Matthew 4:12-25 - The Cost to follow
Review
Baptized by John, led by the Spirit into the Wilderness for testing/temptation,
Matthew 4:12–25 (NKJV)
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by 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 sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.”
Fascinating start to Jesus ministry.
His cousin, John the Baptist, is arrested so instead of going to Jerusalem to begin his ministry he goes to Galilee – the region of Herod
Led by the Spirit
Grew up in Nazareth, but leaves Nazareth – Luke tells us, but Matthew doesn’t – “Prophet is without honor in his home town” – they try to kill him.
INSTEAD goes to Capernaum – basically Jesus’ headquarters for most of his 3.5 years of ministry.
Matthew 4:14–16 (CSB)
14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
15 Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
along the road by the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles.
16 The people who live in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those living in the land of the shadow of death,
a light has dawned.
Quoting Isaiah 9:1-2 – Matthew wants to show at every opportunity that Jesus is the promised Messiah and he is fulfilling prophecy.
“The people who live in darkness” – speaking of the Gentiles – seeing Jesus works and hearing his message.
“land of the shadow of death” – like “valley of the shadow of death”
Some people live in that constant shadow of death, haunted, depressed, discouraged, fearful.
A LIGHT HAS DAWNED –
APPLICATION: Many people today still walk in darkness even though the Light of Christ has come. True also for Christians, walking in fear, walking in the past, not walking in faith.
“WE DON’T WANT TO LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH”
“WALKING THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH” IS DIFFERENT.
Matthew 4:17 NKJV
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
This is the same message John the Baptist was preaching (God’s Word is consistent and doesn’t contradict itself)
“KINGDOM OF HEAVEN” is the primary phrase used by Matthew to describe God’s kingdom order (32x). Mark and Luke prefer “Kingdom of God” and John only uses “Kingdom of God” once – in John 3:3 “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Kingdom of Heaven a metonymy for God’s Kingdom (metonymy is substituting an attribute of something for the thing itself – use the “White House said…” for “the President said…”
Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand (near, coming)
We need to constantly be repenting.
Matthew 4:18-22 NKJV
18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
21 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. He called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
Matthew tells the summary story – gets right to the point and gives you the relevant information.
In Gospel of John we read that John the Baptist introduces one of his disciples (Andrew) to Jesus
John 1:35–42 (NKJV)
35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”
They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now 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 first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).
Luke 5:1–11 (NKJV)
1 So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2 and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. 3 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.
4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” 11 So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.
Jesus had spent time with them and they were getting to know him. Then comes a point:
Jesus approaches, says, “Come, follow me” and they leave everything to follow Jesus.
Matthew 19:16–30 (CSB)
16 Just then someone came up and asked him, “Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?”
17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” he said to him. “There is only one who is good. If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” he asked him.
Jesus answered: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; 19 honor your father and your mother; and love your neighbor as yourself.
20 “I have kept all these,” the young man told him. “What do I still lack?”
21 “If you want to be perfect,” Jesus said to him, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard that, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.
23 Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished and asked, “Then who can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
27 Then Peter responded to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you. So what will there be for us?”
28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields because of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
TO FOLLOW JESUS, WE NEED TO RELEASE WHAT WE ARE HOLDING ON TO.
What are you holding on to? What dreams? What identity? What hurts? What offenses?
Matthew 4:19
19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
What does it mean to fish for men? Luke 10 – looking for a person of peace
Matthew 4:23 NKJV
23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. 24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. 25 Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
Jesus ministry was teaching, preaching and healing. People tend to focus on the healing
v24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.
25 Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
LOTS OF FOLLOWERS – but how many disciples?
Luke 14:25–28 (NLT)
25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?
WHAT TYPE OF FOLLOWER ARE YOU?
We have diluted what it means to be a follower; so, we have many deluded followers.
What is getting in the way of following Jesus?
Nicodemus – secret follower
Nets are easy to get caught in.
Hebrews 12:1–2 (CSB)
1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Despise: kataphroneo (καταφρονέω, 2706), lit., “to think down upon or against anyone” (kata, “down,” phren, “the mind”), hence signifies “to think slightly of, to despise,”[1]
[1] W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White Jr., Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 1996), 163.