Matthew 4:12-17: The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
If you have your Bibles open them to Matthew chapter 4, verse 11.
recap narrative to now
12 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: 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.” 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
PRAY
When I lived in Minnesota, I would often speak of how much I missed the beauty of Ohio with it’s hills and trees...
We couldn’t understand what the other person was saying about Ohio.
How could this be? We didn’t understand the geography.
In the same way, we can read the Bible with a sort of ignorance about the historical geography of the places mentioned and that can mess us up when we’re trying to understand what the biblical authors are trying to say.
In this morning’s text we are given 5 different locations and there is some significance to them. Let’s dive in.
1. Jesus Moves (12-13)
a. The Arrest of John and Jesus’s move back to Galilee (12)
i. Remember in chapter 2 how we are told that Jesus is born in Bethlehem of Judea (a different region)
ii. Then, when they return from Egypt they decide to not move back to Judea because of Archelaus reigning there and move to Galilee instead.
iii. These are two regions, not cities or towns
Racially the area of Galilee had had, ever since the Assyrian conquest in the eighth century B.C., a more mixed population, within which more conservative Jewish areas (like Nazareth and Capernaum) stood in close proximity to largely pagan cities
Geographically Galilee was separated from Judea by the non-Jewish territory of Samaria
Politically Galilee had been under separate administration from Judea during almost all its history since the tenth century B.C. (apart from a period of “reunification” under the Maccabees), and in the time of Jesus it was under a (supposedly) native Herodian prince, while Judea and Samaria had since A.D. 6 been under the direct rule of a Roman prefect.
Economically Galilee offered better agricultural and fishing resources than the more mountainous territory of Judea, making the wealth of some Galileans the envy of their southern neighbors.
Culturally Judeans despised their northern neighbors as country cousins, their lack of Jewish sophistication being compounded by their greater openness to Hellenistic influence.
Linguistically Galileans spoke a distinctive form of Aramaic whose accents were the butt of Judean humor.
Religiously the Judean opinion was that Galileans were lax in their observance of proper ritual, and the problem was exacerbated by the distance of Galilee from the temple and the theological leadership, which was focused in Jerusalem.
b. The Move from Nazareth (town in Galilee) to Capernaum (town in Galilee, but closer to the sea) (13)
i. Zebulun and Naphtali
1. Two ancient Israelite tribes that were given land around the sea of Galilee in the time of Moses and Joshua
2. Two of the first tribes of Israel to be attacked by Assyria and taken away into exile
2. Prophecy Fulfilled (Isaiah 9:1-2) (14-16)
a. Galilee of the Gentiles (15)
i.
b. “The people in darkness have seen a great light!” (16)
c. “ those in the shadow of death, on them the light has dawned (16)
3. Jesus begins to preach
a. “From that time...”