The Dawning of God’s KingdomMatt. 4:12-25 sermon manuscript

I love dawn. Occasionally, we get out of the house early enough to see the sunrise, as I drive my wife to work. I love seeing the sky brighten gradually, and I really love seeing the magnificent array of colors. It seems that God delights to bring light into darkness. He did it at creation, and he does it every time he saves a sinner, and he does it in a unique way at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. Following Jesus’s first great victory over the devil, resisting all of his temptations in the wilderness, achieving a perfect score on his Father’s test by trusting what his Father had said in Scripture and obeying what his Father had said in Scripture, Matthew concludes his introduction of Jesus with another note about Jesus’s geographical movements. This sets up the first block of Jesus’s teaching, the Sermon on the Mount. But Matthew sees this particular move of Jesus as a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy about God’s light once again shining in darkness.

We begin this morning in Matthew 4:12-16. Follow along as I read: Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”

John’s arrest marks the close of his public ministry. The voice of John had been silenced.1 Jesus takes the baton from him and steps out into his public ministry. Jesus sees John’s arrest as an indicator that it’s time for him to move from Nazareth to Galilee, to the city of Capernaum specifically.2 And Matthew recognizes Jesus’s movement as fulfilling Isaiah 9:1-2. In these verses, Isaiah was describing what was going to happen to Israel after the judgment of exile. Isaiah chapter 8 had focused on announcing that God was sending the Assyrians to punish Israel, and this was to serve as a warning to the southern kingdom, Judah. At the end of chapter 8, Isaiah described the lostness and the darkness of Judah, evident because they would prefer to seek help from witches than to pray to Yahweh their God!

Then Isaiah 9 opens with a fantastic picture of the light that will break into the darkness, and he specifies that this light is going to arrive in “Galilee of the Gentiles.” This phrase probably emphasizes that Galilee is under the rule of Gentiles, not so much that it is dominated or inhabited by Gentiles in general. In Isaiah’s day, it was the Assyrians who ruled over the people of Israel; in Jesus’s day, it was the Romans.3 While the Jewish region of Galilee is under the

1 Phrase adapted from John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew (New International Greek Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005), pg. 185.

2 Cf. Grant R. Osborne, Matthew (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament 1; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), pg. 144, who writes, “When the Baptist was arrested, Jesus knew that his time of preparation was over, and God was designating that the new time of kingdom proclamation had arrived.”

3 Cf. Warren Carter, “Evoking Isaiah: Matthean Soteriology and an Intertextual Reading of Isaiah 7-9 and Matthew 1:23 and 4:15-16,” Journal of Biblical Literature 119:3 (Fall 2000): pgs. 516-517, who writes of the phrase “Galilee of the Gentiles,” “The term does not mean, as some have claimed, that Galilee was inhabited by non-Jews, or was particularly susceptible to Hellenization, or that Jewish ethnicity and piety had almost disappeared, or that Jesus was looking only for Gentiles (see 4:18–22, 23–25!!). While some of these options are accurate, the term

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influence and rule of Gentile overlords,4 still under the judgment of God, light will appear to dispel the darkness.5

Matthew is saying that the light has dawned in Jesus’s transition from Nazareth to Galilee. He is the light Isaiah highlighted. Dawn is the time when the sun just begins to get rid of the darkness of night; dawn is the time when the sun just begins to brighten our day. So it is that Jesus begins his great work officially and publicly by settling in the city of Capernaum,6 and he begins this work first in Galilee, which was a part of the northern kingdom of Israel, which was sent into the darkness of exile first.7 And so it is that Matthew immediately summarizes the heart of Jesus’s message in verse 17.

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This is precisely the message John the Baptist had been preaching. Though John’s voice is now silenced, his message continues to sound forth from the mouth of Jesus, the King himself. There are two main features of Jesus’s message, as it is summarized here. The announcement is that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He says that second, but this fact is the reason for the command he issues to the people. Matthew’s distinctive phrase, “the kingdom of heaven,” comes from the lips of Jesus; it’s not just a polite accommodation to Jewish concerns about saying the name of God or even the word “God.” Instead, it communicates an emphasis that this kingdom has its source in heaven. This kingdom is coming down from heaven to encompass the broken earth. It is God’s kingdom to be sure, and the primary emphasis in this phrase is the idea of God’s reign. The word “kingdom” often makes us think first of all about a place, but a kingdom

designates Galilee’s occupied status, a land possessed by, belonging to, ruled or controlled by Gentile imperialists, Assyria and Rome (see 2 Kgs 17:24-27).”

