WHEN JESUS HEARD that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. 13Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—14to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
15“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, along the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”
17From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 20At once they left their nets and followed him.
21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
23Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. 25Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
Original Meaning
JESUS’ RETREAT TO the desert to fast may have seemed inconsistent with what some anticipated from a messianic deliverer. But although he was weak at the end of a fast, Jesus vanquished Satan with a word of command. This “deliverer” did not fit stereotypical messianic molds, because the power and authority Jesus displayed was neither militaristic nor political. But his authority and power were staggering nonetheless. Jesus was powerful enough to conquer the devilish ruler of this world, universal enough to include both Jews and Gentiles in his messianic gospel, authoritative enough to transform simple men into leaders of a movement that changed the course of history, and effective enough to attend to the basic needs of the people—body, soul, and spirit. This is the kind of messianic deliverer that advances the kingdom of God.
Jesus Messiah Begins His Galilean Ministry (4:12–17)
JESUS’ MINISTRY HAS traditionally been reckoned as lasting three years: a year of obscurity, a year of popularity, and a year of increasing rejection.1 The Synoptic Gospels largely omit the first obscure year, but it is implied in the introduction to Jesus’ Galilean ministry: “When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee” (4:12). We hear nothing in Matthew about that first year between Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist and John’s arrest. For some details here, we must read John 1:26–4:3.
The motivation for Jesus’ return to Galilee is that John the Baptist is put in prison. Behind the expression “had been put in prison” is the same verb (paradidomi) that will come to be associated with Jesus’ own arrest, imprisonment, and eventual execution (cf. 17:22; Mark 15:1; Rom. 4:25; 8:32; 1 Cor. 11:23). Matthew does not explain why John was arrested, apparently because this was a well-known story to his audience. Josephus underscores that Herod Antipas imprisoned John for political reasons; that is, he feared that John’s popularity with the people, along with his preaching and baptism, might lead the people to some form of sedition.2 Matthew fills in later an additional moral reason behind John’s arrest: John the Baptist had publicly condemned Herod Antipas for having an affair with, and eventually marrying, Herodias, his half-brother Philip’s wife (see comments on 14:1–12).
Jesus returns (lit., “withdraws”) to the Galilee region to begin his ministry. “Withdraw” (anachoreo) has been used several times already in Matthew,3 and in each case the “withdrawing” is associated with some negative issue. Here the negative issue is the imprisonment of John the Baptist. We might assume that Jesus withdraws from the area of John’s arrest to distance himself from danger.4 But when we realize that Herod Antipas ruled the region of Galilee, Jesus is not going to Galilee to escape danger from him. Herod’s capital city, Tiberius, is only eight and a half miles down the coast of the Sea of Galilee from Capernaum, the base of Jesus’ ministry. One commentator even suggests that Jesus goes to the center of Herod’s realm of authority as a challenge to him.5 Whether or not this is the case, Jesus certainly is not fleeing danger.
An ominous plot is unfolding. Jesus’ temptations have alerted us to the spiritual conflict that rages between the Father’s plan and Satan’s opposition. John the Baptist’s scathing attack on the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Sadducees warns us about the religious collision between the message of the gospel and the activities of the religious establishment. Matthew’s allusion to the arrest of John cautions us that there is political conflict between the hopes of the people of Israel and the rule of the Roman occupiers. Jesus undertakes his Galilean ministry in the teeth of a gathering storm.
Returning to Galilee, Jesus goes first to his hometown of Nazareth, where apparently his mother and brothers and sisters are still living. Matthew says only that “leaving Nazareth,”6 Jesus goes to Capernaum, but Luke fills in some of the details of his time in his former hometown. Jesus attends the synagogue, and as a returning successful preacher, reads from Scripture. However, he offends the townspeople’s ethnic sensitivities when he reveals that his ministry will include Gentiles, so they attempt to kill him (see Luke 4:16–31).
Animosities between Jews and Gentiles ran high. Non-Jewish populations surrounded the tribes of Israel in the north on three sides, so the region was described as “Galilee of the Gentiles” (4:15). Although Jesus went first to the Jews to fulfill God’s promises to the nation (10:5–7), he goes on to display an increasing openness to Gentiles. That openness reflects the intention of the original Abrahamic covenant to include Gentiles and is the foundation of the later apostolic mission to the Gentiles (28:18). But many Jews, including those in his former hometown, could not overcome their antipathy toward Gentiles.
