Matthew 4:12-25: “Jesus’ Ministry To The Galileans & Calling Of The First Disciples / God’s Heart For The Lost”

by

Jim Bomkamp

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1. INTRO: In this second half of chapter 4 of Matthew, we are going to look at Jesus ministry to the Galilean people, as well as His calling of some of the apostles to be fishers of men

1.1. We are going to concentrate on the not only the 12 apostles but the fact that all of us have been called to be fishers of men

1.2. We are also going to look at the importance of having God’s heart for those who are lost

1.3. We are going to look at the lives of some men who are examples to us of souls winners

2. VS 4:12-16 - “12 Now when He heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 “The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, And to those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a light dawned.”” - Jesus settles in Capernaum

2.1. We don’t know when nor how it came about that Herod had come to hear John the Baptist preach, but this Herod, who is Herod Antipas, liked to hear John preach, however Matt. 14:3-4 reveals that John was arrested because he rebuked Herod for committing adultery with the wife of his brother Philip, “3 For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. 4 For John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.””

2.1.1. John appears to have had no fear of man and thus he preached fearlessly and boldly against sin of all kinds

2.2. We know from the apostle John (1:19-4:42) that approx. 1 year had elapsed between the preceeding verse and verse 12 here, and during that year several significant events occurred in Jesus’ life

2.2.1. He performed His first miracle at the wedding of Cana (John 2:1-11)

2.2.2. He performed His first cleansing of the Temple (2:12-25)

2.2.3. He led Nicodemus to the Lord (John 3:1-21)

2.2.4. John gave his final public testimony (3:22-26)

2.2.5. Jesus had a ministry in Samaria at Sychar (4:1-42)

2.2.6. Luke 4:14-16 reveals that Jesus spent some time in Nazareth initially after being baptized at the Jordan, and tells us a story about Him getting up in the synagogue there and sharing a scripture that prophesied His coming, after which He said that the prophesy had been fulfilled in their hearing

2.2.6.1.Later on Jesus revisited Nazareth and then suddenly left because He knew that “a prophet is not without honor except in his own home town and among his own relatives and in his own household” (Mark 6:4; Matt. 13:57)

2.3. Later on we will see that the woman that Herod was having the affair with, Herodias, talks her daughter Salome into performing an erodic dance for him and his guests, after which he tells her that he will grant any wish of her’s up to half of his kingdom, and at her mother’s prompting she asks him to give her the head of John the Baptist, which he reluctantly grants to her (Matt. 14:6-11)

2.4. John 4:1-3 reveals to us that the Lord left for Galilee at this time because the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was gaining more disciples than John the Baptist

2.5. It is probably also the case that Jesus being led by the Lord knew that He could train up His disciples out of the public’s eye view and scrutiny that He went there

2.5.1. I’m sure that you know that contrary to popular secular opinion, Jesus’ goal in ministry was not to preach the gospel to as many people as He could in order to win as many as possible, rather His goal in ministry was to invest His life into the apostles who would then be used to also train up other leaders who would train others, etc.

2.5.2. Jesus life would have been a complete failure if His goal in ministry had been placed in anything else, for mass evangelism could never have reached the world, even by Jesus

2.5.3. Jesus trusted everything that He came to do and teach to these men who would then have to carry the burden for reaching the world

2.6. The Sea of Galilee is sometimes in the scripture called the Sea of Tiberias (John 6:1) or the Sea of Gennesaret (Luke 5:1), and being in the northern part of Palestine it is really a lake in the area of Galilee which is about 60 miles long (north to south) and about 30 miles wide

2.7. Capernaum was a city that was on the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee, and its name means “Village of Nahum”, and it was possibly named for the prophet Nahum of the Old Testament

