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Being a Disciple (Epiphany 5, Year C)

Tu Es Petrus | Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P./Flickr

Feb. 9 | Epiphany 5, Year C

Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)
Psalm 138
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 5:1-11

To be a disciple one needs two things — a master and a teachable spirit. If the meaning of disciple is learner, then a disciple must be dependent upon a teacher. But at the same time, to be a learner, the disciple must be willing to be taught. To be in such a relationship, the disciple needs to be willing, humble, and dedicated. St. Peter demonstrates all three elements in the story of Jesus’ calling of the first disciples.

In St. Luke’s narrative, Jesus had been healing and teaching in Capernaum and had healed St. Peter’s mother-in-law, so there already was some evidence of his authority and power. What he asked the fishermen to do made little sense. The professionals had done what was the right practice of fishermen of the region and had utterly failed. Indeed, they were probably muttering over their nets when Jesus arrived. How absurd was it for a carpenter and itinerant teacher to direct them to fish at the wrong time of day and where they had just proven there were no fish? Despite that, St. Peter was willing to do what Jesus directed.

When the catch turned out to be almost too much for the fishermen to handle, they, in the person of St. Peter, illustrated the second necessary attitude of a disciple: humility. In the face of the Master, disciples must acknowledge their true condition and their absolute need. Only when we recognize our total dependence on God, and we contribute nothing of our own to his absolute gift of grace, are we in the proper posture to be taught the ways of God and prepared to be proper vessels of his blessings to others. Without humility, one cannot serve.

When Jesus calls the fishermen to follow him, they leave everything to do so. Although on the surface the dedication of the disciples appears to entail a change of vocation, the take-home message is that being a disciple requires a radical change in our priorities. God’s plan for disciples is for them to announce the good news of salvation.

Ultimately, the really good news is that Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, not only suffered but actually died. The crucifixion, death, and burial of Jesus are historical facts and testify to God’s love for us. From the salvation perspective, there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood (Lev. 17:11; Heb. 9:22). From the physiological perspective, there can be no resurrection without a death — anything else is merely a resuscitation. The killing, the dying, and the burying are all necessary for Easter morning to have any lasting meaning. It would not be particularly remarkable to meet and speak with a person who had been saved from drowning and resuscitated by CPR. Indeed, that would be the expected result, rather than one that would serve as a life-transforming event. It would also be the continuation of the pre-resuscitated life and not a transformed and new form of life.

But Jesus did die — he was buried and remained dead and buried until the third day. Only then was he raised from the dead, an event that was both prophesied in Scripture and attested to by 500 human eyewitnesses. And they were all changed dramatically. The scared and timid apostles became bold witnesses, even to martyrdom, of the message of Jesus Christ. St. Paul, himself a persecutor of the Church, became perhaps its greatest advocate and missionary. Because Jesus really died, death is no longer an end for believers, but is now a beginning. Since all are destined to one day die, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the universal good news of hope for humankind. For his disciples, it is to be the message of our lives.

Look It Up: Isaiah 6:5-8

Think About It: “[D]iscipleship never consists in this or that specific action; it is always a decision, either for or against Jesus Christ” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship).

The Rev. Dr. Chuck Alley, former rector of St. Matthew’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, teaches anatomy at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical School.

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