After leaving hostile Nazareth, Jesus makes Capernaum his base of operations and his new hometown for the length of his ministry in Galilee (4:13; cf. 9:1). Capernaum is the Greek form of the Hebrew Kefar Nahum, which means the “village of Nahum.” Matthew narrates later that Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida were the cities “in which most of his miracles had been performed” (11:20). This area of operation is referred to by some as the “Evangelical Triangle,” the central location of Jesus’ proclamation of the gospel.7 Capernaum, a Galilean frontier town, lies in the middle of the base of the triangle.8
Jesus’ arrival in Zebulun and Naphtali in Galilee provides a fertile place of ministry and fulfills another Old Testament prophecy. Matthew 4:15–16 quotes from Isaiah 9:1–2. This is the sixth Old Testament prophecy so far, and the fifth using the distinctive Matthean fulfillment formula (see 1:22–23; 2:5–6, 15, 17–18, 23). Zebulun and Naphtali were two of the twelve tribes that settled in the northernmost region near the Sea of Galilee. Nazareth was in the territory of Zebulun, while Capernaum was in Naphtali. The “way to the sea” (4:15) was the trade route that ran through this region to the Mediterranean Sea. Matthew recognizes that Jesus’ ministry will extend far beyond the physical confines of Jewish Galilee. It will influence those traveling through the region, people from beyond the Jordan, and ultimately the Gentiles.
Ever since the Assyrian campaign reduced it to a province under an Assyrian governor in 732 B.C. (2 Kings 15:29), this region had experienced turmoil and forced infiltration of Gentile influence. The inhabitants are called “the people sitting in darkness” (Matt. 4:16), a description of Jews who awaited deliverance while living among the hopelessness of the Gentiles.9 Here, where the darkness was most dense and so far removed from the center of Jewish religious life in Jerusalem, these Jews are the first to see the great light of God’s deliverance in Jesus. It will bring hope to those who understand most clearly the hopelessness of death. This light presages the universal message of hope, because from this same region Jesus will send the disciples to carry out the commission to make disciples of all the Gentiles (28:18). The message that begins to unfold is of messianic grace, for it comes first to those least expecting it.
The phrase “From that time on Jesus began . . .” (4:17) marks a significant turning point in Matthew’s narrative.10 This phrase indicates that the preparations for Jesus’ messianic ministry are complete. The prophesied miraculous birth and infancy of Messiah have been established. The prophetic forerunner has announced his arrival. He has been anointed for ministry by the Spirit and confirmed by the Father. He has established his authoritative power as the Son over Satan. Now with John’s public ministry terminated by his arrest, Jesus Messiah proceeds to the land of prophesied deliverance, where he preaches his message of God’s breaking into history.
Matthew’s summary of Jesus’ message is the same as that of John the Baptist: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (4:17; cf. 3:2).11 In neither case is the arrival of the kingdom defined, probably indicating that certain expectations about the arrival of the kingdom came to mind among those who heard them preach.12 But the way in which Jesus develops his ministry and the response of many to him reveal different understandings and expectations of the way that God’s kingdom “is near.”
Donald Gowan underscores a generally consistent prophetic hope that lent itself to a variety of expectations within Israel. “God must transform the human person; give a new heart and a new spirit. . . . God must transform human society; restore Israel to the promised land, rebuild cities, and make Israel’s new status a witness to the nations. . . . And God must transform nature itself.”13 Some within Israel focused on a transformed nature, while others focused on Israel’s restoration. Some focused on a new heart, while others focused on new cities. Many expected imminent judgment and restoration to be dispensed with the arrival of the Coming One, looking for God’s wrath to be poured out on the unrighteous and for his blessing to be poured out on the righteous. When people hear Jesus announce that the kingdom of heaven is near, they expect Jesus to inaugurate the kind of kingdom consistent with their hopes.
But Jesus has his own agenda. He will indeed bring a form of judgment insofar as the wrath of God remains on those who do not obey him and as he judges the ruler of this world (cf. John 3:36; 16:11). He also will bring a form of restoration as he presents the kingdom to Israel (cf. Matt. 10:5–7; 15:24). He initiates a form of restoration righteousness as a qualification for entrance to the kingdom of heaven (5:20). But the way in which this fulfills the Old Testament prophetic hope is different from what many in Israel are expecting.
The crux of Jesus’ inauguration of the kingdom of heaven has to do with how people respond to him as their Messiah.14 He is the Coming One prophesied by John (cf. 3:13–17; 11:2–6), but he preaches the “good news” of the kingdom for all who come to him. As Jesus remains faithful to his mission, people are forced to make a decision. They will either be with him, requiring that they adjust their expectations to accept what he reveals to be God’s present program, or they will be against him. The tragedy of the latter choice is fully exposed at the Roman trial, when the crowd chooses the revolutionary brigand Barabbas over Jesus. Jesus has bitterly disappointed the crowd’s expectations of what the kingdom should bring, so they turn against him (see 27:15–26).