2.8. John MacAuthor gives us the following background on the region of Galilee, “The region of Galilee originally had been given by the Lord to the tribes of Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali when Israel began to settle in Canaan (see Josh. 19:10-39). But contrary to God’s command, Zebulun and Naphtali failed to expel all of the Canaanites from their territories. From the beginning, therefore, these unfaithful Jews suffered the problem of mixed marriages and the inevitable pagan influence which the practice brought. In the eight century B.C. the Assyrians, under Tiglath-pileser, took away a large part of those tribes as captives (2 Kings 15:29) and replaced them with Assyrians and other non-Jews. Until it was temporarily liberated by Judas Maccabaeus in 164 B.C., the region of Galilee was largely under foreign control and was even largely populated by non-Jews. Another Jewish leader, Aristobulus, reconquered Galilee in 104 B.C. and tried unsuccessfully to establish an entirely Jewish nation by forcibly circumcizing all the male inhabitants. Through those disrupting centuries, the Jews that remained in Galilee had been greatly weakened in both biblical and traditional Judaism--giving even greater significance to the name Galilee of the Gentiles. It is not strange, then, that the reaction of many Jews in Jerusalem was, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?” (John 7:41). The idea of a Galilean Messiah seemed ludicrous. When Nicodemus tried to convince the Pharisees that Jesus should be given a fair hearing, “They answered and said to him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee (vs 51-52)””

2.9. As it was Matthew’s purpose in writing this gospel to prove that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, he quoted from Isaiah 9:1-2 here to show that in Jesus living in Galilee, He was simply fulfilling scripture prophesied long ago about the Messiah being a great light which dawned upon those who were living in this very spiritually dark area

2.9.1. In God’s wisdom the people who were in spiritual darkness, rebellion against the Lord, and the very shadow of death in Galilee, not the very comfortable religious people of Jerusalem, were the first to hear and see the Messiah

2.9.2. The Pharisees rejected Jesus as their Messiah because they couldn’t conceive of their Messiah as not coming through their spiritually elite Pharisaic group, for they thought that they had and would always have the inside track with God

3. VS 4:17 - “17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”” - Jesus preached repentence

3.1. Repentence must always be at the center of the gospel message

3.1.1. Though John the Baptist had been jailed, his message had to go on, and when Jesus heard that John had been jailed, He Himself took the ministry of John the Baptist, which was a ministry to call people to repentance

3.1.2. The first sermon preached by the church after Jesus had been raised from the dead was given by Peter in Acts 2:38, and it included a call to repentence as a requirement for salvation

3.1.3. Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:25 that repentence leads to the knowledge of the truth

3.2. The repentence which Jesus preached was the same message as that of John, for He preached that a person must turn his entire life over to the Lord to be his Lord and Master, in order to receive eternal life

3.2.1. The saying is true, “if He isn’t Lord of all, then He isn’t Lord at all”

4. VS 4:18-22 - “18 And walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 And they immediately left the nets, and followed Him 21 And going on from there He 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. 22 And they immediately left the boat and their father, and followed Him” - The calling of Simon, Andrew, James, and John

4.1. The Simon here is Simon Peter, and the John here is John the apostle (one of the two “sons of thunder”) who wrote the gospel of John, 1-3 John, and the book of Revelation

4.2. Many scholars believe that there were at least five different phases or levels of Jesus calling of the twelve apostles

4.2.1. The first call was to salvation

4.2.1.1.John records this call in his gospel, John 1:35-51, 2:11, “35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples,36 and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.38 And Jesus turned, and beheld them following, and *said to them, “What do you seek?” And they said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?”39 He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” They came therefore and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.41 He *found first his own brother Simon, and *said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter). 43 The next day He purposed to go forth into Galilee, and He *found Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “Follow Me.”44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.45 Philip *found Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”46 And Nathanael *said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip *said to him, “Come and see.”47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”48 Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”49 Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.”51 And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” ...11 This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him”

4.2.1.2.From these verses, we see that these fishermen were originally disciples of John the Baptist

4.2.2. This calling here in Matthew 4:18-20

4.2.2.1.This is the second calling of the twelve, and at this time the apostles were called to follow Jesus, yet they went back to their vocation afterwards

