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 XXII.

HIS OWN CITY.

Up to this time our Lord's disciples have not been always with Him. Now they are to be called by Him in a solemn manner to be His constant companions.

On leaving Nazareth, He went to Capharnaum, which you will remember was on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Walking one day along the beach, He saw Peter and Andrew casting a net into the sea. And He said to them:

"Come after Me and I will make you to be fishers of men."

And immediately leaving their nets they followed Him. And going a little farther He saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father mending their nets, and He called them. And they immediately, leaving their nets and their father, followed Him. All they had—father, mother, the fishing by which they earned their living, all their little possessions—they left for His sake, not willingly only but joyfully. They did not care where He took them, or what He did with them, or how much they might suffer in His company. To be with Him, to belong to Him, this was enough.

You notice that we have now a sixth disciple, James, the brother of John, and like him a fisherman. Most of those who were to be after our Lord the founders of the Church were fishermen, about the last class of men we should have thought suitable for such a work. Go down to any seaside place and watch the fishermen putting out to sea or tugging in their nets. Do they look