Introduction to the Scripture lesson:

         Jesus now begins his public ministry, preaching and healing in Galilee. Matthew uses a significant number of place names in these few verses, so it would be well for us to begin with a geography lesson.

         Judea – The region in the southern part of the Holy Land where Jesus ministers in close proximity to John the Baptist. Judea centers in Jerusalem.

         Galilee – a region in the north, above Samaria. It measured about 70 miles by 40 miles, and held about 200 towns and villages, with a total population at Jesus' time of perhaps 300,000. So it was large enough that a village-by-village itinerant ministry would take some time to cover all of it. It had a significant Jewish population, along with a great number of Gentile people who were there because of a variety of forced settlements over the span of 700 years. Among Jews there was a strong anti-Gentile attitude.

         Nazareth – the hometown of Jesus in Galilee, some distance west of the lake. Jesus was rejected there.

         Capernaum – the town that became Jesus' home during his ministry. It was a fishing village on the lake, and quite prosperous, because there was a tax collector's booth there. The town sat about 8 miles from Tiberius, which was where Herod lived.

         Zebulun and Naphtali – Two of the tribes of Israel, given land in the area of Galilee.

         Syria – the Romans considered all of Palestine to be "Syria." Matthew uses the term to refer to all the people who lived beyond the borders of Israel.

         The Decapolis and the region across the Jordan – two districts south and east of Galilee, made up of mostly Gentiles. The word "Gentile" in Greek is "ethne" meaning "the nations." The prophecy in Isaiah 9:1-2 refers to Galilee of the Gentiles receiving a great light.

         In the Great Commission in Matthew 28 Jesus says "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations" (ethne). So the reason Matthew begins this section with all these place names is to draw our attention to the ministry of Jesus to all people, including the Gentiles.

         Psalm 27 begins "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?"

         It is a Psalm that expresses faith in the midst of darkness and fear. Matthew quotes Isaiah in saying that the people living in darkness have seen a great light.

 

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         From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

 

         The delivering of John into prison by Herod is a signal to Jesus. He moves and he begins his public ministry. He does not move out of fear of Herod. He does not escape to safety to avoid what has happened to John. Rather, he moves closer to Herod, whose capital city is 8 miles from Capernaum. And in the presence of Herod, Jesus begins to preach, teach and heal.

         Why does Jesus do this? Matthew tells us that this is a matter of fulfillment of prophecy. It is also the light shining in the darkness.

Jesus has tremendous courage. He moves close to King Herod to announce that a kingdom of God is dawning, a kingdom that will reach out to all nations, all peoples.

Last week we looked at the temptation of Jesus. Now we see that Jesus will not proceed by the devil's plans, remaining in Jerusalem and doing stunts on the temple to draw a crowd. He will not use the splendor of the kingdoms of the world to accomplish his goals. He will not meet the expectations of the people who look for the Messiah in Jerusalem, in the restoration of the glory of David's empire. Jesus has his own agenda, and his own sense of geography. He begins in Galilee of the Gentiles.

         What will Jesus do in Galilee?

         He will preach town to town and heal people.

         What is the message of the preaching of Jesus?

         "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near."

         "Follow me."

         "I will make you fishers of men."

         Repent. Donald Carson points out that the message of Jesus and the message of John the Baptist are the same. "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand."

         But they mean different things. John is calling people who live in darkness to get ready for the coming Messiah. Jesus is saying he is the fulfillment of the promises for a light rising to shine on the Gentiles. For both, the Kingdom is still a future reality. But Jesus announces in his preaching that it is no longer darkness, it is now dawn. The dawn calls people to repentance. The dawn announces a reality of daylight and calls people to leave the activities of the night, and begin the work of the new day.

         How many of you are old enough to remember the "Ozzie and Harriet" TV show? You remember the younger son in the family, Ricky Nelson. Ricky had aspirations of becoming a rock and roll star along the lines of Elvis Presley, and he never quite made it. But he had one popular song that I always found to be amusing. A teen-aged boy is driving home with his girlfriend and realizes that he has spent far too much of the night on this date, and will most likely have consequences to face.

