37.1 And leaving Nazareth, He came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulon and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying,
The land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles:The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned. Isaiah 9:1-2
Matthew 4:13-1637.2 Zebulon and Naphtali were two of the twelve tribes of Israel. In Old Testament times they lived exactly in the area known as Galilee during Jesus' lifetime. The people of Zebulon and Naphtali fought the armies of the Syrians almost consatnly. Later, a different nation called the Assyrians invaded, and destroyed them and took them away. The area then became known as Galilee of the Gentiles because of the many foreigners who came to live there. (The land of Naphtali had extended northward beyond the headwaters of the Jordan river.)
37.3 The people sat in spiritual darkness. Dead formalism, stifling Pharisaic legalism, and works righteousness were their religion. (But some people understood grace and were looking for the Messiah). Of course no one can walk in darkness. They were forced to just sit. There was nothing they could do. It was a helpless situation. They were sitting in the region and shadow (blackness) of death. (So called because foreign armies usually invaded Palestine from the north, destroying Galilee first -- conquering the rest of Palestine only if the people of Galilee could not stop them.)
37.4 Then came Jesus. He chose to live in that dark land. He would make his home among the people -- a light in a dark place. Is that not what light is for? To dispel darkness? So Jesus came to live in Galilee, at Capernaum by the sea (of Galilee).
37.5 The light dawned not only by what Jesus did -- but by what He said.
37.6 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:17
37.7 Jesus' method was to preach. The point is made that to preach is not to argue, reason, dispute, explain or convince. It is simply to preach. To preach means to announce, or to proclaim -- loudly and publicly. It is the idea of a herald shouting good news to the people. The truth is obvious and does not need anything except to be proclaimed and heralded. Jesus' preaching was backed up by the miracles, signs and wonders that He did.
37.8 Jesus' message was simple and direct: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." There are two parts to this message.
To repent means to stop walking away from God and walk straight towards Him instead.
This involves not only renouncing sin and the sinful nature, but conversion to faith as well.
Only the Holy Spirit of God can work faith in a person -- but the idea of repentance is to stop resisting the Holy Spirit -- obey him instead: Be convicted of sin, turn away from it and, by faith, follow Christ. (* see footnote)The reason for this repentance is that "...the kingdom of heaven is at hand." No one could have made a more startling announcement. All the healing, salvation, joy, peace, comfort, and forgiveness of heaven had arrived! Jesus himself was standing there. HE was the promised Messiah.
Our message must be the same -- and our methods must be the same.
37.9 Matthew could have quoted the rest of Isaiah's prophecy.
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of PeaceOf the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end.Isaiah 9:6-7a
37.10 Jesus himself, the Great Light of all the ages, came to shine on the people who sat in darkness. This was a matter of His choosing!
Discussion: Where should we take the Light, and how should we do it?
Memory verse: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:17
footnote: What Jesus really said was "Be repenting, for the kingdom of heaven (God's redemption see lesson four), is at hand -- (has been coming and is now here)." "The Kingdom of Heaven" was Jesus' name for His redemptive movement. He envisioned it as an ever expanding group of believers powered by the Spirit of God to spread the gospel.
Quiz: