1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word today is taken from Matthew 4:18-25 and is entitled, “Following the Light of the World,” dear students and faculty of Martin Luther High.
2. Whenever I hear today’s Gospel—Peter and Andrew, James and John just dropping everything to follow Jesus—I always wonder something very important: What did their parents think? I mean, imagine that conversation at home. “Mom, Dad… I’m quitting the family business.” “Oh really? Why?” “Some guy by the lake told me to follow Him.” “…Does He at least have a résumé?”
3. Matthew doesn’t tell us what their families said. He doesn’t tell us if there was arguing, worrying, or a long group text afterward. He simply says: “Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.” And honestly? It sounds a little crazy.
4. It looks crazy to follow Jesus These fishermen weren’t bored teenagers looking for something to do. They had jobs. Businesses. Boats. Nets. Responsibilities. A future they could see and plan. And Jesus walks by and says, “Follow Me.” No explanation. No five-year plan. No safety net—except the one they just dropped into the water. From the outside, this looks reckless. Impulsive. Irresponsible.
5. And let’s be honest—Jesus still does that today. He calls people to forgive when holding a grudge feels better. He calls you to tell the truth when lying would be easier. He calls you to care about people the world says aren’t worth your time. He calls you to trust Him with your future when you’d really rather be in control. Why would anyone leave what they know to follow someone they don’t fully understand? Well… let’s take a closer look.
6. Maybe what they were leaving wasn’t so great after all Isaiah tells us the truth about Galilee: “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light.” That means before the light came, there was darkness. Sure, the disciples had jobs—but they also lived in a broken world. A world filled with sickness, fear, sin, and death. Matthew lists it all: diseases, pain, suffering, darkness pressing in from every side. And honestly, that hasn’t changed much.
7. We live in a world that looks pretty comfortable on the surface—but scratch just a little deeper and you see anxiety, loneliness, pressure to perform, fear of failure, broken relationships, and the quiet worry about whether we’re enough. We chase grades, popularity, success, approval—modern idols that promise a lot and deliver very little. So maybe the question isn’t, “Why would they leave?” Maybe the real question is, “Why would they stay?”
8. You have your ways of seeing the world, your comfort zone, your own settled life. Whenever Jesus calls you, in his Word, he calls you to change, to repent, to be not what you were before. Why would you ever leave behind what you know in order to be changed by him? Jesus left his hometown of Nazareth to begin his ministry out of Capernaum (Matthew 4:12–13). He would not return there except to visit, and that didn’t go well. Much more than that, Jesus left his incredibly comfortable, eternally divine home, where he had the perfect fellowship of his Father and the Spirit, when he was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary’s womb. It’s crazy!
9. But, it isn’t crazy to follow Jesus—because He is the Light Jesus doesn’t call them into darkness. He calls them into the light. Matthew tells us Jesus fulfills Isaiah’s promise: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” Grace is not hidden. Grace is revealed. Grace has a face—and His name is Jesus. Those disciples didn’t know everything yet. They didn’t see the cross coming. They didn’t understand the resurrection. Half the time they’d think Jesus was heading in the wrong direction.
10. But even at the beginning, they could see enough light to take the next step. And you actually have an advantage they didn’t. You have the whole story. You know how the cross of Jesus ends. You know the tomb is empty. You know that forgiveness is real, death is defeated, and grace wins. You have been baptized into that light. You hear His Word. You receive His forgiveness. You are fed at His table the Lord Jesus’ body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. So no—following Jesus isn’t crazy. It’s the only thing that makes sense.
11. Following Jesus means walking in Revealed Grace Jesus heals the sick. He restores the broken. He carries the darkness of the world straight to the cross. The light shines brightest on Good Friday—when Jesus takes sin, shame, guilt, fear, and death and says, “It is finished.” And then Easter morning proves that the darkness didn’t win. The fishermen become witnesses. Sinners become forgiven. Students become disciples. Grace is revealed—not hidden, not secret, not earned—but given freely in Christ.
12. And following has to begin somewhere—so why not here? Galilee wasn’t perfect. Neither is your life. Neither is this world. But Jesus doesn’t wait for perfection. He comes right where you are. Here—in this school. Here—in His Word. Here—in forgiveness spoken to you. Following Jesus doesn’t mean you have everything figured out. It means trusting the One who does.
13. Think of it like GPS. You don’t see the whole route—but you trust the voice giving directions because it knows where you’re going. That’s why some people love maps—real, old-style, paper maps. Maps will tell you the general scope of the place you hope to go; they even let you see the connection between where you are and where you hope to be. You can see the big picture, and if that map is a Google Map, you can also zoom in and see the details, how the place looks. These days, many people don’t use maps anymore; they just follow directions from their GPS. But your GPS won’t really do all that the map does. It’ll tell you what you need to know at the moment—one turn, one road, one detail at a time—but you usually don’t get the big picture. And that can be a problem if your GPS wants to lead you into a cornfield or to a dead end or off a cliff because it hasn’t been updated with the latest route.
14. Jesus has a map of where everything, everyone, is going all the time forever, but his call to follow, to be his disciple (Mt 4:19), to know him, hear him, be loved by him, and love him, comes often one detail at a time. Fortunately, Jesus has been there before. He’s come from the home of God, and he’s returned to the Father’s right hand. His desire is that we will be where he is (Jn 14:3). As we follow the light in the darkness, he is with us at the beginning, in the middle, and all the way until he brings us to his blessed destination. So we really can follow him without knowing fully what’s further down the line. Jesus has already been where you’re headed. And He promises: “Where I am, there you will be also.”
15. Conclusion. During National Lutheran Schools Week, we give thanks for the gift of Lutheran education—where students are not only taught what to think, but are formed in whom to trust. Our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In a world that often walks in uncertainty and quiet darkness, Jesus calls His people to follow Him, the Light of the world. That call may look foolish by the world’s standards, yet it is the only path that leads to life. In our Lutheran schools, students hear that call daily—in God’s Word, in forgiveness spoken, in grace revealed. Here, they learn that following Jesus does not require having everything figured out, but trusting the One who does. Rooted in Christ, guided by His Word, and strengthened by His grace, our students are equipped not just for a future career, but for a life of faithful discipleship—now and forever. It is not crazy to follow Jesus. It is life. To hear Him. To be loved by Him. To live in His revealed grace. And one day, to see Him face to face as the Light that never goes out. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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