         "It's late, it's late, we better get on home

         "It's late, we've been gone too long..."

         Then (I could sing the whole thing, but the point comes a few lines later),

         "Ooo hoo, is that the moon we see? Can't be, looks like the sun to me."

         So this young man, who has been caught up in the night, is unsure of the time. He does not know if it is day or night. It is dawn, and it calls him to repentance, and yet he wishes he could continue to live in the night. He is not sure if it is the moon or the sun that he sees.

         So Jesus says, We live in the dawn. It is a time in which we are not always sure. Are we in darkness still? The kingdom clearly is not here yet. All is not well in the world. And yet, should we be acting as if the darkness will continue, perhaps forever? Or do we see the new day? If it is indeed the sun we see, then we better get home. For there is a new reality that calls us to live in a new way.

         So, the prophet writes of people living in darkness. We can live in darkness. When we are discouraged, when we feel truly hopeless in our lives and come to feel that our lives cannot get better and we have no future, then we are living in darkness. We cannot see.

         Or, if we are hiding some sin in our lives, living in a sinful or destructive way because we can use the darkness as a cover, we can get away with it because others cannot see what is going on, then we are living in darkness indeed.

         Perhaps we are looking into the darkness to see what it might offer us. We may be eager to find out what rewards the darkness holds, and we are drawn to it.

         Those are different ways of living in the darkness.

         But the prophet says that "on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." Jesus the Messiah brings light, brings us into the dawn, the first light of the day. For those who live in that gentle light, in the dawn, there is a new reality. They can say, "I know there is a future. My life may not be right yet, it is not mid-day, but in the dawn I know I have a future."

         They may feel a longing for the full day, and so believe God's promises, living in the dawn, eagerly awaiting the full sun to shine. They may be welcoming the light into their lives. If denial is the creation of silence around hard things, then welcoming the light is speaking the truth in love, especially the truth about ourselves. The light is coming and you can trust the light, and not fear the exposure it brings. Repentance is both moral and missional. It means to live for the will of God. It means to live in Christ.

So Jesus preaches, "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand." It is now dawn.

         Then he says, "Follow me."

         Our fears tell us how much we will lose if we leave our comfortable darkness and venture into the light of Jesus. Our fear tells us how much we need what darkness offers. So Jesus does not simply call us to repent, to live in the dawn. He knows the power of fear. He knows how vulnerable we feel when we are exposed by the light. "Follow me" means to be safe in the presence of Jesus. It means to know the assurance of grace which is new every morning. When you follow Jesus you are near to him. Obeying Christ leads to the peace of Christ. Doing what he commands allows us to experience his love and care. Jesus says, "Follow me."

         "I am with you always."

         Then he says "I will make you fishers of men."

         This is a word about discipleship, directed to disciples. He took some who were by trade fishers of fish and made them fishers of men. It sounds easy: Change one word. It is not easy. What we find out about the first disciples is that it took them a long time to catch on, and they kept learning things about themselves that they really didn't want to know.

It is not easy to become a fisher, because Matthew shows us that Jesus does not fish for people by trapping them in a net. He heals people. It is not as easy as it seems to move from fisher to healer.

         Michael Wilkins writes, "When people hear Jesus announce that the Kingdom of Heaven is near, they expect Jesus to inaugurate the kind of Kingdom that is consistent with their hopes." But in following Jesus call, the fishers discovered that they had to relinquish their commitment to the family business, had to let go of their assets and their livelihood. It is not easy to become a fisher of men.

         Jesus says, "I will make you." It is not something we do in our own strength. "I will make you fishers of men." He is the teacher. It is a process of grace as we allow Jesus to shape our lives. Listening to Jesus and following his lead, we are then blessed and empowered to do his will.

         Jesus called his disciples, and immediately they left their boats and followed him.

         Amen.