"Ministry"_Matthew 4b_Jul 25 2021

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.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

18 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. 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.

Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds

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, 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.

(Pray…)

There is a natural progression in the first four chapters of Matthew:

◦ Jesus is born

◦ He grows up and gets baptized – signifying the start of his ministry

◦ Then, guess what immediately happens?

◦ He goes through his first trial

◦ He's led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil – after fasting 40 days & nights

Chapter 4 begins the ministry of Jesus

So far - don’t forget all the drama that has happened - all because the Son of God came to Earth

Our series is God With Us

But there is a cost to having God With Us

I mean to say that because Jesus is God and holy - when he entered an evil, sinful world - at the very least, we would expect drama

When Jesus walked on Earth, much of the story is the response of evil to him - which eventually led him to the cross

When Jesus returns to Earth, it will be his response in judgement as he vanquishes evil

Think of all the drama so far in Matthew, mostly from Herod the Great

Trying to manipulate the wise men

Killing all the children 2 years and younger

All of this because of his crazy jealousy he had for the baby Jesus

Think of Joseph who had to move his family - and then had to settle in Galilee, not Judea

Think of the confrontation John the Baptist had with the Pharisees

And think of the drama surrounding the temptation of Jesus

The arrest of John the Baptist (v.12) foreshadows the suffering Jesus will endure - and was a signal for Jesus to begin his public ministry

John prepared the way - now Jesus begins his ministry

Look at verse 17

English Standard Version Chapter 4

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Many scholars believe verse 17 marks a significant shift in the life of Christ - it marks the beginning of his active, public ministry

What does that mean for us?

Everyone is a minister

Mt 3:8 “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance”

Our ministry on Earth is bearing fruit

What is ministry?

Here is a definition I found:

to serve (minister) — verb. to attend to the wants and needs of others.

Ministry is: serving God by serving others

Ministry is: serving God with what you got

We serve God by using the skills he has given us

We tend to think of ministry in a formal sense – (sign-up sheet in the church foyer)...

Ministry means you serve God in everything you do

Ministry means you bear fruit and serve God with the gifts and talents he's already given you

When you become a Christian – you don't need to get qualified in order to serve, you just need to get busy in order to serve

The moment you become a Christian – is the moment you have been fully sanctified and set apart to serve the Lord

The moment you became a Christian – is the moment you were made perfectly holy – you were made fit to serve in his Kingdom

Notice how men and women in the Bible were first converted – and then served God immediately:

Abraham came from a pagan life – and the Lord instructed him to immediately go into a new land for a promise

Moses was a murderer in hiding in the land of Midian – and God had him immediately go back and deliver his people

The woman at the well – immediately drops her bucket and goes to witness to the entire town

In Mark 5 – Jesus heals a demon-possessed man and he immediately becomes Billy Graham and evangelizes to the entire city

And think of all the disciples Jesus called to immediately serve with him

Paul was on the road to Damascus to persecute Christians – and the Lord instructed him to immediately continue on to Damascus as a new Christian, so he can now serve the Lord

Over and over again – we see ministry right out of conversion

This is all true - all of us need to serve God right away

But there is also discipleship, and equipping that must happen

I’m saying: it’s appropriate to serve the Lord right away - but there’s nothing wrong with allowing others to equip you to serve the Lord in greater ways

Think of one person who is a great servant of the Lord - I’m sure that person serves the Lord differently from when they first started - after they receive encouragement and training

This equipping comes from the Church

And we get this concept from Jesus - and how he taught and equipped his disciples

This is the role of the Church

Redemption Church: Love. Equip. Send

Look at verse 13 with me

English Standard Version Chapter 4

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—

That’s pretty specific

This is where Jesus moved as his base of operations for his ministry

It was his missions strategy to begin in the region of Galilee

Away from Judea - and initially, away from the Pharisees

Isaiah 9 is quoted here - so this is also a fulfillment of prophesy

Even though this is fulfills prophesy, later he draws criticism for living there

To the religious experts, it would be like the “messiah of country music” starting their career about 100 miles north of Nashville

Capernaum was also known as the “Village of Nahum,” which means “comfort”

Notice verse 15 says, “Galilee of the Gentiles”

This is not to say that Jesus started off ministering predominately to Gentiles - but it foreshadowed what was about to happen -

That his Gospel would reach “all nations” as it does today

Back in that time, there were in fact, more Jews than Gentiles living in Galilee - but there were way more Gentiles who lived there than in Judea