God’s ways are not always what humans expect. Jesus will indeed fulfill the prophetic hope. But he will bring this hope to complete fulfillment only when he returns as the Son of Man in glory (cf. 24:29–31). This dual phenomenon is what scholars today generally refer to as the “already-not yet” nature of the kingdom. Jesus has already inaugurated the kingdom, but it has not yet reached its final form.15 As we proceed through Matthew, we will try to understand what exactly Jesus inaugurated and what awaits fulfillment. The kingdom is now present with the arrival of the messianic king of the line of David, and its arrival will confront a variety of expectations among those who experience its impact. But some of what others expected to occur immediately—especially full judgment and restoration—awaits final fulfillment.
Jesus Messiah Calls Fishers of Men (4:18–22)
THE KINGDOM OF God advances in a unique way as Jesus walks along the shore of the sea of Galilee, probably near Capernaum, and calls fishermen to join him.16 The “Sea of Galilee,” located about sixty miles north of Jerusalem, is called “Sea of Kinnereth” in the Old Testament.17 Elsewhere in the New Testament it called (1) the “Sea of Tiberias” (John 6:1; 21:1), because Herod Antipas’s capital city, Tiberias, lay on the west shore; (2) “Lake of Gennesaret” (Luke 5:1), derived from a town and plain by that name situated above the west/northwest shore;18 and (3) sometimes simply “the lake” (Luke 5:2; 8:22; 23:33).
This lake is located in the great Jordan rift valley, at least 636 feet below sea level. The Jordan River enters the lake in the north and exits to the south, where it finally terminates in the Dead Sea about 65 miles to the south. Ancient writers all acclaim the Sea of Galilee for its fresh waters and pleasant temperatures, unlike the Dead Sea. It had clear sandy beaches rather than swampy marshes along the seashore, and it was well stocked with fish.19 The lake’s low elevation provides it with relatively mild, year-round temperatures, so that people could sleep outdoors in the surrounding areas (e.g., 15:32; Mark 8:2). However, encompassed as it is with mountain ranges to the east and west that rise over 2,650 feet from the level of the lake, its low-lying setting results in sudden violent downdrafts and storms (cf. Matt. 8:24; Mark 4:37; Luke 8:23; John 6:18).20
As Jesus walks along, he sees two men, Simon Peter and Andrew his brother, “casting a net” (lit., “throwing a cast net”) into the sea (4:18). The “cast net” (amphiblestron) was used by a single fisherman. It was circular, about 20–25 feet in diameter, with lead sinkers attached to the outer edge. Gathering the net on his arm, the fisherman would throw it out onto the water, either while standing in a boat or in shallow water. The net was pulled down by the sinkers on the outer ring (like a parachute), sinking to the bottom with fish trapped inside. This is tedious work.21
Jesus approaches these men and calls out, “Come, follow me . . . and I will make you fishers of men” (4:19). Surprisingly, in the middle of their workday, they immediately leave their nets and follow him (4:20). The expression “left their nets” implies that they are leaving behind everything, including livelihood and home. Peter states it emphatically later: “We have left everything to follow you!” (19:27). Peter turns his home, in which his wife and mother-in-law live (cf. 8:14–15), into the base of operations for Jesus’ Galilean ministry. They heed Jesus’ call to change their primary occupation from fishing for fish to fishing for human souls.
Next, Jesus sees a bit farther down the beach two other brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who are mending their fishing nets (diktya) in their boat with their father. These nets are most likely the trammel net, which is a compound net of three layers, made up of five units each over a hundred feet long, which were used by at least two crews of boats at night when the fish couldn’t see the entangling nets.22 The recent extraordinary discovery in 1986 of an ancient fishing boat at Galilee from the time of Jesus gives us an idea of the kind of boat the sons of Zebedee may have owned. It was equipped for cooking during nightlong commercial fishing expeditions on the lake.23
Probably after a night of fishing with their father and others of their hired crew (cf. Mark 1:20), James and John are preparing their nets for the next commercial excursion on the lake. Caring for this equipment took up much of a morning after a night of fishing. But as with Peter and Andrew, Jesus interrupts their busy activities and calls them. They also leave everything behind to follow Jesus, including their boat and their father (4:21–22). By obeying Jesus’ call, they are relinquishing commitment to the family business, their assets, and their livelihood, surely having an impact on varied family relationships, responsibilities and obligations.
Several important points underscore the significance of Matthew’s account of this scene of Jesus’ first public activity. (1) Focus on Jesus. The primary focus of this incident is on Jesus and the kingdom of heaven he has announced. The calling scene especially highlights Jesus’ authority. When he calls, people obey. It is by virtue of Jesus’ authority alone that one can embark on the life of discipleship and sustain it.24 Jesus is the Spirit-anointed messianic Son, in whom the kingdom has arrived. The only appropriate response is to obey immediately.
