Sunday Sermon Matthew 4:12-17

Before Jesus died, God’s people sacrificed a lamb each year during the Feast of Passover to remind them that God brought them out of slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12).

Jesus timed his death to take place at the beginning of Passover—when God’s people were sacrificing their lambs. This would show that Jesus’ death is the once-for-all sacrifice of God to save his people from their slavery to sin.

Now we remember Jesus’ sacrifice by celebrating the Lord’s Supper, instituted by Jesus the night before he died.

We call this communion, the Lord’s Supper, (which means “thanksgiving”). It is a celebration, but it is also a time to reflect on what Jesus did on the cross, to allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts, and to seek forgiveness.

Matthew highlights this point:

Matthew 26:28 NKJV

For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Church, every time we take the bread and the cup, we remember what Jesus did on the cross for us and that we are sinners in need of his saving grace and forgiveness.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, we bow before you in humility and ask You to examine our hearts today. Show us anything that is not pleasing to You. Reveal any secret pride, any unconfessed sin, any rebellion or unforgiveness that may be hindering our relationship with You.

Pause

As we take the bread representing Your life that was broken for us, we remember and celebrate Your faithfulness to us. We can't begin to fathom the agonizing suffering of the cross. Yet You took that pain for us and died for our sins.

Thank You, Jesus. Thank You for Your love and unmerited favor. Thank You that Your death gave me life—abundant life now, and eternal life forever. As You instructed Your disciples, we, too, receive this bread in remembrance of You.

Each time we take communion, Lord, we want to recommit our lives unto You! Fill us today with Your powerful Spirit. As we leave this place, help us to hold this fresh remembrance and the story that never grows old close to our hearts and help us to share the gospel as the opportunity comes.

In Jesus name we love you, Amen

Matthew 26:26–30 NKJV

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

We have come as far as Matthew 4:12, so let us open our Bibles there:

Read Matthew 4:12-17

Prayer

Lord, as we continue our study in Matthew 4, we ask now for the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation that Paul wrote about to the church at Ephesus. We ask for a fresh refilling of your generous Holy Spirit and that you would speak light into the dark places of our hearts. Lord, there are some here today that have enormous burdens, struggles, and even sin, Father we ask for you to heal, to set free, and show up in such a way that the burdens are lifted, the struggles are no more, and that there is deliverance from the sin that so easily entangles us. Lord speak hard truths into our lives and cause the darkness to flee!!!

In Jesus Names we Love you, AMEN!!!!

Review

In looking back we discover that right after Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit fell upon him to empower Him for ministry, and the Father affirmed him by saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, he was immediately led by the Spirit into the wilderness of Judea to be tempted by the devil.

And we learned that the weapon Jesus used was the Word of God

Therefore, like Jesus church, we must know our Bibles!

He was tempted in three ways:

The devil tempted Jesus to have him doubt or deny Gods provision.

Protection.

Promises

There are some of you sitting here right now saying, I get God’s provision and protection, but I struggle with the Promises of God because of the repeated experiences with others breaking their promises with me.

If people have promised us this or that and have not followed through on their promises, this could impact our ability to trust in the promises of God.

Church, God is a promise-maker and Scripture is rich with the language of promise!

GOD IS NOT NOT LIKE OTHER PROMISE MAKERS, FOR HE CANNOT LIE CHURCH!

Do you know what this means? It means that if God makes a promise to us, He must keep it because it is who He is!

One scholar says that there are over 8,000 promises in the Word of God church!

God's Promises Are Facts

When G. Campbell Morgan was a young man he visited two elderly ladies each week to read the Bible to them. When he read Matthew 28:20, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” He said, “Isn’t that a wonderful promise?” One of the ladies quickly replied, “Young man, that is not a promise. It is a fact!” All of God’s promises are fact.

God’s promises give us hope and strength, his promises nurture and sustain us, he has promised to love us, to give us protection and provision church, he promised us the Holy Spirit and thus his presence and support.

God’s promises are meant to move and motivate us. They are meant to instill hope. They are meant to give us courage. They are meant to defeat feelings of loneliness, inability, and fear. They are meant to give us peace when things around us are chaotic and confusing. God’s promises are meant to blow your mind and settle your heart. They are his gifts of grace to you.

God desires to heal our hearts, so we can stand on the promises of God!

Standing on the promises of Christ my King, Through eternal ages let His praises ring, Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, Standing on the promises of God my Savior; Standing, standing, I’m standing on the promises of God.

Matthew 4:12 NKJV

Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.

So Jesus recieved a text message that John was in prison...

Why was John in prison? What did he do?