4 Cf. Michael J. Wilkins, Matthew (The NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004), pg. 173, who writes, “The inhabitants are called ‘the people sitting in darkness’ (Matt. 4:16), a description of Jews who awaited deliverance while living among the hopelessness of the Gentiles.”

5 Cf. David L. Turner, Matthew (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2008), pg. 133, who writes, “Originally Isa. 7–9 promised deliverance from the threat of Assyria. Matthew has already connected the birth of Jesus with the sign promised to Ahaz (Matt. 1:23; cf. Isa. 7:14; 8:8, 10). Here he connects the political darkness facing Israel in the days of Isaiah to the spiritual problem that caused it. Israel’s defection from the Mosaic covenant led to her oppression by other kingdoms, Assyria in this case. But for Matthew, Israel’s dark political prospects were symptomatic of her need for the redemption from sin available through Jesus the Messiah.”

6 It seems that Matthew chooses to use the word “dawn” at the end of his quotation of Isaiah 9:1-2, whereas the original Old Testament passage has a word meaning “shine,” in order to emphasize the nature of Jesus’s movement as the beginning of the fulfillment of this passage, and he also may be hinting at other passages of Isaiah that use the language of “dawning” in important promises about the future coming of God’s kingdom. See Nolland, Matthew, pgs. 174 and 176, who writes, “Matthew is responsible for moving the final image from the shining of light to the dawning of light, probably to provide a cross reference to other Isaianic salvation texts (58:8, 10; 60:1–3; cf. Mal. 4:2)…. In the case of Jesus, the imagery of a fresh dawn in 4:16 makes for a yet stronger bond between the coming of the future kingdom and what is presently happening in Jesus’ ministry.”

7 Cf. Frank Thielman, “Matthew,” in Gospel Transformation Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), pg. 1273, who writes, “Jesus fulfills the expectation of Isaiah that the most northern part of Israel, the section of the country that first experienced God’s judgment in the invasion of the Assyrians in the eighth century b.c. (Isa. 8:1–10; 2 Kings 15:29), would also be the first part of the country to experience God’s climactic act of redemption as Jesus began his ministry there.”

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is a kingdom because there is a King who reigns over his subjects.8 Yes, he also reigns over those subjects in a place, but the primary idea is his reign.9

So, the message is that God’s reign over all things is being established now. It is “at hand,” which is to say that it is dawning; it has arrived, but not fully. Jesus is the King; he carries the royal authority in himself. So, now that he has arrived, the kingdom has arrived. Jesus is going to exercise his royal authority throughout his ministry. He will demonstrate his kingship as he banishes demons and sickness from his realm,10 offers royal pardons to sinners, calls those sinners to submit to his rule, and promises to transform the citizens of his kingdom. Thus, Jesus’s message begins with a command, a royal decree: repent! That is the only appropriate response of sinners to the arrival of the heavenly King.

Matthew next tells us about an encounter between the King and a handful of sinful fishermen in verses 18-22. While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Matthew focuses in on one particular encounter with these fishermen to highlight Jesus’s royal authority in calling sinners to salvation and discipleship.11 He skips over the fact, which we learn in John’s Gospel, that Jesus had already met these men and interacted with them prior to this event.12 This is a decisive turning point for these four fishermen. Jesus approaches them in the

8 Cf. Jeannine K. Brown, Matthew (Teach the Text Commentary Series; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2015), pgs. 48-49, who writes, “Some commentators use the language of the ‘reign’ of God to express basileia in Matthew. This rendering helps the readers to hear that Matthew is not simply specifying a location but rather is reflecting the expectation of the activity of God’s reign ‘on earth as…in heaven’ (6:10). Matthew tells the story of Isaiah’s good news of God’s reign coming true in Jesus’ life and ministry.”

9 Cf. R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew (The New International Commentary on the New Testament; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007), pg. 151, who laments modern Christians’ tendency to abbreviate “the kingdom of heaven” or “the kingdom of God” to just “kingdom”; he writes, “Modern usage has unfortunately adopted this abbreviation to the extent that ‘the kingdom’ tout court is now commonly used to summarize the Christian message (a usage supported in the NT only by Acts 20:25); the word ‘kingdom’ is sometimes used these days even as an adjective (e.g. Keener, 155: ‘kingdom works’)! The effect of this abbreviation is to reinforce the common misunderstanding, already fostered by the unfortunate English translation ‘kingdom’ instead of e.g. ‘reign,’ that basileia means a ‘thing’ called a ‘kingdom’ rather than being a verbal noun to describe God ruling.”

10 Cf. Wilkins, Matthew, pg. 182, who writes, “Healing signals once again that Jesus has authority over the powers of this world and confirms the arrival of the kingdom of God (11:4–6).”

