A Great Light in Galilee
MATTHEW 4:12-25
"THAT VERSE FITS PERFECTLY!" is what I thought one morning when I stopped at Romans 1:16 in my devotional reading: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Paul’s summary application of the gospel in Romans perfectly describes what is illustrated in 4:12-25—the story of Jesus preaching the kingdom, calling his first followers, and healing the crowds. Thus, without apology, reservation, or further explanation I bring you—in Paul’s language—my two points on Matthew’s text.
Don't Be Ashamed... for the Gospel Brings Light to the World
Point one: Don’t be ashamed of the gospel because it brings salvation for “light” as Isaiah and Matthew say to the world—to both Jews and Gentiles.
Did you notice all the geography? Oftentimes when reading through the Gospels I pay little attention to what region or town Jesus is in. I focus more on what he is saying or doing. But here even I couldn’t miss all the place names. In verses 12, 13 five places are mentioned: “Now when he [Jesus] heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali.” And in verses 23-25 six places are mentioned: “And he [Jesus] went throughout all Galilee... So his fame spread throughout all Syria... And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan [River].”
If you open to the map in the back of your Bible and look at what is described here, you'll see that Matthew is doing something very interesting. Here the whole land of Israel is covered. We have Galilee in the northwest, the Decapolis in the northeast, Jerusalem and Judea in the southwest, and finally “beyond the Jordan,” in the southeast. I don’t want to make too much of this. However, since Matthew’s mind is so saturated with the Old Testament, especially in the first four chapters of his Gospel, I deduce that he is using all this geography to depict Jesus as a new Joshua. It’s as if he wants us to picture a new Joshua (“Jesus” is Greek for the Hebrew name “Joshua”) coming to reconquer the promised land and to rule it, to usher in a new and better kingdom, a heavenly kingdom (v. 17), drawing Jews from the north and south and east and west.
So the geography here is important. Jesus has come into the promised land for the salvation of the promised people. However, what should jump out at us geographically is Matthew’s mention of Galilee. If you look in your Bibles and trace your finger along our text, you will find Galilee mentioned in four verses—12, 15, 23, and 25 (five, if we count “the Sea of Galilee” in verse 18). The most significant of these references is verse 15, where Matthew calls Galilee “Galilee of the Gentiles.” Remember that the gospel is for Jews first (and we will see that first in the calling of four Jews—Peter, Andrew, James, and John), but also for Gentiles (we have seen that already with the magi in 2:1-12, and we will see that next in 8:5-13 with the extraordinary faith of the Roman centurion). The seed for the Great Commission, which was planted in 1:1-17, is watered here. So Jesus starts his ministry in Galilee of the Gentiles.
“But wait a minute,” a Jew in Jesus’ day might have objected, “what is the Messiah doing in Galilee? Shouldn’t he be in Bethlehem and then Jerusalem? And shouldn't he be ministering among the political and spiritual elites—the priests, scribes, and Pharisees? What is he doing with a bunch of ‘country bumpkins’ and ‘hicks’ in this despised, Gentile-filled region of Israel?”
Matthew provides an answer. He tells us to open our Bibles to Isaiah 9:1, 2, which he quotes to explain Jesus’ actions:
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 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, (vv. 15, 16)
“Jesus is in Galilee, this I know, because the Bible tells me so.” That’s my summary of the above citation. The Bible says that Galilee was where the Messiah would minister. This same chapter of Isaiah describes the coming of the messianic kingdom just a few verses later:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder… Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. (Isaiah 9:6, 7)
This kingdom is to be inaugurated in an unexpected place—Galilee of the Gentiles. That is where the Lord's “salvation” shall come, in the words of Simeon, as “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” (Luke 2:30, 32).
So Jesus is in Galilee to fulfill Scripture, “so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled” (v. 14). Here again, for the sixth time, the fulfillment formula is used (cp. 1:22; 2:15, 17, 23; 3:15). However, Jesus is also in Galilee because he is fishing for followers. He is fishing, surprisingly, not from the religious or political elite (e.g., Nicodemus, Caiaphas, Herod) but rather from the average Joes of this world—Peter, James, and John.
So I am not ashamed of the gospel, and you ought not to be ashamed of the gospel, because it brings salvation / light to the world—to Jews first but also to Gentiles. Why should we Christians ever be ashamed of the message that Jesus has come even for the lowly, and that Jesus has come for people from every tongue and tribe and nation? As exclusive as Christianity is—there is only one way to the one God, and it is through the one and only Son of God—it is far and away the most inclusive religion in the history of the world. Jesus welcomes Galilean fishermen, Samaritan women, and Roman soldiers, and his Ecclesia welcomes Irishmen and Indonesians, Indians and Americans, and so many others. Tell me another religion in the first century that did that. Tell me another religion in the world today that does that. It’s part of our history. It’s part of our theology. It’s part of our gospel!