John was put in prison because he called out Herod adulterous, law breaking realtionship that he had with his brothers wife. Herod married his brother wife and John the Baptist called him out on it and ended up in prison.

We pick up here:

Read Mark 6:17-29

Mark 6:17–29 NKJV

For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife; for he had married her. Because John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Therefore Herodias held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not; for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. Then an opportune day came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee. And when Herodias’ daughter herself came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, “Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you.” He also swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” So she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist!” Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard of it, they came and took away his corpse and laid it in a tomb.

So it is clear from this text that time had elapsed between verse 11 and 12.

And that John’s ministry overlapped Jesus’s ministry.

IT IS CLEAR IN THE TEXT THAT JESUUS KNEW THE FATHERS WILL OR THE PURPOSE FOR HIS LIFE BECAUSE THE MINUTE THAT HE RECEIVED THE TEXT MESSAGE JOHN WAS IN PRISON, HE DEPARTED FOR GALILEE TO START HIS MINISTRY CHURCH.

The time had now come—the time when Jesus was to go forth to His great purpose. Every believer is called of God, actually sent into the world for a specific purpose. The sad fact is that too many believers are not aware of their purpose. They do not know why God sent them into the world. They have not sought God to discover His purpose for their lives; therefore, they are just walking through life doing the same tasks and activities which occupied their time before they were saved. But for the believer who knows God’s purpose for his life, the day comes when he is to go forth to His purpose. He is to go forth as Christ went forth, to carry on the great task which God has given him to do.

Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

God has a plan and a purpose for each and everyone of us, but we will never find out what it is without seeking Him and if you seek him with all of your heart you will find him.

Matthew 4:12–13 NKJV

Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali,

Jesus lived in Nazareth and we know that Nazareth was not a great place, in fact Nathaniel said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Jesus just taught a powerful sermon on the Sabbath day in the synagogue and let the religious folks know that he was the Messiah church and guess what? They rejected him and attempted to throw him over a cliff:

Luke 4:24 NKJV

Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.

So Jesus is rejected and he heard that John was in prison and he knew that he needed to to go to Galilee.

Basically Galilee is about 50 miles from north to south and about 25 miles from east to west - 25 miles wide, 50 miles long; an area surrounding the Sea of Galilee.

Josephus writes that there was 204 villages in Galilee with 15,000 people in each village. He was also the governor at on time, so I guess he would know.

Guess how many people was in Galilee at this time then? 3,060,000

So Jesus left his home town because he was rejected and rather than go to the spiritual headquarters, the religious hub, the place of ritual and tradition, which would be Jerusalem, he decided to go to another filthy place, a place that was over populated, a placed that had mixed marriages between Gentile and Jew, a place of mixed races, a place of trade.

Galilee was the most fertile land around and it made sense that there was a lot of people there because the food was abundant.

This was the most productive land in all of the nation of Israel. In fact, there was a saying that it was easier to raise a legion of olives in Galilee than to bring up one child in Judea. And, of course, nowadays the nation Israel can produce all that it needs to supply its own nation with food right in those areas.

The Galileans were a riotous people they were insurrectionists that spoke with certain slang like those from the south:

Matthew 26:69–73 NKJV

Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.” And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.” But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!” And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.”

Galil- circuit or circle

Galilee was like a circle and it was full of people, from many different tribes and tongues church.

It was a mixed multitude church, mostly Gentiles as our text will reveal.

Jesus did not go to the center of religious tradition and ritualism, he did not go to the religious folks when he started his ministry why?

Matthew 9:12 NKJV

When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

Matthew 4:13–16 NKJV

And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, 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 sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.”

We see here that Jesus established his ministry headquarters in Capernaum church, but guess what?

Later Jesus gives a prophecy about this city that he was headquartered in.

It would be like Jesus setting up his ministry headquarters right here, but guess what? The people rejected him there too:

Matthew 11:20–24 NKJV

Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

Originally Galilee was assigned when God gave Israel the land.

You remember God gave Israel the land. They broke it up into twelve tribes, remember that? Well, the Galilean section was given to Asher, Naphtali, and Zebulun. You can find that in Joshua chapter 9.

It was Asher, Naphtali, and Zebulun. Notice in verse 13 it tells us that it's “the borders of Zabulon and Naphtali,” and that is also in verse 15.

So it was the original territory of these tribes. But these tribes made a terrible mistake. When God sent all the tribes into Israel, after the wanderings, and God got them all organized.

He told them to do one thing, one very important thing. He said, "Run out all the Canaanites." Get rid of all the Canaanites. Zebulun and Naphtali didn't do that. And so from the very start, because they didn't expel the Canaanites, they began with a mixed population.