11 Cf. Wilkins, Matthew, pgs. 177-178, who writes, “The calling scene especially highlights Jesus’ authority. When he calls, people obey. It is by virtue of Jesus’ authority alone that one can embark on the life of discipleship and sustain it.”

12 At least one writer suggests that a year has elapsed since their first meeting, but I’m not sure that can be proven. It is almost certain that the events recorded in John 1:19-4:42 occurred prior to the events beginning in Matt. 4:12. Cf. Wilkins, Matthew, pg. 178.

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middle of their work and commands13 them to abandon ship—literally!—and to follow him. What’s he commanding here? Basically, he’s saying, “Go where I go; do what I do.”

Jesus is not simply acting as a rabbi here, calling students to study him and his ways and his teachings. In fact, Jewish rabbis didn’t choose their students in this fashion; students would choose their rabbi and ask permission to become one of his disciples. Jesus chooses and calls his disciples.14

Now, I want to take a moment to reflect on the nature of this “call.” Is Jesus calling these men to salvation, or is he calling them to service, as the distinction is sometimes made? Some folks insist that this must be a special call to service that only applies to the apostles and does not apply to all Christians.15 Or, if this kind of calling applies to Christians today, it is viewed as the kind of thing a pastor or a missionary might experience. The call to discipleship is viewed by some as a call to greater commitment that may not be for everybody, so that a person could be a Christian but not be a disciple. Others see this call as the call to salvation, so that to be a disciple is to be a Christian; a disciple is a believer.16

Perhaps the best way to say this is that the call to discipleship includes the call to salvation. Let me show you why I see a tight connection between Jesus’s call, “Follow me,” and salvation. Flip over to Matthew 19 for just a moment. This is the story of the rich young ruler. In Matt. 19:16, he approached Jesus to ask, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus reminds him of the Ten Commandments, which this rich young man claims to have kept sufficiently. So, Jesus then instructs him to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor, and, Jesus says in verse 21, “Come, follow me.” So, there’s the same “call” issued to this rich young man. You remember how the rich young man responds? He went home sad. Commenting on this encounter, Jesus says to his disciples in verse 24, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.” So, Jesus here connects his call to “follow me” with entering the kingdom of heaven. He goes on to speak of the apparent impossibility of rich people entering the kingdom of God, and in verse 25 the disciples ask, in astonishment, “Who then can be saved?” So, in this passage we see Jesus’s call to “follow me” connected with having eternal life (the rich man’s question), entering the kingdom of God (Jesus’s comments to his disciples), and being saved (his disciples’ question).

Now, back to Matthew 4. If “going away sad” is the wrong response to Jesus’s call, then what does the proper response look like? I’m going to compress the two encounters because the four fishermen all respond essentially the same way. Matthew uses the same phrase each time: Immediately they left...and followed him (Matt. 4:20, 22).17 Peter and Andrew left their nets, and James and John left their boat and their father. Jesus calls them in the middle of their

13 While it’s common to speak of this as an invitation, we need to recognize that it is much more than an invitation. Jesus commands people to follow him. Cf. Turner, Matthew, pg. 136, who writes simply, “The call to discipleship…is an unconditional, unexplained demand, not a polite, reasoned invitation.”

14 See the brief summary of Wilkins, Matthew, pg. 180. Cf. also France, Matthew, pg. 147, who writes, “[T]hose who wished to follow a rabbi generally took the initiative themselves, rather than being summoned in this way. What Jesus issues here is not even an invitation, but rather a demand.”

15 For example, Charles C. Bing, “The Making of a Disciple,” Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society 5:2 (Autumn 1992): pgs. 27-43.

16 As clearly stated by Michael J. Wilkins, Following the Master: A Biblical Theology of Discipleship (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992), pg. 111.

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workday,18 and they respond without hesitation! These fishermen left their livelihood and their family. Allegiance to Jesus affects every area of life and changes the way you live.19 These men abandoned their profession, which would have largely shaped their identity.20 They were fisherman; now, at Jesus’s call, they must become something else.21

This takes us back to the promise Jesus makes to these men, and I am assuming that the promise he verbalized to Peter and Andrew applies just as well to James and John. He promises in verse 19, I will make you fishers of men. They were fishermen; Jesus promised to make them fishers of men, people-fishers. He was going to send them out to “catch” people. Think about that image for a moment; it’s quite ironic on a number of levels. How many of you would call yourselves fishermen? Raise your hands. Tell me, fishermen friends, what happens to the fish when you catch them? They die! We kill them and eat them!22 Transfer the image. Suddenly fishing for people doesn’t really sound that appealing. In fact, it’s this feature of fishing that usually comes out when the Bible uses fishing as a metaphor; several times in the Old Testament God is said to “fish for people,” meaning he’s catching the wicked for judgment, or God sends fishermen to announce his coming judgment.23 Ironically, Jesus turns this image on its head; he is sending out fishermen who will save people from judgment!24 Ordinarily, “fishing kills, while Jesus’ new fishing brings life!”

