Messiah Begins Ministry

Transcript

GR 655
1/15/1984
Messiah Begins Ministry
Matthew 4:12-25
Gil Rugh

The previous study concluded the introductory section of Matthew's Gospel where he laid the background and groundwork for the ministry of Christ. The introductory section included matters such as the virgin birth, the coming of the magi, the response of Herod and the Jews to Jesus' birth, the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, and the temptation of Christ. The temptation of Christ demonstrated that He was One who not only did not sin, but also could not sin. He is the One who was supremely qualified morally to be the Messiah of Israel. This introductory section ends with Matthew 4:11.
Between verses 11 and 12 of chapter 4, as much as one year elapsed, including events to which Matthew makes no reference. Apparently it does not suit his purpose to include the events of that year.
This study of Matthew will not attempt to harmonize the Gospels, but for your own profit you may want to get a harmony of the Gospels and read through it as you go through this study of the Gospel of Matthew. Such a harmony will bring in other related material from the other Gospels.
The events which occurred between verses 11 and 12 of Matthew 4 are recorded in John 1:19 through 4:54. In those verses John recorded the early Judean ministry of Christ. Matthew chose not to record those events but picks up with the ministry of Christ at Capernaum in Galilee.
Matthew 9 refers to Jesus getting in the boat, crossing the Sea of Galilee and coming "to His own city." This is referring to Capernaum, which became known as the focal point of Christ's ministry rather than Nazareth. It is recorded in verse 9 of this chapter that Matthew was called to be one of Jesus' disciples. It may be that Matthew began recording these events at Capernaum because that was where he joined the ministry of Christ. Matthew himself was from Capernaum. At any rate, it has been approximately one year since Christ began His public ministry after the temptation recorded in the opening verses of Matthew 4.
Matthew begins a new section of his Gospel in verse 12 of chapter 4: "Now when He heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee." Jesus withdrew into Galilee after having ministered in Judea, particularly in the region around Jerusalem. Word came to Jesus that John the Baptist had been imprisoned by Herod. That indicates the development of hostile attitudes towards John and his message. The details of John's imprisonment are given later. Keep in mind that Matthew is not concerned about chronological development. His desire is to arrange his material and present it consistent with his purposes in demonstrating Christ as the Messiah.
The explanation behind the statement of Matthew 4:12 is given in 14:3,4: "For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had been saying to him, 'It is not lawful for you to have her.'" John the Baptist had been preaching against Herod for taking his brother's wife as his own wife, and for that reason John was imprisoned by Herod. This open hostility caused Jesus to withdraw from Jerusalem and Judea and move to Capernaum.
It was becoming well known that Jesus was even more popular than John the Baptist. So it became dangerous for Jesus to stay in Judea, the center of Jewish leadership. These events are described in John 4:1-3: "When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), He left Judea, and departed again into Galilee." This introduces the events of Matthew 4:12. Capernaum is in Galilee on the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee. Since word had spread that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, and since John had been imprisoned by Herod, Jesus realized that because it was not the Father's time for Him to be crucified, He should withdraw from Judea and move to Galilee, specifically to the city of Capernaum.
Just a few additional comments may be helpful as background material for the study of this passage. Luke adds additional light to these events in the fourth chapter of his Gospel: "And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit; and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read" (vs. 14-16). Then in the next few verses He read from the Book of Isaiah and applied it to Himself as a fulfillment of Messianic prophecy. "And He began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing'" (v.21).
After His ministry to them, the Jews were amazed. Their response is recorded in verses 28 through 30: "And all in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they rose up and cast Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way."
As a result of intensifying opposition against Him in Jerusalem and Judea and the intense opposition in His hometown of Nazareth, He comes to Capernaum and settles there to begin His Galilean ministry. It is easy to get the feeling that things are "just happening" -the opposition in Jerusalem and Judea, the imprisonment of John the Baptist, the hatred in Nazareth. But behind it all is the hand of God. This is all part of His plan and purpose for Jesus Christ. If you were to look at these events from a human perspective, it would seem they were just a collection of circumstances and Christ ends up in Capernaum. But from God's perspective, His hand is controlling and directing everything. This is another clear example of how God uses even the sinful conduct and responses of men to accomplish His purposes.