(2) Kingdom workers. Jesus is enlisting workers to join him in his kingdom mission and offers a promising outcome: “I will make you fishers of men” (4:19). In the future, “they will be as effective in seeking men as they have been in catching fish.”25 They not only will be sent out on a short-term mission with Jesus’ message of the arrival of the kingdom (cf. 10:5–7), but they also will go out on a worldwide mission making disciples of all the nations (28:18–20). These four will become the inner circle among the Twelve around Jesus (see comments on 10:1–4), and Peter himself will provide much of the leadership in the early days of the apostolic church (see comments on 16:17–20).26
(3) A prior relationship. It is important to note that the call and response of the four brothers is based on an extended prior relationship that they had enjoyed with Jesus.27 This is not the first encounter between them and Jesus. The Fourth Gospel helps to fill in some of the background to the relationship. Andrew was one of the two disciples of John the Baptist who left him to become a disciple of Jesus, and he immediately brought his brother Peter to Jesus (John 1:35–42). The other unnamed disciple has been traditionally identified as the apostle John.28 In all likelihood at least, Andrew, Peter, and John (and perhaps James?) were the ones who accompanied him to the wedding at Cana, where they observed the miracle and believed in Jesus (2:1–2, 11). They also most likely are the disciples of Jesus who ministered with him in Judea during the first year of his ministry (cf. 3:22–23; 4:1–3).
Thus, by the time of the incidents here in Galilee, about a year later, they have had plenty of time to consider Jesus’ mission. We are nowhere told why they had gone back to fishing, but Matthew highlights the urgency of their response to Jesus’ call by emphasizing with identical wording in 4:20, 22: (lit.) “immediately leaving . . . they followed him.” This was no emotional, spur-of-the-moment decision. They must have been waiting for this momentous occasion to join Jesus as he embarks on his kingdom mission, so they respond at once when he calls.
(4) Personal commitment to Jesus. While the emphasis of the story is primarily on calling the four to join in Jesus’ kingdom mission, that task is accomplished above all as an outgrowth of their relationship to Jesus: “ ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said” (4:19). Allegiance to his person is the decisive act.29 But what might this tell us about the spiritual condition of the brothers at the time of their call, and how much do they know about Jesus? As noted, these four had extensive prior acquaintance with Jesus and even believed in him as Messiah (cf. John 1:41; 2:11). We should emphasize that they are responding as much as they can to as much as they understand.30
Throughout Jesus’ ministry there is an increasing understanding of who he is, and that increased understanding requires a corresponding adjustment of their commitment to him. Comparing incidents in the later ministry, we see Peter making a confession about Jesus’ identity that is only at a later point revealed to him (16:16), and the Fourth Gospel tells of an incident some time later in which Peter makes a statement of commitment to Jesus for eternal life (John 6:66–68). As we watch various persons encounter Jesus, we must always recognize that this is a unique time, where the full significance of the entrance of the God-man to history is only slowly comprehended. In fact, it takes the resurrection and Pentecost to finally bring full comprehension. Although the explicit intention of the call is to join Jesus in fishing for men, these brothers are first and foremost being called to commit themselves to Jesus.
(5) A distinctive call to a unique form of discipleship. Finally, this “call” sets a distinctive mark on Jesus’ form of discipleship. Although Matthew does not here refer to the four as “disciples,” they are the ones assumed to be in view when Jesus sits down and teaches his “disciples” in the following scene at the Sermon on the Mount (5:1–2). On the surface, Jesus has many of the characteristics of a Jewish rabbi. He teaches in their synagogues and on the Sabbath, he teaches in accordance with Jewish customs, he is given respect due a teacher of the law, his disciples follow him around, and he is even called “rabbi” (26:49; Mark 9:5; John 1:49).
