WWUTT 1917 Jesus Begins His Ministry (Matthew 4:12-25)

After Jesus came up from his time in the wilderness, he began to preach, saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

And my friends, that is a gospel proclamation we should continue today, when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible study in the word of Christ. For he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Tell your friends about our ministry at www .wutt .com. Hey, once again, it's Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the gospel of Matthew, we are in chapter four, and I'm picking up where we left off yesterday.

So starting to read here in verse 12, and we'll go through to the end of the chapter. This is out of the

Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the Lord. Now, when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, he departed into Galilee, and leaving

Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea beyond the

Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, and those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a light dawned.

From that time, Jesus began to preach and say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Now, as Jesus was 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 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.

And immediately they left their boat and their father, and followed him. And Jesus was going throughout all

Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

And the news about him spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics, and he healed them.

And large crowds followed him, from Galilee and the Decapolis, and Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the

Jordan. Now, these events that we've read about here in verses 12 to the end of the chapter, we don't really know how tight all of these events were.

The things that we've been reading about previously happened one after the other. So we read about Jesus being baptized by John, then he goes right from there into the wilderness to fast and pray for 40 days.

He's tempted by Satan, resists all of Satan's temptations. And that's where we're picking up in verse 12, with him hearing about John being taken into custody.

Now, when you go to the gospel of John, there are other events that happen there after Jesus comes out of the wilderness, and even with John the

Baptist ministry, before he is arrested. So it's not like Jesus was in the wilderness, and then when he comes out, he finds out that John had been arrested.

So then he goes and settles in Capernaum, which is kind of the way it sounds like this is laid out. But again,

Matthew is speaking broadly, though we do have some specifics, like Jesus calling his first disciples.

We know the first ones were Peter and Andrew, and then James and John. So let's pick up here again in verse 12, where Jesus had heard that John had been taken into custody, and he departed into Galilee.

Now remember, Galilee being that northern region, that is where Nazareth was located.

But he leaves Nazareth, according to verse 13, and he came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.

Now, if you were to turn to the sacred space of scripture that we call the maps, generally the end of your

Bible, most of your Bibles anyway, you might have a map that will show you the territories that were dispersed among the tribes of Israel, where each one of those tribes settled when they had received the promised land.

So there you get an idea of where Zebulun and Naphtali are situated, right there by the

Sea of Galilee, with Capernaum to the north, on the north end of the Sea of Galilee.

Now, of course, it's called the Sea of Galilee, but it's not a great sea, it's just a lake, but that's the name that it has.

It's called the Sea of Galilee in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but in John's Gospel, it's called the Sea of Tiberias.

And the reason for that may be because John's Gospel has a later dating.

It could be because it was written after 70 AD, when Jerusalem had been sacked and the temple destroyed, and so the name of the sea is changed from the

Sea of Galilee to the Sea of Tiberias. That might be the reason why it's called that in John, which is an argument for a later dating.

But anyway, all that to say, it's just a lake that's there at the north of the Jordan River.

And so where we read that Jesus came from beyond the Jordan, it just means that he's north of the

Jordan, not necessarily on the other side of the Jordan, though he certainly ventured into that area in the beginning of his

Gospel ministry here. So once again, the prophecy that was made in verse 15, this comes from Isaiah 9, 1, and 2.

The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the

Gentiles, the people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, and those who were sitting in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has dawned.

So it wasn't that long ago that we were in Isaiah 9. It is, of course, that same chapter where we have the famous verse that we read just about every

Christmas. For to us a child is born and to us a son is given, and the government will rest on his shoulders and his name will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

That's what we have in Isaiah 9, 6. But this quotation here in Matthew 4, this comes from Isaiah 9, 1, and 2.

But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In earlier times, he treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on he shall make it glorious.

By the way of the sea on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who walk in darkness will see a great light.

Those who live in the land of the shadow of death, the light will shine on them.

That was what was prophetically stated by Isaiah in chapter 9, and that is in reference to Christ.

These two regions that God had previously treated with contempt, the people who lived there had been driven out of the land when the

Assyrians came through. It became a land of death. Lions had even moved into the land and were devouring the people.

But God would use that land in a mighty way. He would make it glorious.

According to Isaiah 9, 1, for it would be that very region where the son of man,

Jesus Christ, would settle and begin his ministry. And as we have it said in verse 17, from that time

Jesus began to preach and say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

And those are the same words that we had from John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness, Matthew 3, 2, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

So this demonstrates once again how John was a forerunner to Christ, how he was preparing the way for Jesus who was to come, who would be preaching the same thing.

So John is preaching it as kind of a prelude, and then Jesus picks up the ministry.

And as we have it said in John 3, John the Baptist seeing Jesus' ministry increasing says that I must decrease.

He must increase and I must decrease. So his ministry fades as Christ has come and he picks up with his ministry.