Beyond that, do fish want to be caught? Think about fishing without bait on a hook; think about fishing with a cast net, which is what Peter and Andrew were doing. When fish get caught in a net, they immediately begin frantically trying to escape. Fast forward a few years in Peter’s life. Peter has a big catch of fish on the Day of Pentecost; about 3000 people were caught in Peter’s

17 Cf. Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1-13 (Word Biblical Commentary 33A; Dallas: Word, 1993), pg. 77, who writes, “He apparently sees in this verse the pattern of true discipleship: the leaving behind of past preoccupations and the unhesitating and unconditional response of following.”

18 This is not uncommon in Scripture and in life. See the calls of Gideon (Judg. 6:11-12), Elisha (1 Kgs. 19:19), and Amos (Amos 7:14-15) in the Old Testament, and later in Matthew’s Gospel see the call of Matthew himself (Matt. 9:9). Cf. Turner, Matthew, pg. 135.

19 Cf. Wilkins, Matthew, pg. 180, who writes, “Discipleship was a life that began in relationship with the Master and moved into all areas of their experience.”

20 Cf. Osborne, Matthew, pg. 150, who writes, “The call of Jesus involves a complete break with the previous way of life (16:24–26; cf. Luke 9:62) and a voluntary surrender to a sacrificial lifestyle.”

21 Cf. Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew (The Pillar New Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), pg. 86, who writes, “The word left can have the meaning ‘abandoned’ (cf. 26:56), and whether Matthew means it in this sense or not he is speaking of a decisive action. Until then these men had been fishermen; now they were committing themselves to becoming disciples of Jesus. They left their nets and all that those nets meant behind.”

22 Cf. Osborne, Matthew, pg. 149, who writes, “Jesus’ use of the fishing metaphor is brilliant. The purpose of fishing is to kill the fish and use it for food; in Jesus’ new fishing the ‘prey’ are caught and saved from destruction. This also reverses the OT metaphor, where the people netted are sent to divine judgment (Jer 16:16; Ezek 47:10; Amos 4:2; Hab 1:14–15), while here they are saved from that very judgment. Fishing kills, while Jesus’ new fishing brings life!”

23 In fact, according to Morris, Matthew, pg. 85, “Stendahl reminds us that ‘used in a good sense’ there is ‘no known precedent’ for this expression.”

24 Cf. D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (vol. 8; edited by Frank E. Gæbelein; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984), pg. 119, who writes, “The metaphor ‘fishers of men’ glances back to the work of the two being called. It may also be reminiscent of Jeremiah 16:16. There Yahweh sends ‘fishermen’ to gather his people for the Exile; here Jesus sends ‘fishermen’ to announce the end of the Exile…and the beginning of the messianic reign.”

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net. But Peter casts his net again at the end of Acts 3, and we read these words in Acts 4:1-3: And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. Sounds like these fish don’t want to be caught! In spite of this, the next verse tells us that many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. Later, the religious leaders arrest them again and insist on stopping these fishermen from fishing in Jerusalem, but they defiantly refuse! So, the religious leaders have them beaten and then tell them one more time to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, but then we read these words in Acts 5:42, immediately after they are released: And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. It sounds like Jesus made good on his promise; he has made Peter a people-fisher. That is Peter’s new identity; he couldn’t stop being a people-fisher even if he’d wanted to!25

Now, Matthew 4 concludes with an epic summary of the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. Look at verses 23-25: And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Teaching, preaching, and healing—a great summary of Jesus’s ministry activity. I want to connect this back to verse 17. The kingdom of heaven is at hand, and we see this by Jesus’s teaching, preaching, and healing. The appropriate response to the arrival of the kingdom is for sinners to repent; Jesus will teach that the appropriate response to both healing and preaching is repentance. In Matt. 11:20, he says, Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. So, when Jesus performed “mighty works,” miracles, including healing, the proper response would’ve been repentance. Then, in Matt. 12:41, he says, The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. Jonah’s preaching resulted in repentance—an incomplete and partial repentance, but repentance nonetheless. Therefore, how much more should sinners repent when they hear Jesus’s preaching, and, indeed, how much more completely should they repent, since Jesus and his preaching is greater than Jonah and his preaching?

Note the repetition of the word “all” or “every” in these verses. Jesus “went throughout all Galilee.” He healed “every disease and every affliction.” “His fame spread throughout all Syria.” “They brought him all the sick…and he healed them.” Notice also the emphasis on geography.

