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Jesus Begins His MinistryMatthew 4:12-25

When the temptations of Christ by Satan were complete and the angels had ministered to Jesus to renew and refresh Him, He set out on what is termed as His Judean ministry which lasted about a year and is covered in the Gospel of John chapters 1-4. John the Baptist in the meantime continued his ministry, boldly preaching the truth of repentance and righteousness. S- Matthew 4:12-25 “Now when He heard that John had

been arrested, He withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth He went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

S-15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 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.”

David Guzik helps us with the chronology of Jesus’ early ministry. Note that Matthew was not particularly concerned with the timeline, he had his message that he was to put out, and he did just that. “When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee: S- John 3:22 and John 4:1-3 indicate that the first ministry Jesus did with His disciples was a baptizing ministry at the Jordan. Sometime after that and after the

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arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus went to Galilee to begin His itinerant ministry in that region.S- John’s Gospel (John 1:19-2:12) records an early ministry in Galilee and in Judea before Jesus went to Galilee as mentioned here in Matthew. This early Judean ministry included the earliest call of the disciples; the wedding at Cana (in Galilee), and the first cleansing of the temple followed by His interview with Nicodemus in John 3, in Judea. S- Then John tells us what happened when Jesus traveled north to Galilee through Samaria and met a Samaritan woman at a well.”PK- When Jesus heard of John’s arrest it set in motion the next phase of Jesus’ ministry which was Preaching and teaching. Jesus moved to the north of Nazareth to Capernaum by the sea of Galilee which would become Jesus’ home base until His final journey to Jerusalem.Christ’s message was identical to that of John the Baptist: “Repent, because God’s rule through the Messiah is drawing near”1

S- G. Campbell Morgan comments that, “Galilee was in Herod’s territory, who had imprisoned John. Into that region, our Lord went to continue the ministry of the man thus silenced…Thus it has ever been, and still is. Evil may silence a voice, but it cannot prevent the proclamation of the Word. If John is imprisoned, then Jesus takes up the message.”

1 H. L. Willmington, Willmington’s Bible Handbook (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1997), 526.

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PK- It just stands to reason being that John was Jesus forerunner that Jesus would begin where John left off.So, what happened to cause John to be imprisoned? Dr. Luke tells us in his gospel.S- Luke 3:19-20 “But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.” PK- John was bold in calling out sin. Plus, John’s time and purpose had been completed, and so the Lord was going to bring him home for his rewards.Again, we see a fulfillment of a detailed prophecy, this time of the prophet Isaiah, for the purpose of assuring those Jewish readers that were seeking the truth that Jesus was truly the long-awaited Messiah. And of course, for us also, for us to see God’s overarching divine plan playing out just as He had designed. 1John 1:5 explains what Isaiah foresaw happening when Jesus moved up from Nazareth to Capernaum in the land of the tribes of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. Jesus is the light of the world and those who seek Him, His light shall shine on them opening their eyes to the truth and hope of their Messiah. S- 1John 1:5 “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” S- Albert Barnes comments on this light.

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“That God is light. Light, in the Scriptures, is the emblem of purity, truth, knowledge, prosperity, and happiness--as darkness is of the opposite. John here says that "God is light"--not the light, or a light, but light itself; that is, he is himself all light, and is the source and fountain of light in all worlds.” PK- When Isaiah prophesied “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.” Isaiah is saying that these people in the area of Galilee would be witness to the light of the world because that’s where Jesus now lived and He would start His Preaching ministry, these people would no longer be doomed to dwell in darkness, they now had an opportunity for hope, understanding and salvation. S-17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying,

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” PK- Jesus picks up where John had left off

preaching. To Preach is to proclaim a message directly from the king “The kingdom was near in the sense that the King was

present.”2

Now Jesus begins to build His team. S- Matthew 4:18-22, “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.

2 William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1214.

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19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 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.

22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.”

PK- We can trace two different accounts where Jesus encounters these men. The first meeting took place in Jerusalem, as recorded in John 1:35-42 that is where the disciples were called to salvation and the second encounter was by the Sea of Galilee, as we are reading here in Matthew. This encounter is where Jesus calls them to into service to follow Him, to be separated from their families and the life that they had known up to this time. Mark and Luke tell us that they went back to fishing for a time, which lead to the calling as Apostles, or ambassadors for the Gospel message. A calling that they would learn from Jesus over the next three years and ultimately give their lives for.

