Scripture/Sermon of the Day.  January 22, 2023

Matthew 4:12-23

Jesus Begins His Ministry in Galilee

12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
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“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the gentiles—
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the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”
17 From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishers. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Ministers to Crowds of People

23 Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news     of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Reflection:

I.      Jesus was closer to Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan than he was to Jerusalem.  Nazareth is in what today is called the Northern District of Israel.  Jerusalem is in the Southern District.  If you go directly west of Nazareth, you arrive at the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee.  If you go west of Jerusalem, you arrive at the northern tip of the Dead Sea.  The distance between the two bodies of water, the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea is 95 miles.  Most of the ministry of Jesus, which was pretty short — from one to three years — was in Northern Israel, and his home base was Capernaum, on the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee.

II.     According to the gospel of Matthew, Jesus left Nazareth and moved to Capernaum in Galilee when John the Baptist was arrested.  The area was called “Galilee of the gentiles” because so many non-Jewish people lived there.  Why would Jesus pick that area as his home base?  Was it safer for Jesus because it had a smaller Jewish presence.  Jesus was Jewish, but he interpreted the Torah — the Law — differently than many of the Jewish leaders.  Jesus “worked” on the sabbath, he didn’t care what he ate, whether it was ritually clean or unclean, and he didn’t always wash before meals, which was a serious violation in a good Jewish household.  Maybe Jesus thought that living in the cosmopolitan city of Capernaum could buy him some time, before he would be arrested and executed, as John the Baptist was.  Jesus was a good Jew to the end, but his revolutionary interpretation of scripture, and God, would cost him his life.

III.    Jesus' message was simple:  “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”  I was watching a movie last night — called “The Fox.”  It’s about an aging Europol agent, Simon Fox, who’s lived much of his life tortured by his guilt for accidentally shooting a child in his previous job as a sergeant in the Irish police force.  No matter how much he drinks and no matter how many hours a day he works, that mistake still haunts him.  When his younger partner tells him that he and his wife are expecting a child, Fox says, “Too bad — it’s an awful world to bring a child into.”  And this is a popular view today as many look at the world, the climate change disasters, the wars, the growing partisan divide in the United States and other countries.  It’s a major theme in movies like First Reformed (starring Ethan Hawke) and Elysium (Matt Damon).

IV.     Two thousand years ago, Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is near.  Is it still near — today?  Or have we changed so much that Jesus could not say that today?  Has the kingdom of heaven, that was once near, disappeared?  Did it vanish when he died ? If Jesus were here today, would he say, “Well — I told you — God’s kingdom WAS near — but y’all blew it.  It’s gone now.  And God’s gone too — you’re on your own now!”  Is it too late to find this kingdom that Jesus said is near?  And if it’s not too late — if it’s still near, where is it?  Can we see it today?

V.      The good news is, it’s as close to us now as it ever was.  If you watch either Elysium or Clint Eastwood’s movie, Gran Torino — those stories will show you where we can still find the kingdom of heaven, and what repentance looks like.  Both characters didn’t have God in their lives — religion wasn’t important.  The world in both movies is shown as a mean place, with no room for heaven.  And yet both characters, the one played by Matt Damon and the one by Clint Eastwood — are Christ figures who give their lives so the lives of many others are made better — both of them stepped into the kingdom of heaven.  And according to Jesus, when we do that for someone else — we have stepped into the kingdom Jesus called heaven, however ugly and mean it may appear to those still standing on the outside.