Breaking the Word

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

 "Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined."  (Mt 7:21,24-27)

Kingdom of heaven is where everyone wants to be. All want to enter into kingdom of heaven. The Jews believed that that had Abraham as their father and hence they believed that they would have entry into the kingdom. There were others who believed in God and their appeal to God (who call God as Lord, Lord) would grand them an entry.

Father in heaven is in the kingdom of heaven. In this kingdom what is important, is doing the will of the Father. God has a plan for everyone. (we see this very much in the lives of the prophets and kings and others). His plan is to build the kingdom among the people and creation. Building the kingdom is by executing the plan of God (will of the Father).

Will of God is revealed in the words of Jesus. Listening to the words of Jesus and acting accordingly is doing the will of God. These are the wise men who are like the building founded on rock. Listening to Jesus and doing the words of Jesus  is doing the will of the Father and thus enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.  (Mt 4:18-22)

As the reading suggests, Jesus was just walking on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He had no intention of meeting them or he was not going with a plan to invite them. He saw tow brothers casting a net and he invited them to follow him. They too responded immediately and followed him. Did they have a fore knowledge of Jesus? How could they follow Jesus (a passerby) leaving everything?.

Jesus walked a little further and found two other brothers and he welcomed them to follow him and they too left everything, including their father and followed him. The first group left their job, their livelihood and followed him. The second group of brothers not only left their livelihood but also their relations (father). Could be that the second group was younger than the first because their father was still alive and working.

Following here meant immediate, spontaneous, leaving everything. It is following a person and not a principle or a dogma or a system or a structure. Hence there are no rules for following. No criteria to be followed in calling and choosing. There are no expectations and demands. Following is just walking behind a person (leader).