How does Jesus call us to be His disciples?
In Caravaggio’s famous painting “The Call of St. Matthew,” also known as “The Call of Levi,” a powerful detail often goes unnoticed: the hand of Jesus.
If you look closely, the gesture Jesus makes as He calls Levi from his table is the same hand Michelangelo painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel — the hand of God reaching out to Adam at the moment of creation. Caravaggio is making a bold theological statement through art: When Jesus calls us, He’s not just giving instructions, He’s creating something new. It’s not just a summons; it’s an act of divine re-creation.
When Jesus calls us to be His disciples, He’s not simply inviting us to learn a new philosophy or join a religious club. He’s re-creating us. He doesn’t just offer a better set of moral guidelines. He offers a new beginning, a new identity and a new heart. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Discipleship is transformation by grace.
Think of how He called Peter and Andrew: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” He didn’t say, “Come shadow me and pick up some tips.”
He suggests, “Let me reshape your life. I will do the forming. You just follow.” From the start, Jesus makes it clear that discipleship is not about our skill but about His power to re-create.
That re-creation isn’t abstract, it’s deeply personal. It touches everything: how we think, love and live. It’s a transformation that happens slowly, sometimes painfully, always deeply. He forms us through prayer, through the sacraments, through Scripture and community. He confronts what’s broken and calls forth what’s holy. He makes us new.
And He doesn’t do it in isolation. Discipleship is always communal. When we follow Jesus, He places us in a body — the Church — where we are formed as individuals and people. Just as the apostles weren’t called one by one to go off on their own, we too are drawn into a shared mission, a shared life.
At the core of it all is the Holy Spirit. This transformation isn’t something we muster up. It’s the work of the Spirit within us, the same Spirit that hovered over the waters at creation, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. That’s the power that makes us new.
So when Jesus calls, He’s not just offering us a new task but a new life. He doesn’t just teach us; He forms us. He doesn’t just invite us to go and do; He makes us become.
We are not just taught. We are transformed. We are not just called. We are re-created.
