Jan. 27, 2008
BCP: Amos 3:1-8; Psalm139:1-17 or 139:1-11; 1 Cor. 1:10-17;Matt. 4:12-23
RCL: Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 5-13; 1 Cor. 1:10-18; Matt. 4:12-23
Location, location, location! What else do we think about when we move? Forget the bathroom fixtures and the shrubbery. Does the location suit the circumstances and direction of our lives at this point?
That is exactly what must have been on the mind of Jesus after John’s arrest. Where should he move? What location best suited the overall purpose of his ministry? Where should he plant the locus of his ministry? Where should he recruit and train his disciples?
Jerusalem would be the logical place – if his intent were only to revitalize Judaism. But his ministry had a larger scope — a global scope. So he relocated to the land given to Naphtali, the land of Zebulun, the backwater of the northern reaches of Palestine, far from central Judea, “Galilee of the nations.”
Yes, the backwater of the land of Israel, but the very center of the world’s travels. Three miles north of Capernaum was a road connecting to the Grand Trunk Road that went from Damascus to India, Afghanistan, and China. Along the coast beside the Mediterranean Sea was the Via Mares, “The Way by the Sea,” connecting Cairo and Asia Minor. This was the crossroads of the world. This was the place that Jesus chose to launch his ministry and train his disciples.
Maybe some of those structures still standing in Capernaum were B&Bs. Maybe the wife of Zebedee ran one to augment the income from fishing. Maybe the brothers heard stories from traders from Kabul. Perhaps they were friends with colonels from Rome, and debated with teachers from Athens. Why not? Something like that had to explain how this “simple fisherman” named John could write the profound prologue to his gospel, steeped in Greek philosophy.
Just a few miles away from Capernaum was the Roman town of Bethsaida, the town where Jesus recruited Peter and Andrew. There the brothers mixed with the non-Jewish world, befriending many and knowing well their languages and cultures. They also would know well their spiritual hunger. What better way to prepare Peter for inaugurating the gentile mission at the home of Cornelius? The right location for the global scope of his ministry, and for disciples who fully grasped his commission to the church — Galilee, land of the nations.
Look It Up
Get a visual sense of this geography through a good atlas. Check out the
roads, the connections, the pivotal situation of Capernaum.
Think About It
Is your home or your church so strategically located? Do you have an airport nearby? International students? Refugee communities? Can you connect to the Internet? Then is your ministry as global as Jesus intended it?
Next Sunday
The Last Sunday After the Epiphany (Year A), Feb. 3, 2008
BCP: Exodus 24:12 (13-14) 15-18; Psalm99; Phil. 3:7-14; Matt. 17:1-9
RCL: Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 2 or 99; 2 Pet. 1:16-21; Matt. 17:1-9
