The Gospel of Matthew Week 4
January 17, 2021 • Matthew 4:12–25
Audio Transcript:
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Please pray with me over the preaching of God's Word. Heavenly Father, we thank you that you sent your son Jesus Christ to be amongst us to live a human life. We thank you, Jesus, that you promised that you will build your church and the gates of hell will not overcome it. Pray today, show us from the holy Scriptures of how you build the church, what the building blocks of your church are, what the basics are, what the fundamentals are, and make us a people who are focused on the fundamentals of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who don't know you, calling people to repentance as we repent ourselves.
Remind us that we are called to make disciples who make disciples, that we are to commit our lives to that, orient our lives around the great commission, and remind us that we are to serve people in deed and in word. Send us the Holy Spirit to speak to us to prepare our hearts, our minds, and our wills to continue to live for the glory of God. We pray this, in Jesus' name. Amen. If you're new, we are in the Gospel of Matthew for the foreseeable future, but probably until Easter. Next week, we're starting the greatest sermon that has ever been preached.
We'll expose it through that. It's the Sermon on the Mount preached by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as he just called his disciples. Today, the text right before the Sermon on the Mount, we see Jesus Christ making disciples. This is how Jesus Christ transformed the world. The most influential person in the history of the world was Jesus Christ. We know that, and that's to be expected because he's the God man. If God comes, becomes a person who lives amongst us, obviously, he's going to be the most influential person who ever lived. That's not a miracle.
We understand that. What is a miracle? Is that after Jesus Christ leaves, the church grows, the church grows, so much so that the church transforms the world. This morning, millions, dare I say, billions of people are worshiping Jesus Christ around the world. He transformed the world, not just through his own work, but through the work of his followers by the power of the Spirit. One of my favorite quotes about the radical influence of Jesus Christ in the world is by the Emperor Napoleon who, at the end of his life in exile, he came to the following conclusion about the King of kings.
He said, "I know man and I tell you, Jesus Christ is not a man. Superficial mind see a resemblance between Christ and the founders of empires and the gods of other religions. That resemblance does not exist. There is between Christianity and other religions the distance of infinity. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires. On what did we rest? On what did we rest the creations of our genius upon sheer force? Jesus Christ alone founded his empire upon love." At this hour, millions of men will die for him.
Every other existence, but that of Christ, how many imperfections? From the first day to the last, he is the same, majestic and simple, infinitely firm and infinitely gentle. He proposes to our faith, a series of mysteries and commands with authority that we should believe them, giving no other reason than those tremendous words, I am God. Clearly, Jesus influenced the world, changed the world, transformed the world. The greater miracle is, how did his followers do it? How do we, today, continue to do it?
How do we bring that radical life transforming force into the lives of our neighbors, our friends, our colleagues, into the lives of the people in this city and beyond? That's what we're going to talk about today. Matthew 4:12 through 25, would you look at the text with me? Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled.
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the city, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned. From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." While walking 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 fishermen. He said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Immediately they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there he saw two brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
His name spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, paralytics, and he healed them. Great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. This is the reading of God's holy, inerrant, infallible, authoritative word. May write these eternal truths upon our hearts. Three points to frame of our time. First, repent and preach the gospel. Second, follow Jesus and make disciples.
Third, serve people in word and deed, the basics, the fundamentals of Christianity, of our faith. All too often, we complicate things in life, including our own faith. We forget about the basics, the fundamentals on which everything is built. Even professionals in sports, they need to get back to the fundamentals every once in a while. That's why you need spring training for baseball. That's why you need a preseason in football. We didn't get a preseason this year in the NFL, and that's why the Patriots stunk. That's the only excuse. That's the only reason.
Tom Brady had nothing to do with it. We're going to get back to the fundamentals. Last week, I had to write a check. First of all, I haven't written a check in months, maybe a year. I had to write a check. I had to go find the checkbook. I had to find the payment. I take the pen and I start writing. I realized, I haven't written with my hand in a very long time. It felt foreign. It felt like, what am I doing? I don't even know how to write. I feel like I'm in kindergarten. I feel like my daughter, Milana, has better writing than I am. Get about the fundamentals. We need the fundamentals.
