As we turn to the Word of God and the preaching
of His Word today, let us remember once again
that during this epiphany season, this is the
time that the Lord Jesus is revealed to us. These
are the portions of the Scripture and of course
all through the Gospels we see Jesus revealed
to us. But here today we continue to see people's
eyes open more and more and we pray that the
Lord would also give us epiphanies into Christ
Jesus. Let us pray. O Lord God, we give thanks
then to you that by your sovereign grace you
have made us your people. You have surrounded
us with your mercies and your protecting care.
Make us grateful morning and night, joyful in
your providential care and in your grace. Take
our eyes from our burdens and griefs and grant
that they may be always fixed on your goodness
and your grace. Teach us this day and always
the things that we need to know so that we may
serve you with all our heart, mind, being and
so make the words of my mouth and the meditations
of all our hearts pleasing in your sight for
the sake of Your Son our Savior Jesus Christ
our Lord amen For those of you that may be tuning
in it is our habit to preach the gospel from
Advent the gospel reading from Advent until Pentecost
and So once again our sermon text is our gospel
reading Let us now hear God's word. Matthew chapter
four, beginning in verse 12. 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, 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 upon
those who sat in the region and the shadow of
death. Light has dawned. From that time, Jesus
began to preach and say, repent, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. And Jesus, walking by the
Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called
Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into
the sea, for they were fishermen. Then he said
to them follow me and I will make you fishers
of men they immediately left their nets and followed
him Going on from there He saw two other brothers
James the son of Zebedee and John his brother
in a boat with Zebedee their father Mending their
nets he called them and immediately they left
the boat and their father and followed him and
Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their
synagogues preaching the gospel of the kingdom
and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds
of diseases among the people. That his fame went
throughout all Syria and they brought to him
all sick people who were afflicted with various
diseases and torments and those who were demon
possessed and epileptics and paralytics and he
healed them. Great multitudes followed him from
Galilee, from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and
beyond the Jordan. These are the words of Almighty
God. Receive them in your hearts. You know, one
of the things about being a parent is this, that
we have an expectation that our children do what
we ask. When they're little, what do we do? It's
simple instructions. Eat your green beans. Don't
stick your finger in the socket. Don't run in
the street and please come here Sometimes it's
other things we ask them we say come here come
here and they run from us and we have a gift
We have something for them. Maybe it's a few
M &Ms. Maybe it's a birthday present and they're
not with it But they run away and they don't
come You know one of the things that we really
want to strive with with all of our children
is to get them to obey right away, the first
time that we call. Now, this is, of course, a
great challenge for many. Well, really, truthfully,
I think for all of us, right? We're challenged.
We want them just to respond to our word. Come
here, please. And then, when they don't, what's
going on in our mind is, oh, man, what's the
next step? Now, the truth is, we know, as Christians,
we know what the next step is. We know that we're
supposed to go out, get up, Go after them and
discipline them right then, every time, so that
they quickly learn to come when we call. Why
do we do that? Well, we do it sometimes, to be
honest, for our own convenience. But mostly,
I hope that our desire is to see that our children
stay out of danger. We want them, if they're
dashing towards the street or to something dangerous,
when we say stop. That they stop immediately.
When we say come, they come. And so here today,
I want us to keep that in mind as we consider
the scriptures. There's three things I want you
to think about as we consider this passage. One,
during this epiphany season, we are told, it
is revealed to us that Jesus actively fulfills
the promises of God. Jesus actively fulfills
the promises of God. Second, like the disciples,
we must follow Jesus. We must follow Jesus. And
that Jesus himself proclaimed the gospel of the
kingdom. Our passage begins with the observation
that when Jesus heard that John had been put
into prison, that he left Nazareth, and headed
to Galilee dwelling in Capernaum. There's a continuity
from the ministry of John the Baptizer to Jesus.
John's ministry of repentance for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand, is continued by Jesus.
Jesus' work is the continuation of the work of
God towards man through all of history, beginning
in the Garden of Eden. God's axe is laid at the
root of the tree of Israel. That's what John
says, right? The prophet of Jeremiah shows us
that God uses the axe of empires to bring down
nations God will use Rome as the axe that destroys
the temple Jerusalem and all the Jews who oppose
Jesus For years many across Judea had risen up
in rebellion to overthrow the Roman Empire Which
explains why you see pilot inherit concern with
riots and why the priests and other conspirators
Against Jesus focus on Jesus as an evildoer deserving
death They keep insinuating that he's a rival
king and in one way he is but What he's doing
what they're doing is Hey, he's gonna cause a
riot. As a matter of fact, we're responding in
a riotous way because of Jesus. And so Pilate
and Herod both capitulate. The enemies of the
cross, this is real important, the enemies of
the cross know what buttons to push on the civil
magistrate to cause them to give an unfavorable
result against Jesus and his church. We've seen
that very recently. They know what the civil
magistrates' idols are. In other words, the idols
of the age that the officials will not cross
out of fear. We're seeing that develop all over
our country. So for the church, we should expect
to receive the same treatment as our Lord. So
what does Jesus do? He goes out and he preaches
and he teaches the gospel of the kingdom. What
is this gospel? You know the great hymn. This
is my father's world Do not forget God is the
ruler yet The Lord is king Let the heavens ring
That is the gospel of the kingdom every square
inch of everyone's life Whether they're covered
up and hiding it It is yet God's world It is
Jesus declaring that it is His Father's world.