Verse 23 says he taught in their synagogues - so there were Jewish people

Because Jesus started in Galilee, it kept him away from direct, constant fire from the Pharisees

This gave him more time to conduct his ministry and teach his disciples before he would eventually suffer the cross

Look again at verse 17 - and notice he says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The Jews at the time longed for their messiah to establish his kingdom on Earth

They longed for domination and independence from Rome

But this kingdom is God coming to rescue his people - not just the Jewish people, but all people who place their faith in him

Jesus, God came to Earth came to save us from our sins - God With Us is God’s rescue plan for us

So Jesus repeats John the Baptist in Matt 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” - That was the beginning of John’s ministry, and now, the beginning of Jesus’ ministry

These are the first words of Jesus as he starts his ministry

In Rabbinic form, the teacher would begin teaching with a summary followed by a description and example

Verse 17 gives us that summary: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”

Then there are two sections which follow in this chapter

Verses 18-22 describe how Jesus calls his first disciples - he calls them by saying, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

In the next section, 23-25 it describes what that means

Jesus said he’ll make them fishers of men - then he showed them what that means

Jesus taught in their synagogues and proclaimed the gospel - and then he healed every disease and every affliction

I think this last section of Chapter 4 gives an example of what it means to follow Jesus and become fishers of men:

we proclaim the gospel

we serve God by serving others with the gifts we have - I’m not saying we all heal like Jesus - I’m saying we serve in the way God designed us to serve

Jesus calls his disciples to follow him - to be “fishers of men” - and then he shows them what that means

Notice what he says contains an imperative, “Follow me...”

Before we can be fishers of men, we have to follow Jesus

It’s a command, an imperative

But even as an imperative, it’s Jesus doing the calling. He called his disciples- and he’s calling us to follow him - our job is to respond

Disciples normally sought after teachers, not the reverse - Jesus calls us to be his own

Also notice he doesn’t just say, “Follow me, and be fishers of men” - he says, “I will MAKE you fishers of men”

It’s the Lord’s doing

Fishing, and fishermen were common in that area back then

The term “fishers of men” would have made sense to them - nothing highly intellectual or confusing

God called Moses & David to be shepherds - that’s what made sense to them

This was a radical call - to “follow him” meant that the left their nets and left their boats- they left their careers as fishermen

It’s time for the church to respond to the radical call with a with a radical lifestyle to serve him

God is not calling most of us to leave our careers - but if he did, would you obey him?

How much do you trust him?

The church needs to be in radical service for the Lord - we can’t waste any more time

A couple of years ago I visited two churches in our area because they had father/son activities…(not once did anyone come approach me)

Don’t skip over verses 23-25 - that’s radical love

Our ministry for Jesus should be radical in some way - before you became a Christian, you lived your life for yourself - now your life should be different

Seek the Lord - ask him what he would have you do for him

It’s radical to walk up to someone and proclaim the gospel - just do it - nowadays, people are looking for hope

It’s radical to give your time, money, and resources to the Lord

It’s radical to teach the preschool at church every week

If God is calling us to something, then it’s radical - if you haven’t begun serving the Lord, do it now - begin your journey with him

It’s okay to make mistakes and learn - it takes work - verse 23 tells us that Jesus “went throughout all Galilee” - that would have been exhausting

Jesus was, in one sense, an itinerant preacher as he moved around

Back then, it was common to ask the visiting Jewish male to teach in their synagogue

V. 19 "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” sets the stage for the Great Commission in Matt 28 - Jesus begins and ends his ministry with this theme: the Lord has called us to follow him and we are all fishers of men

Verse 23 says that Jesus proclaimed the “gospel of the kingdom”

This gospel refers to God’s rescue plan for his people

Jesus does this by immediately dealing with evil in the world

Sickness and disease = evil - because that all came from Adam’s fall

Evil came into the world through sin - and we now live in a fallen world that is full of sickness and disease

The term “gospel of the kingdom” is repeated again in chpts 9 and 24. And Matt 26:13 refers to it at “this gospel”

Mark uses “the gospel,” “the gospel of God,” and “the gospel of Christ”

They’re all interchangeable - it all means the Good News - that Jesus came on a rescue mission to save us from our sins

Our presentation is not so much: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand

Our message to the world should be more like: Repent, the end is near

We need to respond now to his call - we need to follow him

We need to serve him and proclaim his gospel

And we need to equip and encourage each other

(Pray…)

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