We need the fundamentals in the Christian faith. That's why we need this text, which is the text preceding the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus here makes disciples and then he teaches his disciples. We need to learn how to make disciples, just like Jesus did. The first point is repent and preach the gospel. Some time has elapsed between verse 11 and verse 12. Verse 11, Jesus Christ was in the desert and he was getting tempted by the evil one. He resisted the evil one. The angels then came and ministered to him, most likely with food. Some time passes between verses 11 and 12.
Jesus continues his ministry in Judea, Jerusalem, concurrently with John the Baptizer, whose ministries reported in the Gospel of John. Then in Matthew 4:12, it says, now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. John, who? This is John, Jesus' beloved cousin, who was only six months older than Jesus. John's ministry was predicted in the book of Isaiah, seven years before he was born. In the book of Malachi, 500 years before he's born. Centuries before, prophesied. He will come.
He will prepare the way for the Lord by proclaiming the gospel, the gospel of repentance. Then his ministry lasts only 18 months. Fascinating. It's kind of weird point. I've been meditating on this week. We never know how much longer God will give us. Yes, in our lives, but also in our ministry. John serves and he serves and he serves. It's grace of God to be used by God. Whenever we get tired of ministry, tired of serving God, we can never forget that it's a gift to be used by God. That gift can be taken away at any moment, just like it was with John.
What happened with John, he was arrested. What was he arrested for? He was arrested for speaking truth to power, not just truth to power, we hear that phrase all the time. God's truth to power, truth about morality to power. He spoke to King Herod and he said, "No, it is not right for you to take your brother's wife." He speaks God's moral truth to those in politics, to those in influence, which obviously destroys the argument that says, no, no, no, you can't talk moral truth to non-Christians. Moral truth, the 10 commandments only has to do with Christians.
No, it's God's law for everybody. God is king over everybody. John the Baptizer, he speaks truth, God's truth to power. He's beheaded. First arrested, then beheaded. As Jesus learns that John has been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He goes to Galilee. Galilee was a very important place because it was a crossroads. There are lots of roads going through Galilee. Judea, one commentator said, is on the road to nowhere, Galilee is on the way to everywhere. Jesus chooses a place to do ministry, started his ministry, a place where people come and go, a place of transfer of ideas.
He doesn't go to Jerusalem, which is to be expected. He defies expectation and goes to a place where people come and go. In Verse 13, leaving Nazareth, that's his hometown, he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali. Nazareth, small, insignificant town, Capernaum, which is part of the Sea of Galilee, bustling town, sea in the region of Galilee. That's where he goes. Why did he leave Nazareth? He leaves Nazareth because he was rejected in his hometown.
In Luke Chapter 4, it's recorded that he preaches in the synagogue, takes the scroll of Isaiah, and says, today, this prophecy is fulfilled in your midst. They pick him up and then carry him to the edge of a cliff and they want to kill him for proclaiming himself to be the Messiah. Did Jesus have a hard time doing evangelism? Yeah. Jesus had a hard time doing evangelism in his hometown. No one believed him. He then goes to Capernaum, spend significant amount of time in Capernaum. It becomes his home base, base of operations.
Then by Matthew 11, Jesus brings down a woe on Capernaum, woe on you, Capernaum, woe on you, Chorazin. For if the work is done and you had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah, they would have believed and repented a long time ago. They rejected him as well. He brings the light. They reject the light, because it doesn't matter how great the light if you're blind. That's what the people were, blinded by their own sin, by their own pride, by their own selfishness, and rejected the Messiah. Matthew 4:14, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled.
He goes to Galilee, Zebulun, Naphtali. He goes not because King Herod had arrested John, but because Jesus need to fulfill the prophecy. In verse 15, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned. From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is here." Zebulun and Naphtali, the 2 of the 12 tribes of Israel, they're the smaller tribes.
They were given land that was farther away from Jerusalem. That's why it's called Galilee of the Gentiles, because it had a mixed population of Jews and Gentiles. Because of the mixture of Jews and Gentiles, people from Jerusalem looked down on people from Galilee. Once again, the Lord is choosing to associate himself with the lowly, the despised, not the high, not the mighty. He goes to a place where it's absolutely clear that the Messiah is the Messiah, not just for the Jews. God has sent the Savior not just for one ethnicity, but for absolutely everybody.