These events all end up with Jesus in Capernaum fulfilling what Isaiah the prophet had written seven hundred years earlier. Matthew wants to demonstrate again that Jesus Christ fulfilled Old Testament prophecy, so he writes, "This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet" (Matt. 4:14). Then Matthew quotes from the opening verses of Isaiah 9: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles" (Matt. 4:15). This area is called Galilee of the Gentiles because of the pagan population there. This region was comprised of a mixed population of Jews and Gentiles. Then Matthew goes on again to quote from Isaiah to describe these people: "The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, and to those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a light dawned" (Matt. 4:16).
When Isaiah wrote his words, the Assyrians had brought gloom over the land of Israel; they were the conquering and defeating enemy of Israel. Isaiah was really writing about the spiritual decadence and decay of the people of this region. Later on in Matthew's Gospel, the tremendous words of Christ are recorded as He pronounces a curse on Capernaum. This curse will come as punishment for rejecting such great light, a curse which says the people will be brought down to hell. In these verses the people are described as being in great darkness and spiritual blindness.
Into this region comes the One who Himself is light in fulfillment of what Isaiah had written over seven hundred years earlier. The people of this region are abiding in terrible spiritual blindness. Now they are confronted with the clearest, most full revelation possible of God Himself. What a contrast! Those who live in spiritual darkness do not see, perceive or understand spiritual truth or reality. Jesus Christ is the One who comes and gives life. He is the One who reveals God the Father; He reveals the person and character of God and brings life. The same emphasis of Jesus Christ as the light is developed in John 1:4,5: "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." The darkness did not overpower the light. Jesus Christ was the light shining in the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome Him. The Apostle John continues referring to John the Baptist: "There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light. There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man" (vs. 6-9). Christ is identified with the Father as the One who reveals the Father and who gives light. Jesus says, "I have come as light into the world, that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness" (John 12:46). Christ came to give light. All who believe in Him are brought into spiritual light so they can see and understand and know God. The issue is always the same. Today, as it was two thousand years ago, men and women abide in spiritual darkness and blindness, unable to see, perceive and know God. But things change when Jesus Christ, who is the light, is presented. When the truth that Jesus Christ is the Savior who died and rose again is presented and when men and women believe that truth, then they are brought into the light and can see, understand and know God Himself. The tragedy is that men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. That is why there was such strenuous opposition to Jesus Christ and His ministry. When the light comes in Christ, He reveals us for what we are -- sinners, rebellious against God. There is always a reaction to that. You know what it is like to get up in the morning, walk to the bathroom and turn on the light over the mirror. "Oh, my goodness!" you cry, and you turn the light off because it reveals you for what you are. But if you get up and stand in darkness in front of the mirror, it does not bother you at all. In the darkness I have visions of this tall, dark and handsome man with olive skin looking into that mirror. He is a handsome, hunk of a man! But then I turn on the light and reality faces me. That is what light does, the brighter the light, the clearer the introspection. Sometimes we get special mirrors with special lights. They make it possible to sit down and be self-deceiving. But when the truth of the gospel comes, it is the full intensity of the brightness of light. When Jesus Christ comes, He brings fullness of revelation and reveals us for what we are. He is a light shining in darkness. When men and women believe the gospel, then they understand the truth concerning God and concerning themselves in light of God's revelation.

The message of the Messiah is revealed in Matthew 4:17: "From that time Jesus began to preach and say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" This is not a new message. John the Baptist came preaching, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (3:2). As Jesus Christ picks up His Messianic ministry, there is no difference in the message. Since there is no difference in the message, there can be no difference in the meaning. Some say that John preached an eschatological kingdom regarding the coming reign while Jesus Christ was preaching a soteriological kingdom, a kingdom in the realm of salvation, but not in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. That is playing hocus- pocus with the Scriptures. It would be hopeless confusion if Jesus Christ came with a message of the same words that John came with, but with a different meaning. The same words have to have the same message.
