Open The Gospel – 25 January – The Third Sunday of Epiphany, Matthew 4.12–23

25 January – The Third Sunday of Epiphany, Matthew 4.12–23

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
¹⁵ ‘Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶ the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light has dawned.’
¹⁷From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. ¹⁹And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ ²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²²Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Things to think about with the child at the centre:

Activities

Cut out fish to colour and decorate – you could have some netting to display them in too!

Response

Peter, Andrew, James and John understood how to fish, for fish – they worked in their family businesses and were experienced fishermen – and it was the sort of job that would give them security for life. So why give it all up in an instant to follow this strange man called Jesus?
Jesus message – his God News (or Gospel) is that the Kingdom of Heaven has come near… why was that so exciting people choose to follow him?

The darkness people sit in, is still there today, whether its loneliness, sickness, lack of hope, Jesus message is “things don’t have to be like that – see the Kingdom of love and life in all its fullness is close, come and discover it with me…”

And just like Peter, Andrew, Jame and John, we can choose to move from the destiny the world has for us, and into the brightness of the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus is offering us.