Every single person alive, no matter your ethnicity, no matter your skin color, no matter your country of origin, no matter your socioeconomic status, no matter where you're from, who you are, what you've done, we all need. Jesus. Doesn't matter if you're from the United States, you need Jesus. Doesn't matter if you're from Canada, you definitely need Jesus. Doesn't matter if you're from Russia, you definitely need Jesus. Everybody needs Jesus Christ. This is the point of him going to Galilee, not Jerusalem. Jesus hasn't come as a Messiah just for the Jews.
He's come as a Messiah, as a King of the world. This is what Matthew was telling us, the magi coming, the magi of the Gentiles. They're coming to worship the king. This is why Matthew ends with the great commission, the last verses of the book, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the light. He is the Savior. He's come to seek and save that which is lost, the light that shines in the darkness. How does Jesus Christ shine the light? This shows us how do we shine the light into our world.
How can we shine the light of Christ? We are the salt. We are the light. How do we shine the light? That's a tremendous question. I'm glad you asked. Jesus answers that in verse 17. This is how he shines the light. From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." You hear that and you're like, that doesn't sound very lightful. That doesn't sound like full of light. A message of repentance. Well, it is because sin is darkness. Sin pulls us away from the source of light, which is God. Proclaiming this gospel of, hey, you can repent.
You can return to God is a message of light. This message sounds familiar. Who else preached this message? John the Baptizer, Matthew 3:1 through 3. In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Verbatim. For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight." John the Baptizer preached this message. Jesus preached this message.
Jesus, when he sent His disciples on the first preaching tour, told them, Matthew 10:17, proclaim as you go, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." Meaning the king is here, therefore repent. St. Peter, this is after Jesus' ascension, on the day of Pentecost, as he's filled the Holy Spirit, proclaims the gospel, preaches a powerful sermon, that people are deeply affected, and they cry out, "What shall we do?" This is what Peter said in Acts 2:38, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. St. Paul, speaking to the elders in Ephesus after finishing his ministry there, he said, he summarizes the ministry by saying, in Acts 20:21, testifying both to Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Later in his defense before Agrippa, Paul summarized his preaching in Acts 26:20, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem, throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
Performing deeds with keeping with their repentance, fascinating. Because many of us, when we think of the gospel, we think I repent, I believe in Jesus Christ, period. I'm saved. That's it. I don't have to do anything. St. Paul preached, no, are you bringing deeds, performing deeds keeping with your repentance? John the Baptist preached the same thing. Matthew 3:8, bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. That's fascinating. He's saying prove that you're saved, prove that you have repented. Make your election and calling sure says St. Peter.
Prove it. This is why we don't do ... You know how some churches do? By the way, this is how I think I got saved. I don't know. We don't do the walking down the aisle thing. Raise your hand if you're from a church where they did the walking down the aisle if you want to get saved. You know what I'm talking about it. I went to a youth conference at 13 and they said, "This is how you get saved." By the way, Russians, they know how to manipulate. They had a girl with a violin and there was someone playing in Oregon.
They're singing a song about like, what's going to happen if you die today? Are you really going to go to hell? I'm like, ah, I don't want to go to hell, 13, and I walked down the aisle like, I'm saved, I'm saved. I walked down with my best friend. We walked down together. Afterwards, I'm like, "How do you feel, man?" He's like, "I feel saved." I was like, "I feel saved too, man. That's great." We don't do that. We don't do that. You know what I say? When someone's like, "I think I've trusted in Jesus," I'm like, "We'll see." We'll see.
A week will pass, two weeks will pass, are you growing in the faith? Are you bearing fruit with repentance? Tremendous. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? We need to see some kind of track record, if you're saved by the Savior. This is how Jesus Christ talks about repentance, that there is transformation. We repent and believe in the Gospel because the kingdom is at hand, meaning the king is now the one whom you follow. There's life change. The centrality of repentance also stated negatively by Jesus in Matthew 11:20 through 21.
Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Meaning if you do not repent, there are consequences. Matthew 12:41, the men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
A lot of people misunderstand repentance. They think repentance is either remorse or reformation. I will submit to you that it's not just remorse and it's not just reformation, it's actually returning to God. A lot of people think repentance is remorse, that you feel sorry, you feel deeply sorry for your sin, most likely, because you're sorry of the consequences of your sin. There are consequences. A lot of people think it's just self-reproach, it's self-loathing. This is what Martin Luther, before finally reading the book of Romans and seeing the gospel in the book of Romans, he suffered from what he called navel-gazing, where he would just focus on his own sin, on sinning against God.
He was focused on himself. That remorse never led him to Christ, never led him to God. It was actually very selfish. It's a self-concentration. I feel so bad that I did X, Y, and Z because it's impacting me in the following ways. Paul says that remorse or worldly sorrow left by itself and leads to death. Judas. Did Judas repent after selling Jesus Christ for 30 pieces of silver? Did Judas repent? He was remorseful. He brought the money back and he threw it at the feet of the Pharisees. He did not repent. Committed suicide.
Others said repentance is just moral reformation, that you just change your life. Well, you go to Christianity and change your life. I go to AA to change my life. I go to rehab to change my life. I go to therapy to change my life. Repentance is more than just turning over a new leaf. Reformation is changing your behavior. It's on the behavior level. People can do that without God. Repentance is on the heart level. Repentance is when you realize that you have sinned, not just against yourself and not just against people.
Repentance is when you realize that you have sinned against a holy God, God who has created you, God who has given you everything that you have and continues to give and sustain, starting with the very breath that you take. In the Hebrew, the word repentance means to turn. In the Greek, it's to change one's mind. It's a returning to God, a turning to him, turning away from sin, and turning to God. There's two parts, recognition of sin, God, I see how sinful, odious, filthy my sin is against you. I turn away from it and I turned to you.
It's a godly sorrow for sinning against God, of offending the God who loves you, of offending the Christ who has made a terrible sacrifice for you, of offending and grieving the Holy Spirit who has shown you the way of eternal life. It's a fear of God mixed with a love of God that turns you from sin to him. That's why Jesus says, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is here. It's the establishment of God's rule. The king is here. His will is clear. We are to live according to it. What does fruit of repentance look like? I'm glad you asked.
In Chapter 5, Jesus Christ sits down and he begins to teach his disciples. This is what fruit of repentance looks like, and he gives us the Sermon on the Mount. Definitely come back for that as we start the Sermon on the Mount next week. It's the transcript of the life of repentance to repent is to live a new life. It's a new way of life. Repentance is how you grow in the faith. It's the means by which you become a Christian. It's the means by which you continue to be a Christian. It's the means by which one is always a Christian. Humorously, I tell people that I get saved every day.
When did you get saved? This morning. I was saved this morning. I say that tongue in cheek, but it's true. Because I mean I repent every day of being a sinner before a holy God. I need God's grace every day. Yes, my salvation began with justification. There was one day when that's the beginning of it. You continue in sanctification with repentance on a daily basis. Our Christian walk begins with repentance, continues with repentance. We are also then called to preach the gospel to others. That's the second point.
We preach the gospel to others by making disciples, by being fishers of men. In terms of your own life, if you look at your own repentance, repentance has to do with life change. Are you repenting because the kingdom of God has drawn near? Is repentance a characteristic of your life? Are you changing in direction of Christ's example teaching commandments? Are you markedly different from a year ago? The world definitely is, but are you? Are you different from a year ago in your spiritual walk? Are you different from two years ago?
To be a Christian means you are alive and you're growing and you're thriving in repentance. Point two is follow Jesus and make disciples. Verse 18, While walking 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 fishermen. He said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there he saw two brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.
Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. A few comments here. Sea of Galilee is actually a lake. The Galilee and industry was actually very prosperous. A lot of us, when we think of Peter, Andrew, James, and John as fishermen, we think that they're poor. Not necessarily. They probably did actually really well. They had a small business and the two families, Peter and Andrew's family and the family Zebedee, James and John, they had a partnership. They worked together. Fishermen were not educated according to the pharisaical teachings in Jerusalem.
They weren't educated. A lot of people, when they read scriptures like, oh, fishermen, that means you guys are idiots. Being not educated does not mean you're dumb. Because education does not add IQ points. A lot of people have bought into the lie, that you need formal education for intelligence. Those two are very different. That's why a lot of people, when they read the epistles of Peter, I remember in seminary, reading liberal theologian commentator, they're like, "There's no way that Peter could have written this because a fisherman can't write this well."
Well, how do you know? How do you know? Maybe he was a very intelligent fisherman. He didn't have to get a PhD from a school to confirm his intelligence. He was just gifted with intelligence from the Lord. Then there's the Holy Spirit that actually adds IQ points, praise God. They were fishermen. What do we know about fishermen? It was actually a very dangerous profession. People die all the time. These are people who are familiar with hard work. They're familiar with hardships. Jesus sees them.
As he sees them, two of the brothers are fishing, two of the brothers are mending nets. Jesus chooses these guys who are industrious. They know hard work. They know hardships. They know what it means to be on the brink of death. He picks these brothers who have known each other, they love each other already. They've been working together. There's a camaraderie. What else do we know? Simon is a Hebrew name. It's a Jewish name. Peter is his Greek nickname. There's a mixture of the cultures there. Andrew had a Greek name.
That reflects the mixture of the cultures as well. Jesus Christ calls them. Twice we see the word immediately. They left everything immediately. Was this the very first time that they met Jesus Christ? Probably not, as we see in the Gospel of Luke. They had met with Jesus in the gospel of John. Andrew is actually a follower, a disciple of John the Baptist. Then he met with Jesus. He went to check things out, and then finally called Peter. They knew about Jesus. They had time to consider the teaching of Jesus. They had time to consider the mission of Jesus.
They had time to count the cost. Then finally, Jesus comes to them at a moment, he says, "Now is the time you make a decision." Today, right now, follow me. Follow me. This is what it means. This text is right after the text where he says, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Now he's giving us an illustration. This is what repentance looks like. When Jesus Christ comes to you and says, follow me, follow me. This is what it means to be a Christian. This is what it means to be a disciple. This is what it means to bear fruit, keeping with repentance. Follow me.
Follow Jesus Christ. You see that they leave everything immediately. They had jobs. They had family responsibilities, people that depended on them. They leave everything. We know for certain that Peter was married. He had a wife and he had a mother-in-law. He didn't leave them forever, but his priorities changed. Now his greatest priority in life is Jesus Christ and His mission. There's definitely a disruption in their lives. Then also now, they're on a path. Follow me. Means I'm putting you on a brand new path.
Did James imagine that he, at this moment, is exchanging a peaceful life as a fisherman for dying brutally, way too young? Did Peter imagine he was taking his first fateful step to being crucified upside down 35 years later? No, they had no idea. St. Paul, when he was called to Jesus, he says, "I suffer the loss of all things for the sake of Christ." What did St. Paul lose? He lost a family. To study Gamaliel, you have to be at least 35 and married. Most likely, Paul was married at some point. Most likely, when he followed Christ, his wife refused to follow.
Then he endured stonings and shipwrecks and beatings. He left a career where he was enjoying incredible rise to fame. Instead, he traded in for becoming a laughingstock of his former world, although, by the grace of God, he becomes the most influential, the greatest mere man who ever lived because they understood what it means to follow Jesus. To follow Jesus, yes, it begins with information. You're a disciple. You're learning things, but it also entails obedience. I'm not just following a rabbi, I'm following a king. The king tells me what to do.
That's what it means to follow him. It's to live like he lived, to follow in his footsteps. 1 Peter 2:21, to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. The phrase follow me is used 25 times in the Gospel of Matthew, because that's the essence of Christianity. Are you a Christian? I don't want to hear, yes, because I go to church, yes, because I watched church online, yes, because I read scripture. No, no, no, no. Yes, because I follow Jesus Christ. Right now, today, I am following Jesus Christ.
