Level Ground

“When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali…” – Matthew 4:12-13

Scripture Reading: Matthew 4:12-17

There is an astonishing amount of travel involved in Jesus’s public ministry, especially considering walking was the main mode of transportation at the time. We see Jesus leaving Galilee to be baptized in the Jordan (Matthew 3:13), leaving the Jordan to be tempted in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1), and then returning to Galilee after hearing news of John the Baptist’s imprisonment. That begins a period of nearly perpetual motion, as Jesus travels back and forth through Galilee and surrounding areas, preaching and teaching in the towns and villages from His home base in Capernaum.

Jesus’s early journey was over relatively flat terrain, enabling Him to cover a lot of ground. He faced some rejection from his hometown and the religious leaders early on, but the elevation increases dramatically when He turns toward Jerusalem and death after His Transfiguration.

But Jesus’s response is the same on level ground as on the uphill climb, on the mountaintop as in the valley. He leans on the Father and trusts in His goodness and guidance for the journey.

Prayer: Lord, it seems that we spend so much of our journey on the flat plain. We appreciate being able to move along without serious obstacles or worries, but we recognize our tendency is to drift away from you in these times. Help us to always lean on You, even when we feel like we can handle circumstances on our own. Amen.