the call of the King.

'I will make you fishers of men.' That shows a kindly wish to make as
little as may be of the change of occupation. Their old craft is to be
theirs still, only in nobler form. The patience, the brave facing of the
storm and the night, the observance of the indications which taught
where to cast, the perseverance which toiled all night though not a fin
glistened in the net, would all find place in their new career. Nor are
these words less royal than was the call. They contain profound hints as
to the nature of the kingdom which could scarcely be apprehended at
first. But this at least would be clear, that Jesus summoned them to
service, to gather in men out of the dreary waves of worldly care and
toil into a kingdom of stable rest, and that by summoning them to
service He endowed them with power. So He does still. All whom He
summons to follow Him are meant by Him to be fishers of men. It was not
as apostles, but as simple disciples, that these four received this
charge and ability. The same command and fitness are given to all
Christians. Following Christ, surrender, the obligation of effort to win
others, capacity to do so, belong to all the subjects of Christ's
kingdom.

III. The triumphal progress of the King. Our evangelist evidently masses
together without regard to chronological order the broad features of the
early Galilean ministry. He paints it as a time of joyful activity, of
universal recognition, of swift and far-spreading fame. We do not
exaggerate the impression of victorious publicity which they give, when
we call these closing verses the record of the King's triumphal progress
through His dominions. Observe the reiterated use of 'all,'--all
Galilee, all manner of sickness and all manner of disease, all Syria,
all that were sick. Matthew labours to convey the feeling of universal
stir and wide-reaching, 'full-throated' welcome. Observe, too, that the
activity of Christ is confined to Galilee, but the fame of Him crosses
the border into heathendom. The King stays on His own territory, but He
conquers beyond the frontier. Syria and the mostly heathen Decapolis,
and Peraea ('beyond Jordan'), are moved. The odour of the ointment not
only fills the house, but enriches the scentless outside air. The
prophecy contained in the coming of the Magi is beginning to be
fulfilled. From its first preaching, the kingdom is diffusive. Note,
too, the contrast between John's ministry and Christ's,