And so let the heavens ring. So Jesus leaves
the town of Nazareth and heads northward around
the Sea of Galilee. John preached, and many came
from all over Judea and Jerusalem. So we have
Jesus who is going out, and we have John who
is stationary by the River Jordan. Judea, where
all those came from, Checking out John is understood
as the region of the southern kingdom all of
those who returned after the exile and Jesus
he doesn't go there He ventures out to the region
of the old northern kingdom which fell into judgment
of exile about 135 years earlier than the southern
kingdom Now God not only delivered the northern
kingdom into exile, but also directed the Assyrians
to plant into the land all kinds of Gentiles
and unbelieving nations. The two most northern
tribes in this northern kingdom are Zebulun and
Naphtali. And so our text provides a prophecy
of God's promise of epiphany or illumination
for the people in these regions. So, John, he's
proclaiming the truth, and it's primarily to
those who are already thinking of God. And Jesus
goes into a mixed land filled with all kinds
of people from all kinds of nations. Verse 15
reminds us that in 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, these people have been infiltrated
with all kinds of idolatries. In that darkness,
Jesus goes. They've been sitting in that darkness.
They've seen a great light. And upon those who
sat in the region and the shadow of death, a
light has dawned. Where people came to John,
Jesus goes into the region here, revealing who
he is. But this great light is not just for the
Jews, but also for the Gentiles. Jesus does proclaim
the same thing. He says repent for the kingdom
is at hand and he does this beginning in the
synagogues But throughout his ministry he will
touch and heal and forgive Jew and Samaritan
and Gentile alike This quote is from Isaiah chapter
9 and it starts with that revealed shining light
in this region and then then proceeds to go to
a very familiar passage. So this light is promised
by the prophet Isaiah to this very mixed area
of the world, and then we see later down in Isaiah
9 a very familiar passage beginning in verse
6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son
is given, and the government will be upon his
shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful,
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father. Prince
of Peace. Of the increase of his government and
peace, there will be no end upon the throne of
David and over his kingdom to order it and establish
it with judgment and justice from that time forward,
even forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will
perform this. The Father is revealing that Jesus
as the Son whom he has placed on the throne is
the one Who will bring the light who will transform
not just Israel? But bring his promises of restoration
to all mankind in this mixed land of the northern
kingdom And of course all of this is made true
not by any work of man But by the zeal of the
Lord now you might be looking out there at the
world around you you might be seeing all kinds
of things going on And you're like this land
is lost and perhaps this nation is But you know
who's not lost? All the people whom God has called.
So what do we do? We must live as lights and
obedience to Christ. And you say, how can I do
this against all these overwhelming odds? This
is how you do it, by the zeal of the Lord. Now
it is here in this region, as our narrative goes
on, that we see Jesus pursue and call his first
disciples. Unlike other rabbis of the time, what
would happen is you'd have a rabbi, he'd be teaching,
and then someone would come to him and say, hey,
can I be your student? No. Again, here we see
the sovereignty of God's work of salvation. Jesus
goes and he calls. And so here we see Jesus.
It says he was walking by the Sea of Galilee
and he sees two brothers. Simon and Peter. And
what are they doing? They're casting a net by
the sea. Why? Because they were fishermen. And
Jesus says to them, follow me and I will make
you fishers of men. And they immediately left
their nets and followed him. And of course he
goes on from there and he saw two brothers, James
the son of Zebedee and his brother John. And
they're not only just out there doing this, but
they're with their father and they're mending
their nets and they're with their boat. And it
says, he called them and immediately they left
the boat and their father and followed him. So
Jesus walks along the shore of Galilee and comes
to Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Now remember,
Jesus had already met Andrew and Peter. As you
know, Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptizer
and heard John announce that Jesus was the Lamb
of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Andrew of course follows Jesus and in turn brings
Peter to Jesus. Our passage today occurs sometimes
after this. Jesus walks up to both sets of brothers
and bids them to follow him. And I will make
you fishers of men." So he's going to transform
them. He calls them, and then he's going to transform
them from fishers of just fish to fishers of
men. And this, of course, reminds us of the prophecy
in Ezekiel 47, where the vision of the new temple
is described with water proceeding out of the
temple, rising deeper and deeper, flowing farther
and farther into the world, all the way to the
sea. and it will heal the waters of the sea.
