Sep 18 2019 Matthew 4: 18-25

Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Jesus is walking by the sea of Galilee, and starts calling people to join him, Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John. The story we read say he called them, and immediately they left their nets and followed him. So many questions.

First, are there parts of this narrative that have been omitted? Did Simon Peter and Andrew respond by arguing amongst themselves, incredulous at this request? Did they have to think about it? Peter is known as a bit of an impetuous guy, so maybe they impetuously dropped their nets.

James and John in the boat with their dad, apparently left everything at that moment too. Did their dad just wave goodbye, happily agreeing to wrap up with the three of them had started? Did the sons have to explain anything to their father? Did their father, wondering what this was about, beg them to stay? And was the father called too? Did he gracefully decline? If he wasn’t asked, why not? So many questions, obviously with no answers.

There’s a part of me that wants to take this at face value. In this narrative, these four young men dropped what they were doing, and joined Jesus. Wanting to believe that, I wonder if I’d have done the same thing, or if I could do it with what I’m asked today and tomorrow. Drop what I’m doing and follow Jesus.

And there’s a part of me that is skeptical that it went down precisely like this. To be clear, they did follow Jesus, and that’s the critical conclusion of this narrative. And for me, to imagine they struggled, or argued, or debated, or questioned, or doubted – all of that makes their following even more wonderful and accessible to me.

I don’t live in a world where I can drop everything and follow Jesus. Yes, metaphorically, I suppose I can and try to. But I don’t think I could leave my livelihood, or my family – immediately.

When I read Scripture, I imagine being in the story. How would I have responded, as this character, or that one. And once I do that, I begin to ascribe backstories to the narratives that otherwise are almost inaccessible to me.

To be clear, I’d love to be the one who would immediately follow. And I’d likely be the one who’d question, and mull things over a lot – especially if it involved anything immediate!

This morning, I’m thinking about how we each read Scripture with our own stories and histories, ascribing to the people Jesus encounters responses and motives we’d have. And since we occupy a world full of people who are different, with differing experiences and values and cultures, it’s no wonder that we end up with disagreements about Scripture.

But here’s where it seems we should all be able to agree. Jesus was fully human and fully divine. From his divinity, his motives and responses and values seem to transcend our human muck. Follow what Jesus said to do, and it’s pretty simple. Love God. Love your neighbor. Human differences aside, I can strive to do that, even if I question it along the way.