25 In light of the Old Testament background noted above, it’s possible that Jesus intends for the metaphor to have a double meaning, so that “fishing” equals communicating the gospel to people, and sometimes “fishing” results in salvation and sometimes it results in judgment. Paul perhaps uses a different metaphor to communicate the same thing in 2 Cor. 2:14-16. Cf. France, Matthew, pg. 147, who writes, “When the metaphor of fishing is used again in 13:47-50 the same ‘catching’ will lead for some to judgment and for others to salvation. It is a metaphor for the time of decision, and Simon and Andrew will have a role in bringing people to that decision (10:5-15; 28:19-20).”

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Seven place names are mentioned, including Galilee twice. There is a map on the back of your sermon notes, so you can see these regions.26

Syria is up in the far north; Galilee is there to the northwest of the Jordan River, and the Decapolis is there to the southeast of the Sea of Galilee; then, you can see Judea to the south, with Jerusalem there in the middle of Judea; and finally, the region beyond the Jordan refers to

26 This map comes from Aubrey L. Taylor, “Capernaum: A Strategic Home for the Messiah,” in Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels (edited by Barry J. Beitzel and Kristopher A. Lyle; Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2016), n.p.

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the territory east of the Jordan, in the province of Perea.27 Matthew seems to want us to see that Jesus has come to draw all Jews from all over the world to himself.28 Indeed, Matthew may be portraying Jesus as a new Joshua, in a sense re-conquering the Promised Land and re-establishing the people of Israel as God’s people.29 The true return from exile is beginning,30 not simply as a return to the land, but as a return to God himself in the person of Jesus Christ. But, at this point, people are drawn simply by hearing of his miracle-working power.

This is indeed the dawning of God’s kingdom on earth. The good news that God’s reign is beginning with God’s human King on the scene is being announced,31 and his authority is being demonstrated by sending sickness and evil spirits out of those who come to him. “The gospel of the kingdom” is a phrase only used in Matthew’s Gospel,32 and it is important to see the connection between the gospel as we typically understand it, the message focused on Jesus’s sacrificial death and victorious resurrection, and the kingdom.33 I’d like for you to watch a video34 that does a good job of illustrating and explaining this concept, and then I’ll come back and conclude our message this morning. The video begins by depicting Isaiah 52:7-12.35

For us, the dawn has long ago given way to the full noonday light. We could even say that now we are living in an extended dusk; the twilight hours are upon us; sunset approaches. But the

27 Cf. David E. Garland, Reading Matthew: A Literary and Theological Commentary on the First Gospel (Reading the New Testament Series; Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys, 2001), pg. 50, who observes, “The summary also tells us that people came to Jesus in Galilee from far and wide, but the list of areas from which they came takes in the four corners of the kingdom of Israel as it existed in the glory days of David: NW Galilee; NE Decapolis; SW Judea; SE Perea, beyond the Jordan, with Jerusalem in the center.”

28 Cf. Wilkins, Matthew, pg. 183, who writes, “While some of these regions were populated extensively with Gentiles (e.g., the Decapolis), it is doubtful that Matthew means to imply that there is a widespread Gentile following. Those coming to Jesus are still primarily Jews, but they come from everywhere.”

29 Suggested by Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth (Preaching the Word series; Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), pgs. 91-92, who writes, “We have Galilee in the northwest, the Decapolis in the northeast, Jerusalem and Judea in the southwest, and finally ‘beyond the Jordan,’ in the southeast. I don’t want to make too much of this. However, since Matthew’s mind is so saturated with the Old Testament, especially in the first four chapters of his Gospel, I deduce that he is using all this geography to depict Jesus as a new Joshua. It’s as if he wants us to picture a new Joshua (‘Jesus’ is Greek for the Hebrew name ‘Joshua’) coming to reconquer the promised land and to rule it, to usher in a new and better kingdom, a heavenly kingdom (v. 17), drawing Jews from the north and south and east and west.”

30 This is also set up by the prophecy Matthew has quoted in this passage, since Isaiah was pointing forward to the return from exile. Cf. Craig L. Blomberg, “Matthew,” in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (edited by G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2008), pg. 18, who writes, “The light dawning on them in darkness and in the land of the shadow of death would thus refer initially to their return from exile.”

31 Cf. Hagner, Matthew 1-13, pg. 74, who writes, “The gospel in its essence is the proclamation of the good news of the dawning of God’s rule.”

32 Pointed out by Morris, Matthew, pg. 88.33 Cf. Carson, “Matthew,” pg. 121, who writes, “Mark prefers ‘the gospel’ or ‘the gospel of Christ’ or ‘the

gospel of God’ (Mark 1:1, 14; 8:35; 10:29; 13:10); but the difference between these expressions and ‘gospel of the kingdom’ is purely linguistic, since the ‘good news’ concerns God and the inbreaking of his saving reign in the person of his Son the Messiah.”