4.2.3. The third calling of the apostles was one to fulltime vocation from which they never went back

4.2.3.1.This is recorded in Luke 5:1-11, “NOW it came about that while the multitude were pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret;2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them, and were washing their nets.3 And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the multitudes from the boat.4 And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”5 And Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at Your bidding I will let down the nets.”6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish; and their nets began to break;7 and they signaled to their partners in the other boat, for them to come and help them. And they came, and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken;10 and so also James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him”

4.2.4. The fourth calling of the apostles was a calling in preparation of their being sent out to preach and to have authority over demons

4.2.4.1.This calling is found in Mark 3:13-15, “13 And He *went up to the mountain and *summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. 14 And He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have authority to cast out the demons”.

4.2.5. The fifth calling of the apostles is a calling to go and to preach, heal, and cast out demons

4.2.5.1.This calling is found in Matt. 10:1-4, “10:1 And having summoned His twelve disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-gatherer; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him”.

4.3. Though the apostles here go back to their vocation of fishing after this callin here in Matthew 4, none the less they are bidden by Jesus here to take up the occupation of fishing for souls instead of for fish

4.3.1. All Christians are called to be fishers of men, whether or not they have the gift of evangelism itself

4.3.1.1.We might expect here that at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry as well as at the end of His ministry we might expect to get the clearest picture of what was utmost upon Jesus’ heart in His goals for the church, and in both instances we see that He called the to be fishers of men and reach the world with the gospel

4.3.1.1.1.At the beginning of His ministry He calls them to no longer be fishers of fish but to be fishers of men

4.3.1.1.2.At the end of His life upon earth, that is just before His ascension (after He had resurrected), Jesus reveals again that central in His heart is to that we His disciples who would come after Him would reach the world with the gospel

4.3.1.1.2.1.Jesus spoke what has come to be known as the Great Commission to His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20, not too long before He ascended to heaven: “18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

4.3.1.1.2.2.Then, in Acts 1:7-8, Jesus very parting words were about reaching the world with the gospel when His disciples asked Him if at that time He was setting up His kingdom, “7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth””.

4.3.1.1.2.2.1.He taught that we must not let ourselves get out of balance and live only for the things that are future, things which we might try to study from the end time prophesies in the scriptures, for instance (though it is important that we do study those)

4.3.1.1.2.2.2.He also taught that we must not let ourselves get out of balance trying to discern what the times and seasons for each of God’s workings might be (though it is right that we be people of discernment and search God’s Word diligently to learn these)

4.3.1.1.2.2.3.We are to seek to be baptized in the Holy Spirit so that we can walk and witness in His power and strength to this world

4.3.1.1.2.2.4.We are to seek to be His witnesses both in our own home town, county, state, and country, and even to the remotest parts of the earth

4.3.1.2.We Christians are all called to be a witness for Christ through the way that we live our life, but we must also be willing to verbally share the gospel with people as the Lord opens up those opportunities for us

4.3.1.2.1.Peter exhorts us about this in 1 Peter 3:15, “15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence”

4.3.1.3.Paul told Pastor Timothy in 2 Tim. 4:5 to “do the work of an evangelist”, even though his gifting was as a pastor-teacher

4.3.1.4.Every Christian has a testimony, and sharing your personal testimony of how you came to know Christ can create a door for evangelism really almost at any time

4.3.1.5.We as Christians all need to pray that we might be given God’s heart for reaching and winning the lost

4.3.1.5.1.Jesus, the man who was ‘a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief’ had such a love for the lost

4.3.1.5.1.1.Jesus taught His disciples in Luke 19:9,10 the reason for Him ever coming to the earth, “9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.””

