“The Lord is my light and my salvation!,” says our Psalm this weekend. Our readings establish how Jesus is indeed the light that dispels darkness.

In the First Reading, we hear the proclamation of Isaiah to Israel: “First the LORD degraded the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, but in the end, he has glorified… the District of the Gentiles.” At this time, Israel was split into a northern kingdom called Israel, with the city of Samaria as its capital, and a southern kingdom known as Judah with Jerusalem as its capital. Assyrian, Babylonian, and Roman invaders always came from “the north.” Zebulun and Naphtali, were apportioned territory west and north of the Sea of Galilee. Therefore, they would be the first to feel the brunt of an attack from an invading force. (Note that this area would include the towns of Nazareth and Capernaum)

The people in the region around Galilee were overcome by gloom when their enemy, Assyria, conquered them and began among them the process of inculturation and paganization. The Assyrians forced intermarriage in the northern tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. The descendants of these intermarriages became the despised Samaritans of Jesus’ day. But Isaiah declares that God’s power is greater than the powers of darkness and assures them that “a great light” will lead them into “abundant joy.”

In fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus chooses Galilee as the base for his teaching, preaching and healing mission. The area was called the “Galilee of the Gentiles” because there was a large population of Hellenistic pagans mixed in with the Jews. As a Jew in Roman-controlled territory, Jesus locates himself among the marginalized, with the poor not the wealthy, with the rural peasants not the urban elite, with the ruled not the rulers, and with the powerless and exploited not the powerful. Thus, he begins his ministry among the apparently small and insignificant places and people who, nevertheless, are central for God’s purposes.

What is interesting in our Gospel this weekend is Jesus’ immediate calling of his first disciples. While John and Luke allow time for the disciples to get to know Jesus before they are called, Matthew does not do such a thing. He immediately shows Jesus calling his first set of disciples, seemingly to show the urgency of his mission and his need for “human assistance” so he can become “the great light” and shine on “people who walk in darkness.”

But what Jesus teaches his first disciples is not a course of study, but a way of life to follow. For the moment, ‘Jesus is the Light’ which the people in darkness are rejoicing to see, but he will soon say to his followers, ‘You are the light of the world.’ This is his purpose in choosing his followers and this is the mission he entrusts to us today, his modern-day disciples.