So here they had this mixture from the very beginning. In fact, in the 8th century B.C., 800 years before Christ, the Assyrians brutally engulfed the whole land and took the people exile; and strangers settled in Galilee.

Since Galilee was on a trade route church and people were there from all over the world, God sent his Son here because they were open to new ideas, not stuck in the religious traditions of the day that hardened the hearts of the multitude in Jerusalem.

So these two tribes were disobedient and God sent his son there??

The Jews that remained in Galilee had been greatly weakened in both biblical and traditional Judaism—giving even greater significance to the name Galilee of the Gentiles.

It is not strange, then, that the reaction of many Jews in Jerusalem was, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?” (John 7:41).

The idea of a Galilean Messiah seemed ludicrous.

When Nicodemus tried to convince the Pharisees that Jesus should be given a fair hearing, “They answered and said to him, ‘You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee’ ” (vv. 51–52)

Yet, as Matthew here reminds his readers, Isaiah had long before prophesied that in Galilee of the Gentiles—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 (cf. Isa. 9:1–2).

BUT WAIT, LET US TAKE A LOOK AT THE TEXT THAT MATTHEW PARAPHRASED:

Isaiah 9:1–2 NKJV

Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, As when at first He lightly esteemed The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.

Notice that Isaiah said that the walked in darkness and this is true, but Matthew writes:

Matthew 4:16 NKJV

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.”

If we walk in darkness long enough church, we eventually will sit in it like Matthew said!

The fact alone that Jesus so accurately and completely fulfilled Old Testament prophecy should be enough to convince an honest mind of the Bible’s truthfulness and authority.

Just as Isaiah had predicted eight centuries earlier, the despised, sin-darkened, and rebellious Galileans were the first to glimpse the Messiah, the first to see the dawning of God’s New Covenant!

Not mighty and beautiful Jerusalem, the queen city of the Jews, but Galilee of the Gentiles would first hear Messiah’s message.

Not the learned, proud, and pure Jews of Jerusalem, but the mongrel, downcast, nontraditional mixed multitude of Samaria and Galilee had that great honor.

To those who were neediest, and who were most likely to recognize their need, Jesus went first.

The fact that Jesus began His ministry in Samaria and Galilee, rather than in Jerusalem and Judea, emphasizes the fact that His gospel of salvation was for the whole world.

Darkness and Light are synonyms for Good and Evil, Holy and Wicked, God or the Devil and these are used interchangeably throughout the Scripture.

1 Peter 2:9 NKJV

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

John 3:16–19 NKJV

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Romans 13:12 NKJV

The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

Psalm 119:105 NKJV

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

John 8:12 NKJV

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

While Capernaum and the world sat in darkness, spiritually blinded, Jesus came and revealed great Light.

He came and presented Himself as the Christ, the Son of the living God who would die for the sin of the world.

Their sin was confronted and the means of salvation and reconciliation was revealed.

The Light of salvation had come to open the eyes of the blind.

So the light came unto those who sat in darkness, it did not come to those who were well, but rather the desperate, the depressed, the broken, and that light revealed their sin, but yet the love of God pointed to a Savior church>>>

Let’s look at our final verse:

Matthew 4:17 NKJV

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

So the light exposes sin, the Spirit leads us to repentance!

Jesus, like John started his ministry with eight words:

REPENT! FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND!

Repent -metanoia - it means a change of heart, a change of mind, and a change of direction church. It could literally mean get converted!

This is a message that is little preached in our day, and rejected by most who hear it.

Humanity doesn’t like to be confronted about their sin.

The flesh desires to be fulfilled and has no desire to walk in a different way.

Repentance is essential to salvation church!

We must come to the place in life where we realize that we are sinful and stand in need of salvation, a work we cannot obtain on our own.

We must repent of the sin we have committed and desire to walk in a new direction with the Lord.

Unless one recognizes his need and is willing to follow the Lord and dismiss the old way of life, he cannot be saved.

This message of Jesus confused many because they were not sincere in seeking Him. Most viewed this statement as a promise to restore the kingdom, delivering Israel from the Romans. Jesus was not speaking of a physical kingdom. His words revealed the promised Messiah had come, literally standing in their midst and he is here today, would you come?

He was the One we must look to and believe in for salvation.

What are the dark places of our hearts that the light is exposing today? What is Jesus asking us to repent of church? Remember church, those who are well do not need a physician.

Prayer

Psalm 18:28–30 NKJV

For You will light my lamp; The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

THE LORD BLESS YOU!

YOUR MISSION STARTS NOW!

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