The message of both men was the message of repentance. The Greek word, metanoia, means to change your mind or to be of another mind. It means you must change your mind about your sin and about God's revelation; it means you must believe in His Son as your Savior. You must stop trusting your own righteousness and begin trusting Him. The reason you need to do that is because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This is the same kingdom referred to by John in his ministry. It is the kingdom prophesied throughout the Old Testament to the nation Israel. It is the kingdom over which the Son of David will rule and in which the nation Israel will be the key people on the earth. That kingdom is at hand because Christ is offering Himself as the Messiah and Savior to all who will believe in Him.
In his message regarding the coming Messiah, John preached of the need to repent because of the nearness of the kingdom. The reason repentance is so urgent is because the kingdom begins in judgment. All unbelievers will be rooted out and destroyed so that when the kingdom begins, only believers will be permitted to get into it. Therefore, if the kingdom is at hand, the message is to prepare yourself spiritually lest you be excluded in that judgment from the kingdom the Messiah will establish.
Matthew now turns his attention to the call Jesus issued to His disciples. He is going to call a group of men to be associated with Him in the proclamation of the same message John has proclaimed: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The responsibility of these disciples will be to take this message and spread it throughout the whole nation, calling the nation to repentance in preparation for the coming kingdom.
The call of four of Jesus' disciples is recorded in Matthew 4:18-22: "And walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was 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.' And they immediately left the 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. And they immediately left the boat and their father, and followed Him."
Four disciples, two pairs of brothers, were called, Peter and Andrew, James and John. They were all fishermen. While walking along the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw these fishermen and said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (v.19). Immediately they left their work and followed Jesus. This is not the first meeting of these men with Jesus Christ. They met Him earlier, perhaps as much as a year earlier, during Jesus' ministry in Judea. John recorded these events in his Gospel in chapter 1.
The call of these men in Matthew 4 is not their call to salvation; it is a call to commit themselves to serving Him. Their call to salvation is recorded in John 1:35-42: "Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God!' And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned, and beheld them following, and said to them, 'What do you seek?' And they said to Him, 'Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?' He said to them, 'Come, and you will see.' They came therefore and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He found first his own brother Simon, and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, 'You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas' (which translated means Peter)."
This call to salvation occurred sometime during the year preceding their call to service. They had recognized Him to be the Messiah of Israel and had believed in Him. These men had been following John the Baptist so they were prepared spiritually for the coming of the Messiah. They had repented in light of the coming kingdom. When John introduced the Messiah as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, they were ready to follow Him.
At the time of their call to service in Matthew 4, they have already believed in Him, but they have not yet abandoned their profession as fishermen to become what might be called full-time followers of Christ. They have believed in Him and attached themselves to His teaching, but then they had returned to their jobs as fishermen.
Now Jesus is coming through their region. They know He is the Messiah of Israel because they have believed in Him. They believed the message of John the Baptist concerning Him, so when He confronts them on the Sea of Galilee and says, "Follow Me," immediately they follow Him. There is no question, debate or discussion. Knowing about their previous contact with Him as recorded in John 1 helps us understand why they did not question who He was when He called them in Matthew 4. They have already believed in Him. Now it is a matter of their committing themselves to following Him.
Notice the authority of Christ in this situation. In verse 19 He says to Peter and Andrew, "Follow Me," and immediately they left their nets. In verse 21 He called James and John:
"And they immediately left the boat and their father, and followed Him" (v.22). When Christ gives the call, there must be immediate response.
Jesus challenged these men right where they were. They were fishermen looking for fish. He told them to follow Him and He would make them fishers of men. Now they are going to catch men for the kingdom of God. Previously they cast their nets and brought fish to their boats. Now they are going to cast their nets and draw the people of Israel to the Messiah in preparation for the kingdom. These men understand that from now on they are to fish for men. What a challenge and what an opportunity! And there is no hesitation! "And they immediately left the nets, and followed Him."
Verse 22 says that James and John left their boat and their father and followed Christ.
But what about their father's plans and ambitions for them? He had built up a successful business. Mark 1:20 indicates that the business was successful because Zebedee had servants who were involved in helping with the business. Perhaps his plans and goals for his sons were that they would take over the business. They had obviously prepared themselves for that responsibility, but now in a moment of time they are called to turn their backs on it all and follow Jesus Christ. They are asked to leave their jobs, to leave their family and to follow Him. An itinerant preacher comes walking by the shore of the Sea of Galilee and says, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." What does He have to offer? Hey, wait a minute! I can't just walk away from my father. He's been planning for years for me to take over the business. But this is not their response. Once they recognized who Jesus Christ was, that resolved any questions they had about their responsibility. Jesus Christ is the Savior, the Messiah. Once these men recognized that, then it was much easier for them to make the decision to follow Him.