34 You can watch the video at https://thebibleproject.com/videos/gospel-kingdom/. 35 On the significance of Isaiah 52:7 in defining the nature of the gospel message, see Brown, Matthew, pgs.

48-49, who writes, “The connection between the good news (euangelion, ‘gospel’) and the kingdom is reminiscent of Isaiah. In Isaiah 52:7 the ‘good news’ of God’s promised salvation to Zion is expressed in the message ‘Your God reigns!’ This identification of Isaiah’s ‘gospel’ with the future return and reign of God illuminates Matthew’s affirmation that Jesus preaches the ‘gospel’ of the kingdom—that is, God’s return and ultimate reign.”

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sunset we await will not give way to the darkness of night; instead, we will enter into an eternity of light, where there will be no more night, when the King returns.

In the meantime, who are we? We are disciples, followers of Jesus, subjects of the risen King. As Paul says, we are people whom our heavenly Father “has delivered…from the domain of darkness and transferred…to the kingdom of his beloved Son.”36 We are citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

How should citizens of the kingdom of heaven live? Largely, that is the question the Sermon on the Mount will address. But from this passage, we can already see three important characteristics, three hallmarks of the normal Christian life: repentance, following Jesus, and people-fishing.

1. Repentance (2 Cor. 7:9-10)If you don’t know much about this Jesus we’re talking about, and you’re not really sure what he’s all about, but you sense his call is directed at you this morning, I urge you to respond. Don’t wait until you have everything figured out. Don’t think that you have to understand how the hypostatic union works, or know how many Messianic prophecies Jesus fulfilled, or figure out how to prove that Jesus really rose from the dead. Don’t think you have to attain a certain amount of information or a certain status to “qualify.” No one qualifies! That’s the point. Jesus calls the unqualified. Jesus calls the inadequate. When you hear the call, “Follow me,” how does Jesus expect you to respond? He expects you to turn. Behind the call, “Follow me,” is the command, “Repent.” To follow a person, you have to be facing the same direction they are. Implied in the call, “Follow me,” is also the command “Trust.” To follow someone, you need to believe that they’re taking you somewhere you want to go, and you need to believe that they can get you there.

Jesus has proven his faithfulness, his trustworthiness. We didn’t invite the Son of God to become human; we didn’t invite God to come into this world to rescue us. On his own initiative, the Son of God came into this world he had created, and, when he got here, we didn’t welcome him; we didn’t invite him into our lives. We crucified him. Human beings looked at God in the flesh and said, “Nah, not interested.” Or worse, we said, “Evil! Worthy of death! Crucify him!” He proved his faithfulness to rebellious people by going through with it. He told the men who arrested him that he had the power and authority to summon 12 legions of angelic soldiers who would fight to protect him, but he chose to lay down his rights; he chose not to use his power for his own benefit. He went all the way through the mockery, the false witnesses, the beatings, the spitting, and finally the cross itself. Oh, yes, he proved that he is utterly trustworthy. He died for sins he did not commit; he died for sins that I commit and that you commit. How would he fulfill his promises to the disciples to make them people-fishers if he’s dead? Well, he didn’t stay dead! God raised him from the dead and put him back on his throne in heaven where he belongs. So, it’s this Jesus, the risen King of the Universe, who calls you, “Follow me.” You can trust him; turn away from your sin; turn toward him in faith; and follow him wherever he leads, because wherever he leads is good.

But this call to repentance is not a one-time event for the Christian; the whole Christian life is a life characterized by continual repentance. The first of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses said, “When

36 Col. 1:13.

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our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” Pastor Barry reflected on this briefly in his message a couple of weeks ago. I think I know why an emphasis on repentance in the Christian life might seem a little foreign to us. Only once in Paul’s letters do we find him using the language of repentance in reference to Christians. After Paul had sent the Corinthians a “harsh letter”—one that we don’t have in our Bibles—he heard that they were upset, “grieved” by it. The church had been committing a variety of sins, but, in particular, someone had been maligning Paul’s character and message. His letter appears to have—quite directly—called them out on their sinful behavior, and he thus caused them grief. But he knows that their grief might not have been the right kind of grief. So, he writes, in 2 Cor. 7:9-10, As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