But as Jesus’ ministry unfolds, he establishes a form of discipleship that is unlike that of the rabbis. The normal pattern in Israel was for a prospective disciple to approach a rabbi and ask to study with him (e.g., 8:19).31 Later rabbinic disciples followed their master around, often imitating the master’s teaching of Torah, because “imitating the master is imitating Moses’ imitation of God.”32 In the early stage of the Jesus movement various people came to Jesus in similar fashion (e.g., John 1:38, 49; 3:2). But at the inauguration of his kingdom mission, Jesus establishes a new pattern, because he is the one who takes the initiative to seek out and call these brothers to enter into a permanent relationship with him.33
Even though it is probable that Jesus’ disciples memorized much of his teaching and passed it on as the tradition of the church, they were ultimately committed to his person, not just his teaching. The goal of a Jewish disciple was someday to become a master, or rabbi, himself, and to have his own disciples. But Jesus’ disciples were always to remain disciples of their Master and Teacher, Jesus, and to follow him only (cf. 23:1–12). This had long-reaching implications. Discipleship to Jesus was going to be different from what many might have anticipated. It was not going to be simply an apprenticeship program. Discipleship was a life that began in relationship with the Master and moved into all areas of their experience. This is the beginning of kingdom life.34
Jesus Messiah Displays the Gospel of the Kingdom (4:23–25)
ONCE JESUS CALLS the four brothers to join him in fishing for human souls, he embarks on the first of at least three extensive ministry tours in Galilee, an area with a population of around three hundred thousand people in two hundred or more villages and towns. Matthew gives an insightful summary of the activities on that tour: “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” That summary is largely duplicated in 9:35, forming a literary device often called an “inclusio,” a sort of bookends that emphasize the material in the chapters between them. In chapters 5–7 Jesus is presented as the Messiah in word in the incomparable Sermon on the Mount, and in chapters 8–9 Jesus is presented as the Messiah at work in the collection of miracle stories. Presenting Jesus in this way, Matthew’s readers will know clearly the nature of the kingdom of heaven that Jesus has inaugurated.
The threefold profile of Jesus’ ministry is highlighted by three participles and their objects. (1) “Teaching” is often related to explanation of truth to those already familiar with the content: Jesus will “teach” the disciples in the Sermon on the Mount (see comments on 5:1–2).
(2) “Preaching” is generally related to the proclamation of truth to those unfamiliar with the content. The gospel of the kingdom will be “preached” to the world as a witness to the Gentiles (24:14). While too much can be made of either the distinction or the overlap between teaching and preaching, 35 their juxtaposition here may indicate the variation of methods Jesus employed on different occasions for different types of audience. When in the Jewish synagogues, Jesus clarified the nature of his message from the Old Testament Scriptures, demonstrating that he was the expected messianic deliverer (cf. Luke 4:16–30). When he was in the countryside, where there were likely many not proficient in the Old Testament Scriptures, Jesus gave a straightforward proclamation of the message.
At the core of all Jesus’ teaching and preaching is the message of the “gospel of the kingdom” (4:23). Matthew uses the noun “gospel” (euangelion) only four times, and three of them occur in the phrase “the gospel of the kingdom,” found only in Matthew.36 The real “good news” is that the age of the kingdom of God has finally dawned in the ministry of Jesus.
Matthew speaks of “their” synagogues (4:23), which may reflect the time of his writing, when Christians have already begun to meet separately from their Jewish compatriots to worship in a distinctly Christian setting. Or it may reflect the distinction that occurred early between the Jewish leadership and Jesus. The religious leaders, especially the Pharisees and teachers of the law who had their greatest following from the synagogues, early on set themselves in opposition to Jesus and his message, and the phrase “their synagogues” may show the separation between them and Jesus (see 9:35; 10:17; 12:9; 13:54; cf. 23:34).37
(3) This good news is not only taught and preached, but it is also demonstrated through Jesus’ “healing” every disease and sickness among the people. Healing signals once again that Jesus has authority over the powers of this world and confirms the arrival of the kingdom of God (11:4–6). “Every disease and sickness” indicates that nothing is beyond Jesus’ ability to heal, an authority he will likewise give to the Twelve on their mission tour in Israel (10:1). These healings take place “among the people [laos],” the term that specifies the people of Israel. Both proclamation and miracle announce that Israel’s hoped-for kingdom promise is at hand.
The response to Jesus’ teaching, preaching, and healing is stunning. As news of his ministry spreads outside the borders of Galilee, even to the Gentile region of Syria in the north (4:24), people begin bringing to Jesus those beset with all kinds of afflictions. Matthew emphasizes the impact of Jesus’ comprehensive healing ministry by stacking up a list of illnesses: “those suffering severe pain,” the “demon-possessed” (indicating Jesus’ continuing power over the devil’s realm), “epileptics” (an illness associated with demon-possession in 17:14–21), and “paralytics” (a distressing affliction at a time when foot-travel was most common). Matthew’s recurring focus on healing38 emphasizes throughout the narrative that the arrival of the kingdom is confirmed by Jesus’ power over all realms of human existence, spiritual, physical, or emotional.
