Second Sunday After Pentecost (Rom. 2:10–16; Mt. 4:18–23)

The Lord called Peter and Andrew, and they immediately left everything and followed Him. He called James and John, and they too at once left everything and followed the Lord. Why did they go so quickly and willingly? Because they saw something better. Such is the law within our soul: once it has known and tasted the better, it turns away from the worse and abandons it. What took place here is the very thing that the Lord later depicted in the parable of the treasure hidden in a field and the pearl of great price. That treasure and that pearl are faith in the Lord and communion with Him through faith. We are named possessors of this treasure already in baptism. Why, then, do we value such a treasure so little, and valuing it so little, exchange it for emptiness? Because during upbringing we are not introduced to the taste of this treasure, and so it becomes foreign to our hearts. Our heart does not know this better thing. It knows only which of two lesser things is slightly less bad, and on that it bases its outlook. This is the whole reason why the Lord calls some and they come, while we, even when called, run away from Him.