4.3.1.5.1.2.He wept over Jerusalem in Matt. 23:37 saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling”

4.3.1.5.1.3.In Matt. 11:28-30, Jesus cried out to the people, “28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. 30 “For My yoke is easy, and My load is light”

4.3.1.5.1.4.In John 3:16, Jesus said that God had so loved the world that He sent His only-begotten Son so that the world might be saved through Him

4.3.1.5.1.5.Jesus was willing to go to the cross because of His great love for us who are lost

4.3.1.5.1.6.I could go on and on about what God’s Word reveals to us about God’s heart for the lost, and mention stories like the prodigal son’s father, or the good shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to go and look for the one sheep that has wondered off, etc.

4.3.1.6.Recently a survey was taken of elderly persons 95 years and older. In this survey, which had open-ended questions, the people were told that if they had the chance to live their life over, what would they do differently. The top three answeres were:

4.3.1.6.1.Reflect More

4.3.1.6.2.Risk More

4.3.1.6.3.Do more things that will live on after I am dead.

4.3.1.7.We all need to have a purpose for our lives, and God knows this and thus He wants to give to us the vision that He has for us in reaching the lost who are in our lives

4.3.1.7.1.It is for good reason that the scripture says in Proverbs 29:18a, “18Where there is no vision, the people perish”.

4.3.1.8.John MacAuthor writes about the burden for souls that some of those whom we in the church venerate as being great had, “David Brainerd, the great missionary to the American Indian, who died while still in his twenties, said, “Oh, that I were a flame of fire in my Master’s cause”. His selfless obedience proved the sincerity of that desire, and God gave him a burning heart for lost souls that has few parallels in the history of the church. Henry Martyn, missionary to India and Persia, prayed that he might “burn out for God”, and that is what God graciously allowed him to do. Such burning desire comes only from the pilot of obedience. Like David Brainerd, Borter Murray McCheyne died before he was thirty. Of him Courtland Myers wrote: “Everywhere he stepped Scotland shook. Whenever he opened his mouth a spiritual force swept in every direction. Thousands followed him to the feet of Christ”. Visitors who came to see the church where McCheyne had preached were shown a table, chair, and open Bible. They were then told how that man of God spent hours with his head buried in the Bible, weeping for those to whom he would preach. Myers then commets, “With such a passion for souls, is it any wonder that the Holy Spirit gave McCheyne a magnetic personality which drew so many to the Savior?””

4.3.1.9.Many years ago I read the biography of Dawson Trotman, the man who founded the Navigator’s Ministry. Dawson made a commitment to witness to a person every single day. If at the end of a day he had not witnessed to anyone, he would get on his motorcycle and go pick up a hitchhiker and witness to him. Dawson was so infected with the love of Jesus in his life, that the biography records that almost everyone whom Dawson witnessed to, gave his life to Christ. Dawson also began to invest his life in young men whom he personally discipled, and the Lord used him to help many young men grow tremendously in their walk in the Lord. One time I believe in the 50’s he and some of his friends went up into the mountains in Oregon and for forty days and nights they prayed over a map of the world on the wall. They prayed in faith that the Lord would use them to win souls in each of the cities that they prayed over on the map. Soon after leaving the mountains Dawson formed what became known as the Navigator Ministry, and that ministry won souls in all of the places that they prayed over on the map. The biography records that one day a man was drowning in a river, and Dawson jumped in and saved the man’s life, however Dawson drowned. The book records then that Dawson died just as he had always lived, for others!