I'm following his commandments. I'm doing what he taught me to do. What he teach us to do at the very moment that he calls these guys to himself, he calls them to his mission. It's a double invitation. It's not just follow me and enjoy the perks of being a Christian. It's follow me and I'm going to make you fishers of men. Drop everything. I'm going to make you disciple makers. You follow me, you abide in me. As you do, you are transformed to be a fisherman, a missionary. You're transformed to be a person that summons others to God.
The phrase fisher is used in Jeremiah 16:16 where God says, behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the Lord, and they will catch them. Afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will catch them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. In Jeremiah, God speaks of fishing for people as God's judgment. The nets were God's judgment. When Jesus Christ comes, he talks about being fishers of men as God's salvation from judgment. That Jesus Christ came and he himself was caught up in the nets of God's wrath for our sin on the cross.
Jesus Christ was hunted by the wrath of God for our sin. He dies on the cross, so that he can extend to us now nets of salvation to pull us out of the sea of the wrath of God that we deserve for our law breaking. That's why God says, repent, return to me, so that you are now not under the wrath of God, but under the love and mercy of God. That's what it means to make fishers of men, is to call people to God, to call people to grace, to call people to faith in Jesus through repentance. This is how Jesus Christ changed the world. Jesus Christ, did he write any books?
The only thing I think Jesus wrote that we know of, is one time he wrote in his finger in the sand. Did Jesus Christ build institutions? Were there any monuments created to his life and work in his lifetime or immediately thereafter? No. How did Jesus change the world? He chose 12 men, poured his life into them, taught them to be disciples of him who make disciples. That's what discipleship is. A lot of people think discipleship is we're going to sit together and read a nice Christian book and talk about it and that's discipleship. No, that's a book club.
Discipleship is when you make other disciples of Jesus Christ. That's the ultimate goal of discipleship. Discipleship isn't just reading the Bible. It's not just memorizing scripture. All of that is important, but to culminate in sharing the gospel with someone else and they become believers in Jesus Christ. This is the whole goal of the church. This is why I want to talk about like the basics, the fundamentals. We can't forget, this is our job. This is why we're here. If you move from here, your job stays the same. Just the location has changed. We're called to be fishers of men.
We're called to make disciples of Jesus Christ. The question here at the end of point two is, am I following Jesus? Am I making disciples? Am I a hard worker and making disciples? Am I bold in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ? We should be. Did Jesus Christ proclaim the gospel boldly? Did everyone gets saved when he preached? No. Nazareth, his hometown, rejected him. Capernaum rejected them. He said, all right, great. I'm just going to go to the next town. I'm just going to go to the next city. You proclaim the gospel. When you do, the elect will come to faith.
That's what we trust in, is in the sovereignty of God. Point three is serve people in word and deed. That's what Jesus does ministry, not just of serving them in deed and not just the word, but it's both. Matthew 4:23 and 25, and he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. His fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them.
Great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. First, Syria here is not the modern country of Syria, but an area north of Galilee. People are traveling to see Jesus as his fame grew. What did he do? It says, he spends time teaching in the synagogues. That's the religious centers for Jewish people, preaching the good news of the kingdom to everybody, and healing people of their sickness, of their affliction, of their demon possession. Jesus Christ is the second person of the trinity of the triune Almighty God.
It's inevitable that Jesus performs miracles. He's the maker of the world. He's the Savior of the world. He's the one who created sight, therefore he can give it to the blind. He created the hearing so he can give it to the deaf, et cetera. Jesus is the God man, the maker of heaven and earth. We should not be surprised that he does miracles. We should expect it. We should expect it. It's more of a surprise that Jesus died, then that he rose again. The resurrection should not be a surprise. He's the God man. Of course, he comes back from the dead. Surprise that he dies.
You expect creation from the creator, that he has creative power, the one who gives life can restore and resurrect. Perhaps, that's why the gospel writers, they present the miracles very nonchalantly. Yeah, Jesus walked around and he resurrected this guy and gave sight to this guy. Yeah, because he's the God man. That shouldn't be an issue. The question is, why did God give us these miracles? The scripture says that they are signs. Acts 2:22, men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
They're wonders and signs, meaning God gives them to point to a greater truth and a greater reality. Nicodemus, when he came to Jesus by night in John Chapter 3 says, "Rabbi, we know that you are sent from God, because no one can perform the miraculous signs that you were doing." For Jesus, the miracles weren't the point. Because miracles do not change hearts. That's why in Matthew 11, he says, "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For signs done in you had been done." They saw signs, they didn't get saved.