Great crowds respond to Jesus’ healing ministry by following him. The term “follow” has just described the response of the four brothers to Jesus’ call, so we might assume that Matthew considers the crowds also to have entered into a discipleship relationship with Jesus. But in the immediately following introduction to the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew makes a distinction between the crowds and the disciples. Therefore, to “follow” Jesus can be understood in a metaphorical sense to describe discipleship, but it is also used in a spatial sense to describe literal movement. The context will determine how Matthew is using it on any particular occasion.39
The crowds who now follow Jesus have responded to his message and healing ministry with enough interest and enthusiasm to come from all over the surrounding regions. They come not only from Galilee but also from the Roman region of the Decapolis, which is the generally Gentile district to the south and east of the Sea of Galilee. Crowds also arrive from the center of Jewish life in Jerusalem and Judea. Moreover, part of the crowd also comes from the region known as “beyond the Jordan,” a common expression to designate the region of Perea, or more generally the territory north and east of the Jordan River.40
The areas that Matthew names in 4:24–25 take the reader to the regions that encompass the whole of the area that is populated with Jewish people. While some of these regions were populated extensively with Gentiles (e.g., the Decapolis), it is doubtful that Matthew means to imply that there is a widespread Gentile following. Those coming to Jesus are still primarily Jews, but they come from everywhere. Jesus is generating a tremendous stir in Israel with his message of the arrival of the kingdom, which has been validated by such widespread healings.
Bridging Contexts
JESUS AT CENTER STAGE. The story that Matthew recounts has a variety of settings and characters that move on and off the narrative stage. If we think back through chapters 1–4, several situations and persons immediately spring to mind. In the remote village of Nazareth, Joseph, with his remarkable integrity, takes center stage in chapter 1 as he receives the announcement of the miraculous conception of his betrothed, Mary. In chapter 2, several diverse scenes and characters receive the limelight: the Magi arriving from the east, evil King Herod carrying out his dastardly deeds from the holy city of Jerusalem, Joseph heroically saving the threatened child and mother by fleeing Bethlehem to go to Egypt and then returning to Nazareth.
From the Judean desert John the Baptist makes a grand entrance in chapter 3 as the long-awaited prophet who commands repentance from the people of Israel, including the religious leaders. At the Jordan River the descent of the Spirit and the voice of the Father add dramatic effect to the baptismal scene of Jesus. We hiss in chapter 4 as the epitome of evil arrives on the stage in the person of the devil, but we applaud as he is beaten in the first skirmish of the war between Jesus and Satan. By the Sea of Galilee, we try to put ourselves in the sandals of the four fishermen as they amazingly sacrifice their livelihood to go fish for souls. Excitement rises as people from all over Galilee and the surrounding regions experience healing from many maladies.
Each of these scenes and characters captures our attention as the story unfolds—and rightly they should, since each plays an important role in the historical narration. However, as we think back through these characters, one figure often is left out of the picture—Jesus. We are often so focused on other characters and details of the narrative scene because of what we can learn from them that we overlook the one about whom the entire story is told. Jesus almost seems to recede into the backdrop.
But as we discussed in 1:18–25, although we will learn from the roles of other characters and the scenes in which they appear, center stage always belongs to Jesus. From 1:1, where he is declared to be the culmination of the line of David and of Abraham, to 28:20, where he declares that he will be with his disciples until the end of the age, Jesus is the One about whom this entire Gospel is written.
Although this may seem obvious, unfortunately it is a fundamental hermeneutical principle that is violated on a regular basis by those reading the Gospels and by those teaching or preaching from them. In our search to make the bridge from the text to our world, we can be so focused on the supporting cast and details that most intrigue us that we look right past the primary figure about whom the story was written. Although other characters and the scenes in which they appear serve an invaluable role by highlighting various facets of Jesus and his ministry, first and foremost Matthew tells a story about Jesus.41 This is evident from the present passage, as Matthew features significant truths about Jesus from the setting of his ministry, the four supporting figures, and the multitudes who respond to him.
Galilee. Surprisingly, the scene where Jesus conducts his public ministry is Galilee. One familiar with Israel’s history may have expected Messiah to focus his ministry on Jerusalem, the center of religious power and prestige and prophetic hope. Galilee is the antithesis of Jerusalem. But Jesus does not associate with the high and the mighty, and he does not attend to the religious hierarchy. He goes to the land of darkness, where the light of the gospel will shine the brightest. The prophetic hope of Isaiah 9:1–6 will be fulfilled, but it begins in Galilee, far from Jerusalem, where many hoped the restoration of power and glory would come to the house of David. It is in Galilee that the hint of the Old Testament hope for all the nations begins. The incidents unfolding in Galilee require that the people’s expectations of the messianic ministry must be adjusted.
The brothers. The response of the two sets of brothers is hugely significant, but only because of what it tells us about Jesus’ call. Their response is remarkable evidence that Jesus wields a different kind of messianic authority. Without army, without sword, and without the backing of the religious establishment, Jesus’ authority as the inaugurator of the kingdom demands unqualified obedience. When he calls, people must obey. Matthew’s abrupt narration of the calling of the four brothers assumes a prior relationship with Jesus, and they join Jesus as fellow workers in his kingdom mission.