It says this in verse seven of Ezekiel 47. When
I returned there, along the bank of the river,
there were many trees on one side and the other.
And he said to me, this water flows towards the
eastern region and goes down into the valley
and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea,
its waters are healed. And it shall be that every
living thing that moves wherever the rivers go
will live. There will be a very great multitude
of fish because these waters go there, for they
will be healed and everything will live wherever
the river goes. And it shall be that fishermen
will stand by it from the Ngedi to the Ngalem,
and they will be places for spreading their nets.
Their fish will be the same kinds of fish of
the Great Sea, exceedingly many. but its swamps
and marshes will not be healed. They will be
given over to the salt. Along the banks of the
river, now here it is, along the banks of the
river on this side and that will grow all kinds
of trees used for food. Their leaves will not
wither and their fruit will not fail. They will
bear fruit every month because the water flows
from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food
and their leaves for medicine. Jesus is calling
his disciples to be transformed into the foundation
of the new temple and in that Become fishers
of men Whom the spirit brings the light so the
spirit flows out from the presence of God we
see this in Ezekiel we see this in Revelation
the spirit flows from the throne where the father
and the son are sitting so he proceeds out and
he brings life to the world and Everyone that
he gives life to the fishermen are pulling in
and adding to the living stones of the new temple.
We're told that all four men immediately left
their nets and followed Jesus. And for James
and John, we see that they not only left their
nets, but they left their father and their boats
as well. These men heard the call to follow Jesus
and rightly prioritize their lives. The whole
of the Gospels tell us that none of these men
abandoned their families or jobs or responsibilities
to follow Jesus, but they rightly ordered their
loves so as to submit every area of their lives
under the rule of following Jesus first and then
to attend to everything else with God's will
being done here on earth as it is in heaven.
To be sure, The disciples through the ministry
of Christ showed all kinds of sign of sin and
boneheadedness. But Jesus called them and they
followed Jesus immediately. We see that Jesus's
influence and fame grows throughout all of Syria.
Now the Syrian, when the scriptures talk about
Syria, it's actually talking about this whole
region of the Northern Kingdom. So all. of this
region of Jews and Samaritans and Gentiles. Do
you wonder why Jesus' fame and influence doesn't
grow in the world that you live in? Do you get
up and follow Jesus immediately? Last week we
were reminded in our service that we are no longer
in bondage to sin that is reigning sin. And that
Jesus kept his word and sent the Holy Spirit
not only to transform us, but to remind us of
everything that Jesus has said. That is, every
bit of the whole Bible. So again, do we obey
the word of God immediately? What are we hesitating
on? What are we attempting to negotiate with
God over? God calls you. obedience now not tomorrow
and not after lunch so confess your procrastination
you know we are saved by grace but the conditions
that God gives us right do not nullify grace
but the conditions that God gives us to walk
in obedience to him are fulfilled by his grace
he sent his spirit that reminds us of Jesus'
words and has given us a new heart and has renewed
our mind. And he has taken us and given us the
ability to walk away from sin. So put it to death.
Follow Jesus first. Let his words, every part
of scripture, determine the order of your priorities.
Then again, following Jesus immediately, let
each of you do what? Your thinking, your speaking,
your working, your playing, how you relate in
all of your relationships. And do it in quick
submission to God. We too often demand this from
others and do not expect it of ourselves. We're
often quick to point out everyone else's failures
and failure to follow Christ immediately Well,
they know what to do So why don't they do it?
All right, what does God charged you with? To
follow him immediately to remember his words
so once again Confess your sin confess your procrastination
So that You too will be lights in the world and
you'll see the world around you transformed Jesus
has come bringing light into the world driving
out the darkness with all authority and His name
is wonderful and counselor mighty God everlasting
Father and Prince of Peace of this new creation
light and life has come and Light and life has
come to you and you are to share it with the
world We've been blessed by the new life given
to us by the Father by the work of Jesus through
the power of the Spirit Follow Jesus Obey immediately
and in this you will bring the light and life
of the gospel of the kingdom in Jesus to the
world Let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you
that you sent Jesus to bring light into the world
and that he drives the darkness from your people.
Help us we pray to see our sin and to follow
Jesus in all things without hesitation. Grant
us your spirit to bring your light to the world
and become fishers of men to your glory. We ask
all this for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord
who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit forever
and ever.