So don’t be ashamed of the gospel (especially in this day and age as our culture is finally catching up with Christianity) because the gospel brings salvation to all kinds of people in all kinds of places. It brings light to the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they’re all precious in his sight; Jesus loves the lowly Gentile sinners of the world. That’s the first point.
Don't Be Ashamed... for the Gospel Is God's Power for Salvation
Point two: Don’t be ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes. In the middle section of our passage, Matthew highlights the tension between God’s sovereign call and people’s willful belief.
First, we see the power of God. The sovereign power of God in salvation (cp. 1 Thessalonians 1:5) is on display. Look again at verses 18-22. Starting in verse 18 we read, “While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he [Jesus] saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.” And then what does Jesus do? He gives them not some polite or reasoned invitation but a seemingly unconditional command. He says to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (v. 19). And what happens? Do they say, “Oh, well, ah, let me check with a few of my best customers first,” or “Let me make sure my wife can manage without me for a few days, months, three years”? No. What do we read in verse 20? “Immediately they left their nets and followed him.”
Matthew doesn’t stop there. He continues on with a second nearly identical example of Jesus' power: “And going on from there he [Jesus] 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” (v. 21). And they said... well, they didn’t say anything. “Immediately [there’s that word again] they left the boat and their father and followed him” (v. 22). They left both finances and family!
Sovereign command and immediate obedience is the twofold pattern in these two stories. Now that’s power, isn’t it? It’s almost as powerful as the Creator of our universe, saying, “Let there be light, and there was light; let there be stars and there were stars; let there be fish; and there were fish.” This powerful calling reflects the power of God for salvation. If you miss Jesus’ power here, you miss what’s going on. He is the Lord. He has all authority. Matthew is going to say that and show that repeatedly.
However, if you miss or underplay the fact that these four men actually “followed” (a word used four times here), then you miss the other side of the message. The gospel is the power of God for “everyone who believes.”
Jesus calls; we must come.
This is actually the emphasis, according to the word order, in Jesus’ first recorded message in Matthew: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (v. 17; cp. 3:2). Jesus announces that the eschatological reality of the future reign of God’s King is now here and that the ethical imperative that naturally follows that reality is repentance. “Repent” is the first word out of our Lord’s mouth to his would-be disciples. They are to repent and follow. To summarize, we see:
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The necessity of repentance.
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The necessity of following.
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The necessity of faith.
I want us to pause here and dwell on this human side of things—on our responsibility to repent and follow, or in a more generic and more popular New Testament term, our need and delightful duty to believe.
Matthew doesn’t use the word “believe,” as Mark does in his version of this story (Mark 1:15), but faith is what Matthew is getting at. Matthew is saying to his readers, “I’ll show you what Jesus’ first four followers did, and then you tell me if you would do likewise. Here in the mirror are Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Does your faith in any way reflect theirs?”
Well, does it? Let’s take a look. Let me ask you a few personal and perhaps penetrating questions. Is Jesus Lord? If so, is he Lord over your life so much that in his presence you recognize the spiritual difference that exists between you and him—he is holy, you are not? In light of this difference, do you repent of your sins? And more than understanding and embracing repentance in this first sense—repenting of sin—do you also repent from following anyone or anything more than Jesus?
That is the real point pressed on us here, and it will be pressed on us again and again in Matthew, especially at the end of chapter 10. Who or what is first in your life—the fish, the nets, the boat, the career, the income, the brother, the father, the family? Are you willing to break from any or all “former loyalties”—occupation, friends, family, religion, etc.—in order to wholeheartedly serve one Master? Moreover, are you willing to do what this Master says? To go where he wants you to go? To give away what must now be given away?
We won’t all be leaving the fishing profession to be called “apostles” or to be martyred for the faith. I know that. But I also know that when Christ calls you to repent and follow him, you better expect to be disrupted from your ordinary life. You better expect a sword to sever relationships, pierce your bank account, and cut off all those sins that so easily entangle you. You better expect such changes and many more.
The prophet Isaiah envisioned a time (oh, he longed for it) when God would break into history in the most remarkable way; the time would come when God would begin to establish his heavenly rule on earth. Well, praise be to God, for the King has come; has been brought into our world - Jesus. So repent, believe, and follow. Turn away from sin and idolatry and turn to Jesus—the Savior and King—offering yourself to him and him alone, which is your spiritual worship (Romans 12:1).