PK- What kind of men did Jesus choose to be the instruments for getting out the most important message the world had ever heard? Were they special in any way, with advanced degrees in theology or maybe they had photographic memories? Maybe they were great orators who had mastered the languages of the known world? Or maybe they were famous and very attractive to draw big crowds? No, these were fishermen, we don’t know their education or backgrounds but none of them stood out as

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Popstars. They were like you and me, flaws and all, imperfect. Spurgeon notes that “God usually calls people as they are busy doing something. Jesus called the apostles as they were casting a net into the sea or mending their nets. “They were busy in a lawful occupation when he called them to be ministers: our Lord does not call idlers but fishers.” PK- What’s encouraging here is that the only requirement is a willingness to be used by Jesus. Not everyone will be put in the same role within Jesus’ Church, some will be evangelists, some teachers some administrators, some greeters, others worship leaders. Each one of us is chosen for our special talents and gifts. J. Vernon McGee told of a lady in his church that was tongue-tied when it came to trying to witness for Christ, but she could bake the most marvelous cakes. She would go on and on about how she could not share her faith. Then one day, J. Vernon said to her, “Did it ever occur to you that the Lord may want you in the church family to bake cakes?” You see everyone is placed in the body for a special reason to exercise their gifts for the furtherance of the Kingdom and to share the Good News of the salvation of Christ. And that might be feeding the sheep pecan pie or red velvet cake with whipped cream icing. It might be making the coffee that will be drank by the worship leader as he or she is talking to a new visitor about the needs of the music ministry and that person turns out to be the person Jesus has brought in to play the bass guitar or be the future worship leader. We don’t know but God does, He has a place and plan for every saint, no matter what, God can use ALL willing hearts.

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But ALL are called to evangelize, to seek to convert the lost and as it has been said, it might even mean using words. Can you do that? Can you follow the lead of the disciples, and jump out of your comfort zone and be fishers of men as Jesus leads you? You will never know why Jesus brought you to His church until you say, Yes, I will be used by God, however He wants to use me.PK-Let’s take a minute to explain the gospels again. God saw fit to give us four separate gospels, each with its own purpose and style, using four different men from four different backgrounds, one a doctor, one a tax collector, one a fisherman and one a young follower of Peter. Each has his own perspective of the same message, depending on what God had designed for that gospel. So, when we read differences it’s by design not an oversight or mistake. Like what we are reading here in Matthew is different from Luke or Mark or John. J. Vernon McGee says that it’s wrong to try and harmonize the gospels for this very reason, and I agree fully, it defeats the purpose God built into each one.Matthew doesn’t cover the details that the others do and that’s OK because God has given him a focus, “Matthew is the gospel written by a Jew to Jews about a Jew. Matthew’s design is to present Jesus as the King of the Jews, the long-awaited Messiah. Therefore, we will be reading more concerning Jesus’ role as pertaining to His royalty. The fulfillment of prophesies, His genealogy, baptism, messages, and miracles all point to the same inescapable conclusion: Christ is King!

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Now we will be cross-referencing to the other Gospels from time to time to fill in color and/or details, which is important, but again each has a different scope and each is used for the painting of our portrait of Jesus Christ the Savior of the world, the King of the Jews; the Son of Man; Jesus Christ the perfect human; and the second person of the Godhead, the Son of God. One Gospel is not above the others, we need them all so the Holy Spirit can draw them all together giving us a clear understanding of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Now Jesus sets out to show His love to the people in word and deed.

Jesus Ministers to Great CrowdsS- 23 “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. 24 So His fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought Him all the sick, S- those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and He healed them. 25 And great crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.”PK- Jesus began by walking from town to town from synagogue to synagogue shining His light into the hearts of men, women and child, those hungering for the hope of heaven. Teaching is clearly explaining the message,

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Preaching includes calling for a response to what is taught. Healing consists of a visible demonstration of the power of the message. The Apostle Luke tells of some of what was going on around Jesus.

S- Luke 6:17-19 “And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases,

S- 18 as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. 19 And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.”

S- Walvoord puts it nicely, “No affliction was beyond His healing touch. The kingdom blessings promised by Isaiah 35:5–6, due for fulfillment in the future kingdom, here became the credentials of the King in His first coming.”3

S- Isaiah 35:5-6 “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert.”

3 John F. Walvoord, Matthew: Thy Kingdom Come (Galaxie Software, 2007), 39.

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PK- We will never see Christ’s enemies ever question His miracles, there were too many living testimonies walking around that would have shown up and proven them liars. I challenge you all today, to get out of your comfort zone and become a fisher of men and women!

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