How often are we as Christians afraid to follow the Savior today? We debate the issues and discuss the opportunities. What will this mean for my family? What will this mean in my job? What will this cost me? I've been preparing for all of this. Remember, the Messiah, the Savior, has come. He has called you to commit yourself to serving Him. It may be a costly call. As far as we can tell from Scripture, James and John never had as much physically from this point on as they had had up till now. They followed Jesus Christ who did not even have a place to lay His head. They left behind the prosperity of the world.
Looking back at it two thousand years later, was it worth it to invest their lives in reaching men and women with the truth concerning Jesus Christ? They could have done nothing better! Would their lives have been richer or more significant if they had stayed on at the Sea of Galilee fishing for fish? What a tragedy that would have been!
It is so easy for us to get caught up in this life and this world. Why invest our lives in transitory things here when we are privileged to fish for men? Sometimes we are afraid of the cost. We are afraid of the implications. But what more glorious opportunity than to invest our lives in the service of Jesus Christ and reach men and women with the message concerning Him!
Another point seems to stand out with significance. These men are fishermen. Jesus Christ is about to start a totally new movement. You would think He would be down in Judea and Jerusalem where the important people are. You would think He should call some of the key leaders who are influential in the nation. If He really wants to move the nation, shouldn't He go down where the influential people are? If He were to reach a few of them, then He could bring the nation along.
That is the way we would do it! But isn't it amazing that God does not use our plans? Jesus is up along the Sea of Galilee calling fishermen. Galilee is a rather despised region anyway. Why would He go there? The more respectable area is Jerusalem and Judea. But here He is calling fishermen from Galilee! And with these fishermen from Galilee, He is going to transform the nation and the world.
This all sounds similar to what Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong" (1 Cor. 1:26,27). It is amazing how God accomplishes His work. Even today believers still have not grasped this principle. We fail to realize the tremendous power of God that works in our lives as His people. We do not have to be wise, mighty or noble. God can take the mundane nobodies from an insignificant area and transform the world. Here we are two thousand years later reading in amazement about the calling of these four fishermen who were used by Jesus Christ to proclaim a message that has changed the world.
How easy it is for us to sell short the power of God. We are still dilly-dallying around thinking we could reach the people around us for Christ if we could only reach certain important people. We think it would really make a difference if we could get certain individuals to trust Christ. But do you know what would really make the difference? The thing that would make the difference would be if we were so committed to Jesus Christ that we immediately followed Him like these four disciples did. If without thought of the personal cost to us we would move out with abandon to proclaim Jesus Christ and make Him known in every place, the changes would be surprising. If we were saturating the people around us with the gospel and allowing the Spirit of God to use that to change lives, what a difference it would make!
Praise God if two or three or five or fifty prominent people trust Christ. But do you know how God reached the world? With the nobodies, the insignificant people, the weak and the powerless ones. Then He gets all the glory. Jesus used four fishermen as a nucleus for His ministry.
After relating the call of these four key disciples, Matthew begins to describe something of the ministry of Jesus Christ in Matthew 4:23-25: "And Jesus was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. And the news about Him went out into all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, taken with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them. And great multitudes followed Him from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan."
The whole nation is being touched by the ministry of Jesus Christ. You will recall that He has left Jerusalem and Judea, but the impact of His ministry has spread all the way down through the region of Jerusalem and Judea. His ministry cannot be contained as the truth concerning the person of the Messiah is proclaimed and demonstrated. Three elements of Christ's ministry are summarized in verse 23 -- teaching, proclaiming and healing. The same three are mentioned in Matthew 9:35: "And Jesus was going about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness."
First, as Jesus would go into a town, He would go into the synagogue, sit down and open the Scriptures. Then He would unfold the truth to them. His teaching perhaps involved more detailed instruction and explanation. He would present the truth and explain its application to Himself.
