Luke the evangelist reorders the sequence of events that he takes from Mark at the beginning of his gospel. In Mark, after Jesus’ baptism and temptation and the arrest of John, Jesus goes to Galilee and preaches “the gospel of God.”[1] By the Sea of Galilee, he sees brothers Simon and Andrew. Mark writes, “And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you become fishes of men and women.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him.”[2] After also calling brothers James and John to follow him, Jesus and his disciples go to Capernaum. They enter the synagogue There Jesus performs his first act of power: casting out an unclean spirit. He goes from the synagogue to Simon’s house and heals first Simon’s mother-in-law. Then those who were sick or possessed by demons go to Simon’s house and are made whole.[3]
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