Now, again, Matthew is speaking very broadly about some of these things here. We don't have an immediate succession of events in Matthew 4, verses 12 to 17.

But then from right there, we go on to read about him calling his first disciples. So this is verses 18 to 22.

Now, as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, so we've had that set up where Jesus is settling, where he's gonna begin his ministry and he's walking by the

Sea of Galilee. We know from other accounts in the other Gospels that Jesus was preaching and was well on his way with preaching by the time he calls his first disciples.

So it's not that he has disciples first and then he begins teaching. The people are already becoming acquainted with his teaching by the time he calls his disciples.

Remember that according to Luke's account, Jesus is attempting to preach to a crowd so large that he cannot address them all without getting in the disciples' boat and casting off a little way from the land so that he can address all of the people there from the boat, standing in the boat, kind of like his first, it's like the first pulpit.

He's standing in the boat and he's proclaiming to the people there. And it's from that very spot, from that address that he calls the first disciples,

Peter and Andrew and James and John. Those are the more specific details that we get from the

Gospel of Luke anyway. So again, Matthew's speaking very broadly here, but at least we know who the first disciples are.

We are given their names. Jesus has started his preaching ministry. Crowds are already coming to him to hear him preach.

And as his name is becoming renowned, he calls disciples to himself. Verse 18, now as Jesus was walking by the

Sea of Galilee, that very place where he has settled, where he had lived, 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.

Now that's a very simple expression. It's not complicated. Jesus was simply communicating to a group of fishermen what he was going to train them up to do, that they might become fishers of men.

It's simply that they're gonna go out preaching the Gospel and they're going to be catching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I've heard people complicate this expression, like they start going into the history of fishing and this is the kind of equipment that they would need to use.

And so you translate that equipment into the kind of equipment we need to be preaching the Gospel and all. That's too much.

That's not really what Jesus was trying to communicate here. It's not a complicated analogy. It's just simply that he is applying something natural, naturally understandable, that these fishermen naturally would have understood and applying that to what they would be doing spiritually, preaching the

Gospel. They will be catching all kinds for the kingdom of God. In verse 20, immediately they left their nets and followed him.

And most of the Gospel accounts record it that way. Immediately they drop what they were doing and they follow

Jesus. Now again, they know of his ministry. It's not like some strange guy just showed up and said, follow me.

And they went, okay, well, I guess we don't have any choice. And they dropped their nets and follow him. They were acquainted with what it was that he was teaching.

And in fact, they even would have known of his baptism and were present at his baptism.

Because in Acts chapter one, I think I did this last week, didn't I? When we went through the baptism of Jesus.

Anyway, but in Acts one, it mentions that of the disciples who were left, the men who were qualified to fill in the role that had been left vacant by Judas Iscariot.

One of the qualifications that they had to meet is that they had to have been observers of Jesus' ministry from the time of his baptism to the time of his ascension into heaven.

And there were two men who qualified, Matthias and Justice. And of course, if you know the story, they cast lots and the lot fell on Matthias.

And he was therefore the one chosen to be the 12th disciple or 12th apostle replacing

Judas. So all of the disciples were there. There were hundreds of people that were out there listening to John the

Baptist and coming out to him to be baptized. So at the time that Jesus comes to him and is baptized, the men that he would eventually call to be his disciples, including

Matthias and Justice, were there. They were present at the time that Jesus was baptized.

You're probably familiar with The Chosen. If you've been listening to this broadcast and you've listened to other things that I've done, you know, special articles and stuff like that, you'll know

I've done some significant coverage on The Chosen and how unbiblical the show really is, even though people tout it as, it's the most accurate biblical show that's ever been put out.

Well, there's not really many Bible shows that have been put out. But anyway, it's like every 10 years or something, we'll come up with another one of these things and it'll be the fad that everybody attaches themselves to.

But The Chosen does a very, very poor job of demonstrating just how the disciples knew

Jesus and how he called them. Most of them had never seen Jesus preach. In fact,

I believe Andrew was the only one at the time that Jesus called those disciples, at least according to the show.

But they did not see Jesus baptized. There's no depiction of Jesus being baptized anyway in the show, but they all would have been there.

All the disciples were there and saw this. And so when Jesus calls them, they know he's the one that the

Father spoke about from heaven. They heard the voice from heaven say, this is my beloved son in whom

I am well pleased. They saw the Holy Spirit descend upon him. The people were there and saw this.

So here is this man teaching and the people are attracted to him and they're going out to him and they even come to him to be healed as we read about at the end of the chapter.

As all of this is going on, the disciples see this man and it's this man who calls them to himself.

Come and follow me. And so of course they follow him. The one of whom it is said by God in heaven, this is my beloved son is calling us to follow him.

And I have not yet seen any cinematic depiction of Jesus that demonstrates that accurately.