Second, while teaching the truth of the Scripture about Himself, He proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom. The word "proclaiming" (v.23) means to be heralding or announcing something. Jesus went everywhere announcing a fact -- the gospel or good news of the kingdom. He was saying that the kingdom of heaven is at hand; the Messiah is here. He announced that everywhere in a general proclamation as He unfolded in the synagogues more of the details of the truth concerning Himself as developed out of the Old Testament.
The third element of His ministry was healing every kind of sickness and disease. His healing ministry is crucial to his ministry as Messiah. It demonstrates and proves that He is the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, because the Messiah was to take care of the physical ills of the people. He comes to establish an earthly kingdom that is perfect, an earthly kingdom in which the curse is removed. His miracles of healing are a preview of the coming kingdom as the Messiah takes care of the physical needs of the people.
It is crucial that we understand at least one Old Testament passage regarding the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. This concept is developed repeatedly through the Gospel of Matthew. The healing ministry of Christ served the purpose of demonstrating to the nation Israel that Christ is the Messiah. Isaiah wrote in chapter 35, "Say to those with anxious heart, 'Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; the recompense of God will come, but He will save you'" (v.4). This statement is made in the context of judgment and salvation. That is why there needs to be repentance. Isaiah continues his prophecy, "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah" (vs. 5,6).
Isaiah said that when the Messiah comes, He will take the diseases of the people and bring to them healing. When Jesus Christ appeared in Israel preaching the message of repentance and announcing that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, the proof He offered that He was the Messiah was that He would take away the diseases of the people. This is in the context of the announcement of a coming earthly kingdom and it demonstrates that He is indeed the Messiah.
After John the Baptist was imprisoned for his ministry, he began to question whether Jesus was really the Messiah. He wondered how events could go the way they were going if Jesus Christ really was the Messiah. John sent from prison and asked Christ, "Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?" (Matt. 11:3).
That was a valid question from John. The answer is given in verses 4-6: "And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me.'" Jesus was telling John that he could see the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy in Jesus. The great healings which were done by Christ and His disciples were done in the context of Christ's earthly ministry and announcing the kingdom to Israel.
When Christ comes to set up His kingdom, it will be a kingdom in which there will be no curse. There will be no physical afflictions, imperfections or hardships in His kingdom. These conditions were anticipated as Paul describes them in Romans 8:18-23: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body."
Christ offered this kingdom to the nation when He was present on earth. He demonstrated that He was the Messiah by His healing ministry, but the nation rejected Him as their Messiah. However, these promises regarding the kingdom are still true. In a coming day we as believers in Christ are anticipating that we will be unveiled in all glory as sons of God. Christ Himself will set up a kingdom on earth where there will be no curse -- no sickness, no heartache, no sorrow. The curse will be lifted from the creation as the Messiah rules and reigns.
Jesus' public ministry has begun and Matthew has presented it with a demonstration that Christ fulfills the prophecies of Isaiah. He is the One who brings light into darkness fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy in chapter 9. He is the One who has the power and authority to call us to devote ourselves to His service in 'fishing for men' by calling men and women to the salvation that is found in Him. He is the One who teaches, proclaims and heals, demonstrating that He is the prophet promised in the Old Testament.
Jesus Christ is the One worthy of our faith, worthy of our allegiance and worthy of our service. Who else would you want to believe in? Who else would you trust? Who else would you want to serve? What else is there worth giving your life for?
The light has come and the truth of the Word of God reveals that we are sinners under condemnation. But the Word also reveals the glorious truth that God in love has provided salvation in the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. By believing in Him, you can be changed -- transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Have you allowed yourself to be exposed to the light of the Word of God? Have you admitted to God that you are a sinner? Have you ever believed that Jesus Christ died for you personally? If you have not acknowledged those facts and believed in Christ, do so now and experience His forgiveness.
As a Christian, whom are you serving? Are you willing to immediately follow Christ? Are you willing to abandon everything that the world says is important and worthwhile?
It may be your family members, your job or your desire for success. Are you willing to follow the One who desires to make us fishers of men? Are you willing to be involved in that which matters for eternity? Christ is asking us to follow Him so He can make us fishers of men.