4.3.1.10.I once heard pastor Mike MacIntosh recount the following story about David Livingstone. Dr. David Livingstone was a Scotts man, and he lived in Botswell, Scottland. His father was a very hard working mill worker, and they lived with five children in a house with two rooms of approx. 250 square feet each. Dr. David Livingstone was at a party just after he received his MD and his father in-law had just returned from the London Missionary Society, and he addressed the group that night and said, “I have seen the smoke from a thousand villages where nere the gospel of Christ has been preached”. On the spot, David Livingstone responded, “Then, I shall go to Africa”. He gave up everything in his life and career and went to Africa. There was one period where he spent 13 years in Africa and never saw another white man. His wife died of malaria, and he also lost a couple of his kids who died there as well. He lost everything he had there in Africa. One day he was in a tribe in Africa and he taught them about medicine, he taught them how to plant, he showed them how to divert water from rivers and bring it into their villages, and they prospered. He taught them how to read from the Bible and to write. He taught them about Jesus Christ crucified, and they loved him and called him “Bwana Doctor”, or “Chief Doctor”. There was a time once when the London Missionary Society finally sent some missionaries to help David Livingstone in his mission (they had waited until roads had been made to him), and after the men arrived David began to pack his belongings, and the tribal chief asked him what he was doing. David replied that he was no longer needed, but he must go where the gospel had never been preached. Then, the tribal chief and all of the tribe packed and went off into Africa with Dr. Livingstone leaving the missionaries there by themselves. There were slave and goods traders there in Africa who had such a healthy respect for David Livingstone that they actually released all of their slaves and did not raise a single weapon when his group came through their area because they knew that if anyone harmed David Livingstone that half of Africa would rise up in arms against them. Knowing that David Livingstone needed certain medicine in order to live, these traders knew his witness threatened their livlihood so they hired two young men to steal his medicine, and they broke into his tent and took it. Three big strong men told David that they would go and find those men, and hang them from their thumbs and they would burn from the heat of the sun for what they have done, however David Livingstone told them not to do this because they must love their neighbors. These men objected to him that he would die without his medicine. David did end up getting Malaria. David Livingstone was then put in the bed in the chief’s own hut, and for several days he grew delirious and sick, and he couldn’t talk. The chief finally found him one morning on his knees dead in the position of prayer. The chief took him out of the hut in front of all of the other people and plunged a dagger into his chest and cut his heart out. He took that heart and buried it at the base of a tree. They then took David Livingstone’s body, wrapped it up, and a caravan of hundreds and hundreds of Africans carried his body all the way across Africa to the west coast. The Arabs thought that the people were just trading cloths and things, and they didn’t know that that was his body. They got to a British ship and said, “This is the body of Dr. David Livingstone, you can have his body for England, but his heart died for Africa!” Today David Livingstone’s grave is at West Minster Chapel in London.

4.3.1.11.Is your life being poured out for others?

4.3.1.12.Are you so constrained by God’s love that you cannot but reach out with the gospel to those who are lost in their sin?

4.3.1.13.David Livingstone’s heart was buried in Africa, where is your heart going to be buried?

5. VS 4:23-25 - “23 And Jesus was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. 24 And the news about Him went out into all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, taken with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them. 25 And great multitudes followed Him from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan” - Jesus’ tremendously powerful and effective ministry to the Galileans

5.1. We see here God’s wisdom and how it came about that the great darkness of the people in Gallilee provided the place where Jesus’ light could shine the brightest, and their great need for the Savior provided the fertile ground for powerful ministry by Jesus

5.2. We see here in Jesus’ ministry that He was ‘going about’ Galilee, not staying stationary, but seeking those to whom He could minister, and being sought out by people needing to be ministered to

5.3. As I mentioned before about the nature of Jesus’ miracles, He had a 100% record in bringing healing

5.4. There was no disease or ailment from which Jesus was not able to heal anyone

5.5. Jesus proclaimed to the Galileans the gospel of the Kingdom, that is the “good news” of God’s Kingdom having now come and being at that moment in their midst

There is a poem I’d like to share with you. It’s called, “Clock Of Life”,

The clock of life is wound but once,

And no man has the power,

To tell when the hands will stop,

At late or early hour.

To lose one’s wealth is sad indeed.

To lose one’s health is more.

To lose one’s soul is such a loss

That no man can restore

Thirty-nine people died while you read this short poem. Every hour 5,417 to go meet their Maker. What are YOU doing to help reach them with the Gospel e’re they are cast into hell?

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