That's why Jesus, whenever he did signs, the miracles were given to bolster faith, not to create faith. Faith is only given to us as a gift from God. Mark 1:32 through 39, incredible passages where Jesus heals people and then stops. That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. The whole city was gathered together at the door. He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. He would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
Rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, "Everyone is looking for you." He said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns." Everyone is looking for you to get healed again. More people want to get healed. "Everyone is looking for you." He said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out."
He went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. What's Jesus saying? He's saying, I can heal you of your sickness. If you do not repent of your sin, you are desperately sick. What's the point of you physically getting healed? Then time passes and you die, and you are spiritually sick for all of eternity in a place called hell. What's the point? Jesus focuses on the gospel, that this is the greatest news. This is the only hope for the world. This is the only thing that can transform us. He does do miracles.
There are miracles that point to the greater miracle. The greatest miracle of all, is that God resurrects people from spiritual death, that God gives the gift of repentance, gives the gift of faith, gives the gift of obedience, the gift of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus feeds the 15,000, it's a sign that he is the bread of life. When he heals sick, it's a picture of him delivering us from the sickness of sin and death. When he drives out demons out of the possessed, it's to show that he has power over Satan.
When he speaks to a paralyzed man, your sins are forgiven, now pick up your bed and walk, he's showing that the greatest paralysis that you have is that of sin. The second is the physical paralysis. Physical healing is a sign. Forgiveness is a reality. We live in a world where more than ever, in this season, we've been thinking about death and people getting sick. That's why it's more important than ever for us to not forget our job. A lot of Christians, I think, have taken a little vacation from the great commission. Why? Pandemic. That's an excuse for everything, pandemic.
No. We still have a job to do, which is the great commission of Jesus Christ, to go and make disciples. Let us not forget that. So that when people do die, which is inevitable, we're all going to die. We go to a better place because of your faith in Jesus Christ, because of repentance, because you are a disciple, because you follow him. Think of Lazarus, I always think of Lazarus. Lazarus came back from the dead. That's awesome. Comes back. Live in life. New lease on life. You ever have a near death experience and then for a week, you're a much better human being. It's awesome.
Lazarus comes back. Oh, this is incredible. Life again. Wow! Then years go by, I don't know how many years, a decade, maybe two. Then he's on his deathbed again. Tell me how he feels. Most likely, he's pumped. I'm so glad to be done with this dump. Mission accomplished. I'm going to heaven. I'm spending eternity with Jesus. I can't wait. That's how I feel about it. I tell my wife all the time. She's not enthused by that. I was like, "I can't wait to go to Jesus. Jobs done. I'm going to heaven." She's like, "You still got four kids to raise." I'm like, "Yeah, that's right."
That's why I'm here. It's better for me to stay for a little while longer. When you believe in Jesus Christ, that's the assurance you have, that's the truth you have, that Jesus Christ brings light and life to the whole person. He can forgive anyone and everyone of all sins. He can heal any emotional heartache. He can free from any deep addiction. He can heal any physical disease, any broken heart, any struggling families. If you're not a Christian, come to Jesus Christ. If you are a Christian, come to Jesus Christ as well.
If you missed any of the points, repent and preach the gospel, follow Jesus, make disciples, serve people in word and in deed. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this time in the Holy Scriptures. We love the scriptures. They don't just teach us and illuminate our minds, but they feed our souls. We thank you for the reminder, that we are to repent of sins and follow you and to make disciples and to serve people on a daily basis in both word and deed. We pray, continue to send us the Holy Spirit, continue to embolden us to speak the truth of the gospel.
Continue to give us opportunities to speak the gospel and call people to repentance because they've offended a holy God, but he's also a merciful God who sent us Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins. For that, we thank you. In Jesus Christ's name we pray, amen.