Has there ever been one that shows Jesus being baptized and the disciples there to see him baptized and hear the voice of God from heaven?

So that when he calls them a couple of months later, they're ready to follow him because they've heard the voice say, this is my beloved son.

And so he calls these men, they follow him. Immediately they left their nets and they go after him.

Of course. I mean, how can we say no? They were truly intrigued and curious by this one of whom the heavens were open to him.

So who is this? What are we gonna be doing together? Let's follow him and find out.

So then verse 21, 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 same thing. Verse 22, immediately they left their boat and their father and they followed him.

I remember Rob Bell a number of years ago. I actually used to listen to Rob Bell.

He's a heretic. Don't listen to him. But at the time I thought he was a pretty solid preacher. And I remember him saying something to the effect of like every young man in Galilee was looking for a rabbi or they wanted a rabbi.

They wanted a teacher who would call to them to follow him. And so when this teacher comes and calls upon James and John and Peter and Andrew, yeah, they're ready to go because they had always desired to follow a rabbi.

And Zebedee was surely excited because here is a rabbi calling his sons to follow him. So yes, sons go follow your rabbi.

It was what every father wanted for his sons. But again, that's not what's going on here. That's not the reason why they immediately left everything and followed him.

It's because they had heard the voice from heaven say, this is my beloved son.

Zebedee may have even been there and heard that. So when his sons get called, he's going, yes, go, go follow the man.

And then verse 23, Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

Now we don't have yet mentioned here that he's ventured into Judea. This is all still in that Northern region.

It's still all up there in Galilee and around the Sea of Galilee that people are hearing about this and coming to him.

Though we have the regions that are listed later where they came from. But for now,

Jesus is just staying in that region and the people are going out to him and they are hearing the gospel and having their diseases healed.

These miraculous signs are being done to further show that Jesus is the one who had been prophesied about.

He is the one that they were waiting for, the Messiah who was coming. And his word, knowing that it was from God is being authenticated by the miracles that he is doing.

Now, later on, I can't remember where this is, chapter 14 or somewhere in there, later on in Matthew, where John the

Baptist is still in prison and he sends his disciples to Jesus to ask if you are the savior or if there's another one that we should be waiting for.

And what does Jesus say to these disciples as proof that he is the one who had been prophesied about?

He says, tell John what it is that you have seen. The lame walk, the blind can see, the deaf can hear, the dumb can speak.

Go and tell him these miracles that have been performed, authenticating that Jesus was who he said he was, that this gospel that he proclaimed, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

This was a message from God. Verse 24, and news about him spread throughout all

Syria and they brought to him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.

We're reading about diseases here that were permanent conditions that nobody had any idea how to heal.

This is before modern medicine, of course. And there are even spiritual afflictions with this mention of demoniacs, those who were demon -possessed.

And we're going to read about some of those occasions where Jesus cast out demons coming up a little later on in the book.

Verse 25, and large crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the

Jordan. So the reference to Galilee and the Decapolis, that was the region to the north.

Judea and Jerusalem are in the south to the west of the Jordan River. And then beyond the

Jordan would be everything to the east. So even the Gentiles were coming to him to listen to his teaching and be healed of their diseases and the healing authenticating that the word that he preached came from God.

So we've heard very broadly here about the message that Jesus preached, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

But what we get to next, and we're going to start on this tomorrow, is the

Sermon on the Mount, chapters five, six, and seven. So now Matthew gets specific. He's been speaking very broadly here, but he gets specific about what

Jesus preached. And we hear that in the first of the large discourses, the five discourses that we have in the

Gospel of Matthew. The largest of them, of course, being the Sermon on the Mount. So we're going to do an introduction to the

Sermon on the Mount tomorrow. But here with the beginning of Jesus' ministry, with him saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

My friends, that is a message that continues to be preached today. Turn from your sin, turn from your unbelief to the

Lord Jesus Christ, who is building his kingdom even now. Every single person who comes to faith in Jesus Christ is another citizen of the kingdom of God.

And that kingdom continues to expand until the day that the king returns to receive his own into glory, but to bring judgment on those who did not believe.

So be diligent to preach the gospel to the world that those who would be saved would come to faith in Jesus Christ and be citizens of this wonderful kingdom.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we have considered these things here, the start of the kingdom of God through the preaching of Jesus Christ, I pray that we would remember these words and we would repeat these words, calling others to repentance and to faith in Jesus Christ so that they too may be saved.

Teach us to walk in these things today after the teachings of the teacher, that we would not only hear them, but we would do what he has said for us to do, living as citizens of the kingdom of God even here in this world.

We are in the world, but keep us from the world until that day that we are with you in glory.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray, amen. Pastor Gabe is the author of several books and Bible studies available in paperback or for your e -reader.

For titles and more information, visit our website at www .wutt .com. Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in God's word when we understand the text.