But Matthew’s account of the call is general enough that it could summon readers at various stages of faith—for example, the person being called to repentance and faith in Jesus as the messianic Savior, or the person hearing a call to leadership in the church, or the person being called to repent of half-hearted devotion and give himself or herself fully to Jesus. Discipleship to Jesus is different from what is found among relationships to other religious leaders. Jesus is the authoritative inaugurator of the kingdom, which indicates for Matthew’s readers that their lives will find true fulfillment only as they follow Jesus’ call to join him in the advancement of the kingdom of God.
The crowds. The crowds are also evidence of the nature of Jesus’ identity and ministry, but their testimony is mixed. On the one hand, the crowds are an enthusiastic witness that the inauguration of the kingdom includes compassionate care for all of the vagaries of the fallen human condition: physical, emotional, and spiritual. Jesus heals all types of conditions. But on the other hand, the enthusiasm of the crowds is fickle. The response of the crowds at first seems to set an assured, optimistic future for Jesus’ ministry.
But we know a different ending. What happened to change the response of the crowds? Apparently the initial enthusiasm was more of a testimony to their own needs being met than a testimony of their commitment to Jesus as Messiah. Perhaps Matthew wants to encourage his own audience that appearances can be deceiving. If the crowd that followed Jesus enthusiastically at the beginning could turn and reject him at the end, then the response to Matthew’s readers’ mission may need a “reality check.” The initial response of the crowds is not the final validation of Jesus’ messianic ministry.42
Contemporary Significance
THE APPROPRIATE BRIDGE from the narrative of Matthew’s text to contemporary significance lies in determining what the various characters and settings tell us about Jesus and his historical ministry. When we have traversed that bridge, we are much more likely to draw appropriate significance for our own situations. Three points surface from the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry to Israel.
The light that dispels darkness brings life. The geographical region into which Jesus goes to initiate his ministry was Galilee of the Gentiles, which Matthew says is metaphorically a land of darkness, a land under the shadow of death. But the sun doesn’t shine any less brightly in Galilee than in Jerusalem or Bethlehem. The disease rate in Galilee is no higher than Judea or even Samaria. Rather, “darkness” in both the Old and New Testaments is an evocative word. If light symbolizes God, darkness connotes everything that is anti-God: the wicked (Prov. 2:13–14; 1 Thess. 5:4–7), judgment (Ex. 10:21; Matt. 25:30), and death (Ps. 88:13).
But few in Galilee can see the darkness or the shadow of death. The Galilee region to this day is one of the most beautiful areas in all of Palestine. The magnificent lake, flowing rivers, rolling hillsides, and luscious agriculture all are found in Galilee. The mansions and theater at Sepphoris and the palaces and stadium at Tiberias indicate that Galilee was not a cultural backwater. Nonetheless, the darkness of this world is real, even though most do not notice it. It is a region under the influence of Gentiles, with their gods, their lifestyles, their worldview.
Although darkness is opaque to humankind, it is transparent to God (Ps. 139:12), and long ago he promised to send light. With the arrival of Jesus a great light now shines in the darkness (Matt. 4:16). Those responding to the light were ushered into the sphere of life in which darkness and even the shadow of death are dispelled (cf. Job 22:28; Ps. 27:1). Other New Testament authors emphasize this theme, declaring that Jesus is life-giving light in whom is life (John 1:4), and those who follow him “will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Believers are “sons of light” (John 12:36; Eph. 5:8) and “children of light” (1 Thess. 5:5). Light possesses powers essential to true life, so “to be in the light” comes to mean simply “to live.” This indicates life eternal, but also life temporal on earth. The one who comes into the light of Jesus Messiah is brought into the life that is characterized by light.43
This is an essential theme for us to lay hold of. The darkness of our own world is real even when we, or those around us, don’t notice it. Darkness is most directly the absence of light, so to be away from Jesus is to be in darkness. This is a necessary perspective to maintain as we go about our day-to-day activities. We don’t have to be among the dregs of society to find ourselves in darkness. I live in a beautiful little beach community in Southern California, where the sun shines brightly for most days of the year. Yet even in the brightness of this little world, people are without Jesus and are living under the cloud of the darkness of this world. We can’t let the superficial appearances of people mask the real needs that even they might not recognize. To reach them most effectively we must take as our calling the joy of living in the light of Jesus and continually allowing our lives to shine into theirs with the true kingdom life.
Jesus’ call today. On the historical level, the call of the brothers serves foremost to highlight Jesus’ authority to enlist mission workers as the inaugurator of the kingdom. The brothers’ response illustrates how obedience is the only appropriate answer to Jesus’ authoritative call. When Jesus calls, we also must obey. Jesus has authority over every area of a disciple’s life, and to whatever he calls us, we must immediately obey.
