JESUS BEGINS HIS MINISTRY IN GALILEE - MATTHEW 4:12-5:1

Jesus Begins His Ministry In Galilee

4:12-17

Sometime after the arrest of John, Jesus moved from Judea up north to Galilee. He heard about the arrest and withdrew from Judea, where Herod ruled. He went to Nazareth, his hometown. Jesus’s family still lived there.  (John 2:12)

He then went to Capernaum, which is on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. It became the base for his ministry in Galilee. 

This is in the original allotment of the tribe of Naphtali.

   

Matthew shows this to be a fulfillment of Isaiah 9:1-2, which he cites:

“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

    have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
    on them a light has dawned.”

Isaiah’s prophecy is in the context of the Assyrian invasion of Israel. (Isaiah 8) Israelites that survived the invasion were mostly taken into exile in different parts of the Assyrian kingdom. Gentiles from other nations were exiled into the area. 

Although Jews migrated back into the area, especially under the Maccabees, it continued to be a mix of Jews and Gentiles. The Judeans looked down on the Galileans because of this.

The people in Galilee lived in spiritual darkness, in the presence of many false gods of other nations. Jesus then appeared, a great light for those living in the area. (John 1:4) 

Matthew is saying the Messiah was promised to Galilee of the Gentiles. This foreshadows his commission in 28:19 for the disciples to make disciples in all nations. 

Jesus began to preach to the Galileans. “From that time” means this is a turning point; something new is happening. He said: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. 

John the Baptist preached the same message, but he was saying people should repent to prepare the way for the Messiah to come. It was to be ready for the one who would come and bring justice and restoration to Israel.

But when Jesus preaches this, is saying the kingdom has come, beginning with his appearance preaching and performing miracles, especially casting out demons. Repentance is necessary for entrance into the kingdom. So, John announced the kingdom and Jesus leads his people into the kingdom. 

Calling The First Disciples

4:18-22

Having settled in Capernaum, Jesus went walking by the Sea of Galilee. There, Jesus found men he called to be his disciples. Matthew gives us a short account of these callings. The other gospels have other details, but I am not doing a “harmony of the gospels” here, just dealing with the text of Matthew.

Jesus first saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew. They were fishing by casting a net into the sea.

Matthew notes that Simon was also called Peter.  He does not yet explain why that is so. But we will see why in chapter 16.

Jesus tells the brothers to follow him and he will make them fishers of men. (19) The appeal of that phrase to them indicates some prior contact with Jesus as is indicated in John 1:25-51. They immediately dropped their nets and followed Jesus. 

Jesus then encountered two other brothers, James and John. They were sitting in their boat with their father, Zebedee, but mending their nets rather than fishing. Nonetheless, they left their father and immediately followed Jesus. (22) 

We see, then, that these four were businessmen. They had property, homes, boats, and families. They left their families and their businesses to follow Jesus.  

The Ministry In Galilee

4:23-25

Jesus became an itinerant rabbi or teacher. Unlike today, that did not require formal religious training. He had disciples, notably the four mentioned so far. And he traveled from town to town in Galilee. 

On the Sabbath, he would attend the synagogue and he would teach. It would be common to recognize a visiting rabbi. He might be called on to read a scripture and comment on it. We have an example of this i the synagogue in Nazareth, as recorded in chapter 13. He also proclaimed the gospel, or good news, of the kingdom, as we will see in chapter 5. 

In addition to meeting spiritual needs, Jesus met physical needs. He healed people. Matthew says he healed every disease and affliction brought to him. By healing, he showed the kingdom was indeed present. 

Jesus became famous in the area. Certainly his authoritative teaching, especially applying scripture to himself, would result in discussions and gossip.

But his healing ministry would certainly bring fame. In an age before the sophisticated practice of medicine we have today, there were no cures for many diseases. But Jesus healed them all. Everyone healed, and those who cared about the, would tell others of the miracle. And then others would come for healing.

He even became known in Syria. 

So, more and more people were brought to him for healing. He even cast out demons. That would also certainly cause his fame to spread. And it was more evidence that the kingdom was at hand.

Soon crowds began to follow Jesus. Some came to be healed. Others stayed to listen to what Jesus had to say after healing them. Some heard him in the synagogue and wanted to know more. Some just came for the show. And, of course, some came who wanted to know if this teacher and healer could be the Messiah.

The crowds got bigger. People came from the towns he visited in Galilee, but some also came from Judea and even Jerusalem. And some came from the Gentile countries beyond the Jordan River, including Syria and the 10 cities of the Decapolis. 

Jesus Discipling

5:1

Seeing the big crowd, Jesus went up on the side of a mountain to separate from the crowd and teach his disciples, those who were committed to following him. 

Jesus sat down. This was the posture of teaching for a rabbi. He would sit and his disciples would sit around him. Sitting was a sign he was about to teach. The crowd would know this and sit to hear him. 

This teaching became known as the Sermon on the Mount, as named by Augustine. It comprises chapters five through seven. We will study the sermon itself beginning next week.