In our gospel reading, John the Baptist becomes a political prisoner, having been thrown in jail for preaching against the against the rule of Herod Antipas. And Jesus picks up and moves from the village of Nazareth to the larger fishing town of Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. In doing so, Jesus intentionally chooses to go to work in a community that is under economic duress through the burden of taxes implemented by Herod Antipas to fuel his building projects. At the lake shore Jesus finds collaborators to join him in God’s calling–Simon and Andrew, James and John. “Come, follow me, and be fishers of people,” Jesus says. Together those new disciples and Jesus will begin to embody what it looks like when Emmanuel, God with Us, moves into the neighborhood. So, hold on to your hats, put on your walking shoes, and get out your work gloves–the kingdom of heaven is breaking in.