These verses help us see that repentance is more than just a change of mind or heart. Paul contrasts “worldly grief” with “godly grief.” Godly grief produces repentance, an actual change in behavior, a transformation of life that can be seen, and ultimately this transformation paves the pathway to final salvation. The normal Christian life involves experiencing this “godly grief that produces repentance” whenever we sin as Christians. “Worldly grief,” on the other hand, is merely an empty feeling that doesn’t produce anything but death. Feeling bad about doing something wrong, about sinning, or about failing is not repentance.37 But this feeling, when experienced in relationship to God—that is to say, “godly grief”—means feeling bad because our sinful behavior or words or attitudes or thoughts displease God.38 “Worldly grief” is the feeling of regret because you got caught or because there are painful consequences. “Worldly grief” is not productive; it doesn’t lead to any positive change. Instead, it has the tendency to immobilize you, to lock you up in depression.39

How do you know if your bad feelings are “worldly grief” or “godly grief”? Pastor Kevin DeYoung says, “There is an eternal difference between regret and repentance. Regret feels bad about past sins. Repentance turns away from past sins.”40 The test is whether your bad feelings result in an actual change of behavior or not.41 Paul goes on in 2 Cor. 7 to describe the changes he heard about in the Corinthians. Their “godly grief” led to repentance that took the form of an earnestness to support Paul, and an indignation probably directed at the one who influenced them

37 Cf. John Piper, “The Good End of Godly Regret,” sermon preached December 30, 1984, at Bethlehem Baptist Church, in Minneapolis, MN, who said,” The first thing to notice is that repentance is not identical with grief or regret over sin. It is the result of these emotions. To feel sorry, to feel grief or guilt or regret over a past sin is not the same as repenting. Repentance is the change of attitude or behavior that results from the feeling of remorse over the sin.”

38 Cf. Piper, “The Good End of Godly Regret,” who said, “So in summary, godly grief, or godly regret, is the uncomfortable feeling of guilt when the Word of God shows you that what you’ve done is sin and thus has brought reproach on God’s name.”

39 Cf. Piper, “The Good End of Godly Regret,” who provided this idea, saying, “In other words, godly regret is a very fruitful emotion. It does not immobilize you in the pits of depression. It is temporary and effective.”

40 Kevin DeYoung, “Godly Grief,” blog posted June 4, 2010, at https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/godly-grief/.

41 Cf. Piper, “The Good End of Godly Regret,” who said, “The test of whether our grief is of God or of the world is whether it produces change. Repentance is turning away from and renouncing one way and going in another.”

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to abandon Paul and, perhaps, directed at themselves for having been led astray. They also now expressed fear, probably toward God, in light of the seriousness of their sin, as well as a renewed zeal for Paul and his ministry.42

Godly grief is a temporary feeling of remorse over specific sin that effectively produces a real change, repentance. This feeling of remorse is like physical pain; physical pain alerts us to the reality that something is wrong. Sometimes this feeling needs to be provoked by other people. The Corinthians didn’t feel this “godly grief” until Paul sent his harsh letter. He confronted their sin, and they felt appropriately remorseful. But it didn’t remain a mere feeling; instead, this inward feeling produced an outward change. John Piper says, “Physical pain and moral regret always point beyond themselves to other problems to be solved. The pain and regret are only symptoms and they are good for that purpose. Instead of running from them, we should face them head on and admit the disease and seek a deeper cure in Christ.”43 If we ignore physical pain, we can risk increased damage in our bodies. If we ignore our conscience when it moves us to grief and fail to reflect on that grief in relationship to God, and we don’t actually do anything, we have only experienced worldly grief.

So, what could this look like in our lives? Think of your own particular besetting sins. Are there areas of your life that you recognize are not pleasing God? Let me provide one specific example that I know all of us deal with occasionally, and some of us deal with it all the time. Do you regularly feel anxiety, fear about the future? Do you recognize this as disobedience to Jesus, sin against God? What does repentance from the sin of anxiety look like? If you feel bad about your anxiety, you say to yourself, “I really wish I wasn’t so anxious; I’m tired of living in fear all the time,” and then you just go on about your day and wake up the next morning just as anxious as the previous day, you have only experienced worldly grief. Instead, can you admit that your anxiety, your worrying, your fear about the future is a rejection of God’s word? Can you admit that your anxiety is sin, disobedience against Jesus? Call it what it is.

But, that’s still not repentance. Repentance would be listening to Jesus tell you, “Do not be anxious,” and then to follow his instruction on how to get past your fears. In the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:25-34, what’s the prescription to fight anxiety? Look at the birds; consider the lilies. Think about how God provides for the birds and the flowers, and then believe the promises of God’s love for you and his commitment to provide for his children even better than he provides for the birds and the flowers. Whatever else you do to fight anxiety, this is the Great Physician’s specific prescription. Repentance is incomplete until you stop being anxious. If anxiety is your besetting sin, take it seriously as sin and prioritize dealing with it according to God’s method. Remembering that repentance is a gift from God, ask God to enable you to turn away from anxiety each time you experience it. When you realize you’re being fearful, or when someone points out to you that you’re speaking anxiously, respond! Don’t ignore your conscience or your loved ones.