Point two is, don’t be ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes—everyone who says, like the disciples did, “Yes, Lord, I trust your sovereign call enough to freely and completely follow you.”
Three Reasons to Believe
I can surmise that some of you, as you look in this mirror, know quite well how poorly you reflect the faith of these four fishermen, because you are still holding on to some of your “nets.” Perhaps when you come to church, you zip your “nets” up in your purse or stuff them down your socks, but you still have them. You are still a bit caught up in them. But you honestly don’t want to be. You want to repent more fully. You want to follow Jesus better. So you’re thinking, “I do believe, help my unbelief.”
If your heart is soft to God right now—if you genuinely want to have more faith—I want you to consider with me why these four fishermen first believed. I think that as we grasp why they believed, it will help us believe as well. It will strengthen our faith.
First, Peter, Andrew, James, and John believed because of the truth of the message. While they obviously had less information here than they would have three years later, what they saw and heard regarding Jesus made sense. It made the best sense of the world and of the predictions of Scripture. There was something believable about Jesus and his teaching. Here with Jesus’ message (summarized in v. 17), they were apparently as awestruck as the crowd would be at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.
Second, they believed because of the value of the mission. They were fishermen, and when Jesus approached them he offered them what I’ll call a promotion. “Follow me,” he said, “and I will make you fishers of men” (v. 19). Don’t fish for salmon when you can fish for souls; don’t catch minnows when you can capture men. Christ’s call is more than our own salvation; it is a call for the salvation of others. And because of this selflessness, it is ironically self-rewarding. Christian ministry—the work of spreading the gospel like a net to each corner of the world—is exhilarating. It is life-giving, more life-giving than anything I know or have done. People are always looking to find meaning and purpose in life. Well, nothing is more fulfilling and purposeful than joining the school of Christ and being sent out to capture a school of souls! This is why the kingdom, if you find it, and the King, if you will follow him, is like a treasure hidden in a field—it’s worth giving everything to get it.
Third, they believed because of the reality’ of the miracles. Message, mission, miracles—those are the three reasons they believed, reasons that should help us believe as well. When I first think of Matthew’s Gospel in comparison with the other Gospels, what first comes to mind is Jesus' teaching ministry - the parables, the Olivet Discourse, and most notably the Sermon on the Mount. However, it’s interesting to note that Matthew is just as interested in miracles, some might argue even more so, as Mark, Luke, and John. This is true especially in 4:23—9:35. Look at 4:23. Now turn to 9:35. Notice that Matthew writes a very similar sentence:
4:23: “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.”
9:35: “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.”
This is called an inclusio. Surrounding the Sermon on the Mount—Jesus’ words—are stories and summaries about his miracles—Jesus’ deeds. The point in the inclusio is that “Jesus not only talks; he heals.” More specifically, his miraculous healings testify to his identity. Later, in 11:3, some of John the Baptist’s followers will approach Jesus and ask him, “Are you the Messiah, or should we expect someone else?” (my paraphrase). And how did Jesus reply? He said, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up” (11:4, 5).
When we see that Jesus does miracles that no one has ever done before, and when we see that Jesus healed all who came to him—“all the sick... those oppressed by demons” (v. 24), we are to see that Jesus is no Tanzanian witch doctor. He is no Orlando televangelist. This is no reenactment of the magic of Egypt. Rather, in the words of Pharaoh’s magicians, “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19). The curse is being buried in the sweat-soaked ground; Sin’s head is slowly being crushed under Christ’s heel.
Who Jesus heals, how Jesus heals, and what he is able to heal—all of this points to him as God’s Son. It’s not only “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” but who can walk on water, who can still the wind and waves, who can take a lifelong illness away with one touch, who can turn seven loaves into 7,000, and who can catch 100 fish at one command?
Even at the start of Jesus’ ministry Peter, Andrew, James, and John understood this. They understood the faith-drawing, faith-building power of Jesus' miracles. While we have not seen or touched him as they did. we should nevertheless believe as we read the apostolic reports of him. The miracles by themselves don’t close the case. But along with the claims, commands, and character of Christ, they build a fairly strong one.
So the truth of the message, the value of the mission, and the reality of the miracles—those are the three reasons they believed. These same reasons should help us who have not seen and yet believe to trust in Jesus for everything and follow him anywhere and everywhere.
No Shame
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)
As we look afresh at 4:12-25, let us be reminded and encouraged that there is no reason to be ashamed of the good news of Jesus Christ, for this gospel brings salvation to all kinds of people in all kinds of places. It is the power of God for salvation for everyone—I’ve experienced it; you’ve experienced it—who believes.
(R. Kent Hughes. and Douglas Sean O'Donnell., 2013; edited Carl Hinton., 2020)