In our first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, the prophet speaks of the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali and how they have been “degraded.” This would have immediately made sense to the men and women of Jesus’ day, but it’s esoteric and foreign to us, so perhaps a little historical context is in order.
Zubulun and Naphtali are two of the twelve sons of Jacob – we might better recognize the names of some of the others, including Judah, Joseph, and Benjamin.
When Joshua and the Israelites entered the Promised Land, Joshua assigned portions of the land to each of the tribes of Israel, that is, to the families of Jacob’s twelve sons. The tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali got the land around the Sea of Galilee, which was the “land flowing with milk and honey”– it was a fertile valley for farming and grazing.
But because it was a valley, the land was also vulnerable to attacks from the hill country to the north – and indeed, when the King of Assyria invaded Israel, the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali were the first to be taken over.
Isaiah is writing during that time of occupation, and he is providing a hopeful vision of the day when all the lands of Israel will be restored under a king in the line of David. He writes: “the people who walk in darkness have seen a great light. Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom, a light has shone.”
We hear this section of Isaiah every year on Christmas Eve because Jesus is that newborn king, that child of light, who fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah. And to make sure that we get the point, St. Matthew quotes the very same section in today’s Gospel.
Matthew recounts how Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been arrested by Herod – but instead of running in the other direction, Jesus goes directly to Herod’s territory, to Capernaum, on the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. And He begins to proclaim the good news that “the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
Thus the first point of today’s Scriptures is to remind us that Jesus, and the Kingdom He preaches, are the fulfillment of all the prophecies of the Old Testament. Jesus is the king in David’s line, who reconstitutes the nation: the people of Israel. He restores to God what has been lost – not land, but God’s people who had strayed from Him.
But Matthew’s Gospel shifts abruptly to the second point of this week’s readings, which is to give us some means of recognizing the coming of the Kingdom that Jesus establishes.
In a rapid-fire style, Matthew records how Jesus sees two brothers, Simon and Andrew, as they are casting their nets into the sea. Jesus calls them, “and at once, they left their nets and followed Him.” Immediately after that, Jesus sees two more brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They too are fishermen and they are mending their nets. Jesus calls them, and “immediately, they left their boat and their father and followed Him.”
St. Matthew doesn’t simply have a short attention span! He doesn’t shift gears quickly or use a fast pace because he has some form of attention deficit.
He tells us about the calling of Jesus’ first disciples directly after telling us about Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom, because the story gives us at least two characteristics that mark the Kingdom, so that we too can recognize it, and help build it.
First, the Kingdom is a present reality – it is here and now – and therefore it demands an immediate response. There is no time for delay or for waiting. That’s why Matthew employs that rapid-fire style, and keeps the details to a minimum: it highlights the fact that Simon and Andrew followed Jesus “at once,” and that James and John “immediately left their boat.”
What about you and me? Do we sense the immediacy and the urgency of the Kingdom of God? Are we willing to drop everything to accept the Lord’s invitation, or do we rather try to bargain and delay? “Someday, I’ll surrender that grudge and forgive that person. I’ll give up that sinful practice, eventually.” “I’ll have more time for prayer, or for charity, when I’m retired.”
As St. Paul says, and as we remind ourselves every Lent: “now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation.” So the first characteristic of the Kingdom is that it is here, and it demands that we respond immediately.
The second characteristic of the Kingdom, that we discover in these readings, is that it collects what has been scattered, and brings together what has been separated. It is not a coincidence that the first thing that Jesus does after proclaiming the nearness of the Kingdom is call disciples to Himself . . . and again, it is no accident that the first ones called are fishermen with nets! Jesus Himself promises: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
The Kingdom builds bonds of community, and brings people together into the unity of Christ, and we see this in its infancy when Jesus forms the community of the Apostles.
Notice too how many Apostles there end up being. Twelve: exactly the number of the sons of Jacob; the tribes of Israel that Jesus is restoring! Jesus brings them together as brothers before He sends them out in pairs to help spread the message of the Kingdom. And the night before He dies, Jesus prays to His Father that His Apostles will always remain as one.
If unity is a characteristic of the Kingdom –then in order for us to manifest the Kingdom to the world; in order for us to help build communities of the Kingdom that is to come, then we must be united with one another in one heart, and one mind, and one purpose – which is, of course, the heart, and mind, and will of Christ.
That’s why in our second reading, St. Paul writes to the Corinthians who have been breaking into different factions, supporting different leaders within the Christian community. Paul urges them, “be united in the same mind and in the same purpose, that there be no divisions among you.”
And then, in truly chilling words, Paul names the stakes of our keeping unity: he says we must maintain our unity in Christ “so that the Cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.”
Friends, the Cross is the emblem and sign of the Kingdom, because it is present and immediate, and it demands a response from us. And the Cross is a sign of the Kingdom because it is our source of unity, and because even in its shape, the Cross makes clear how Christ’s death reaches out to ends of the earth, and unites all people within its arms.
But brothers and sisters, if we who profess faith in the power of the Cross are constantly dividing ourselves into factions, then we are really denying the Cross, and we will never be able to effectively proclaim the coming of Christ’s Kingdom. We will not be a sign, but a counter-sign.
So then let us all, with a sense of tremendous urgency, profess and live the words: “We belong to Christ.” Let us together strive for the unity that comes from sharing the one bread and the one cup, and let us be nourished for our mission of proclaiming the coming of Christ’s Kingdom.
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