The second thing we should talk about from this passage is following Jesus. In Matt. 10:25a, Jesus says, It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his

42 Cf. Scott J. Hafemann, 2 Corinthians (The NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), pg. 313, who explains this more fully.

43 Piper, “The Good End of Godly Regret.” He also said, “Godly regret is to sin what pain is to disease. A sensitive conscience is a gift of God, just like nerve endings that recoil from scalding water.”

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master. The life of discipleship—that is, the Christian life—is about becoming more like the one we follow. Our identity must be shaped, first and foremost, by the fact that we are following Jesus. You see, I don’t think it’s true to say, “If you’re a Christian, when God looks at you he doesn’t see you at all but only Christ.” That seems to imply that becoming a Christian means your personal, individual identity is completely overshadowed. I think the Bible provides a different picture; if you are a Christian, when God looks at you he still sees you, but he sees you in Christ. He sees you as you are connected to Jesus Christ, and that connection is an unbreakable bond. The strength of that connection is not based on the power of your faltering faith, or on the power of your prayers. Rather, the strength of that connection is based on the power of the resurrected Jesus Christ, and that means that nothing in all of the universe can sever that connection.

Our allegiance to Jesus must shape every area of our lives.44 We can’t follow him with only part of ourselves. He doesn’t call us to follow him with only our minds, or only our emotions, or only our bodies. He calls the whole person. Faith and repentance are drawn together in the call to follow Jesus. We will stumble along the path as we follow Jesus; our faith will falter at times. But, if we have responded to Jesus’s call, the truth about us is this: he has changed our fundamental identity; the moment we begin trusting Jesus we are permanently and irreversibly united to Jesus and we become a new creation, as Paul writes in 2 Cor. 5:17.

Finally, from this passage, we need to talk about what it means to fish for people. Jesus is out to make all of us people-fishers. What does that mean? Does it mean that every one of us must quit our jobs, leave our families, and become pastors or missionaries? No, I don’t think it means that.45 But, it does mean that we are to be focused on doing the good works that God has already prepared for us to do, and it means that whatever our vocation or career, Jesus is making us into people-fishers.46 As one writer puts it, “Whatever our profession, whether preacher or plumber, teacher or technician, hotel maid or hospital orderly, discipleship means that we place as the priority of our lives joining with Jesus in reaching our daily world with the good news of life in the kingdom of heaven.”47

Note that phrase, “joining with Jesus.” Jesus calls us to follow him and turns us into something we were not before, fishers of men. If he’s made us fishers of men, then we must be about the business of fishing for people. But don’t envision this as if Jesus just commands us to go out and fish for people by ourselves. No; when Jesus says, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men,” he’s saying, “I’m going out to fish for people; join me; come with me.” This is what you were made for; this is what you were saved for.

44 Cf. Morris, Matthew, pgs. 86-87, who writes, “Matthew tells us further that this pair left not only their boat but their father, thus breaking the strongest family tie. Allegiance to Jesus is stronger than any earthly attachment.”

45 Cf. Hagner, Matthew 1-13, pg. 78, who writes, “The call of God through Jesus is sovereign and absolute in its authority; the response of those who are called is to be both immediate and absolute, involving a complete break with old loyalties. The actual shape of this break with the past will undoubtedly vary from individual to individual, but that there must be a fundamental, radical reorientation of a person’s priorities is taken for granted.”

46 Cf. Carson, “Matthew,” pgs. 119-120, who speaks of “a straight line from this commission to the Great Commission (Mt 28:18-20). Jesus’ followers are indeed to catch men.”

47 Wilkins, Matthew, pg. 187.

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Fishing for people involves telling others about Jesus, and that includes telling others about what Jesus did 2000 years ago, dying for sinners and rising from the dead, and it includes telling others about what Jesus is doing in our lives right now. “Catching people” could be a picture of telling non-believers the gospel, but once we’ve “caught” them, what do we do with them? I’ll tell you what we don’t do with them: we don’t throw them back in the sea and expect them to fend for themselves. Rather, in another somewhat ironic turn, we teach the person to fish! The “fish” we catch must become the fishermen. As we follow Jesus, we must help others follow Jesus.48

48 Cf. Blomberg, Matthew, pg. 91, who writes, “Just as fishermen try to gather fish from the sea, his disciples too will be trying to gather together other individuals who are willing to follow Jesus in radical obedience.”

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