While this does have significance for those who are heeding a call to salvation, because of the significant prior relationship between the brothers and Jesus, we cannot assume that Matthew intends this scene to be understood predominantly as a paradigm for evangelism. As John Calvin states, this is “not merely a general description of the call to faith, but a particular one for a certain task.”44 Modern readers must hear in Jesus’ call a challenge for all of us to put aright our lifelong ambitions. These four brothers were already Jesus’ disciples, ones who had committed themselves to Jesus as Messiah (cf. John 1:41; 2:2, 11). But in this scene they are being called to put their profession in proper perspective in the light of the needs of reaching their world with the message of salvation. As the four are ultimately called to a role as apostles in the foundation of the church, they personally will be required to leave their prior profession.
But not every disciple of Jesus is called to leave behind his or her profession. One of the more striking examples we will see later is Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus but retained his position in society, along with his great wealth, and offered an indispensable service to Jesus at the moment of greatest need that only he could offer (cf. 27:57–60). Whatever our profession, whether preacher or plumber, teacher or technician, hotel maid or hospital orderly, discipleship means that we place as the priority of our lives joining with Jesus in reaching our daily world with the good news of life in the kingdom of heaven. I cannot reach non-Christian police officers as efficiently as committed Christian police officers. No pastor can enter into the complex world of corporate finance as effectively as a committed and knowledgeable Christian businessperson. We each have a privileged place of ministry that is unique to following Jesus in our own daily lives.
Nor does the brothers’ immediate obedience deny common sense or appropriate accountability to their personal, familial, and professional responsibilities. Although they “left everything,” Peter continues to live in his own home with his wife and mother-in-law, and likely so does his brother Andrew and his family (8:14–15). There is a sense in which Peter and the rest of the Twelve give up everything to play their foundational role in the church, yet we never hear of them abandoning their responsibilities to provide for their families. The apostle Paul will later rebuke believers who were ministerial busybodies and did not care for the needs of their family (2 Thess. 3:6–13; 1 Tim. 5:8).
On one level the passage gives insight to the historical circumstances of Jesus’ announcement of the kingdom of heaven and his recruitment of four crucial partners in that historically unique pronouncement. Yet the incident is a paradigm for disciples of all ages to recognize that we must see ourselves as fishers of men in whatever our calling. Our lives find fullest meaning as we follow Jesus’ call to join him in advancing the kingdom of heaven.
A life-transforming message of the kingdom of God. Al Green is a modern-day “fisherman.” He was the superstar singer of soul hits in the 1970s, such as “Love and Happiness” and “Let’s Stay Together.” As uplifting as those early melodies were, he experienced a change in his career path that brought an even more powerful message in song. He was “born again” at the height of his popularity, and today he is “the Reverend Al Green,” pastor of a church in Memphis, Tennessee, where he sings hits like “Saved,” and “Straighten Out Your Life.” An interviewer for a secular magazine seemed stumped by the transformation he saw in Green’s life, which he describes as “his chameleon-like nature.”45
But the tale of Green’s life is not simply a decision to change styles of music. In his words, it was a calling. While performing a soul concert in Cincinnati in 1979, he slipped from the stage, miraculously avoiding serious injury. Al Green interpreted the event as a calling from God to retire from secular music and lift his voice in praise unto God.46 His calling brought peaceful wholeness to his life, where he could use his natural talent in the service of the kingdom of God. The rewards of fame don’t hold the same attraction, he says. “Now they have become unimportant to me. The riches are in the souls of men.”47
Whether or not our calling is as dramatic as Al Green’s, the story of the ancient call of the four fishermen provides enough incentive for each of us to recognize our responsibility to serve Jesus in the mission of the kingdom of God. Jesus describes his disciples as light and light-bearers (Matt. 5:14–16), and Paul indicates to the churches in Asia Minor and Macedonia that believer’s lives are a shining light of witness to the world around them (Eph. 5:8; Phil. 2:15). So it is our task now to pass on the divine light we have received, because the world out there will die eternally without it. What we have received in the secret intimacy of the community of believers we are to proclaim fearlessly “in the light” (Matt. 10:27; Luke 12:3). All those who have entered into the light now bear the responsibility as missionaries of Christ, shining out as “lights in a dark world” with the light of Jesus himself (Phil. 2:15).
In a chapel message at our seminary, guest speaker and pastor E. V. Hill made the statement that the church throughout the centuries has struggled with the temptation to be “keepers of the aquarium instead of fishers of men.” Those words hit home to each of us in attendance. There is a world of hurt outside the walls of our churches and organizations, but we can be so intent on building our ministries that we don’t go to where people are hurting. Instead, we just take care of our own. As Jesus’ disciples, we all have the incredible privilege, and obligation, to carry the message of the gospel of the kingdom to those who live in the darkness all around us.