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Scripture |
Matthew 4:12-23 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: 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 fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for 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. 23 Jesus went throughout Galilee , teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. |
Devotional |
Jesus, who like John the Baptist before him, was to call Israel to repentance and thus prepare them for the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17 ). Borrowing words for John the Baptist, Jesus proclaimed: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” and directed his disciples to present the same message about the impending fullness of time. Entering public life, Jesus set out to continue in Galilee the mission of John the Baptist, which came to an abrupt end when Herod Antipas imprisoned him. Mark and Matthew preface their account of the ministry of Jesus with this short and incisive pronouncement. Its essence is that a new reality called the ‘Kingdom of God/heaven’ is close, that is to say, it is approaching or has already come, and that the audience, in order to become worthy of it, must perform a moral U-turn. Instead of walking away from God, they must change direction and go towards him. 1 I do not think that the ‘kingdom of heaven’ Jesus is speaking of is a place where people go after they die. Jesus was referring to an event to take place in the near future. If ‘the kingdom of heaven’ means the same and ‘ kingdom of God ’, then we have a much clearer idea of what Jesus had in mind. Anyone who was warning people about something that was about to happen must have known that the people he was talking to would understand. And any first-century Jew, hearing someone talking about God’s kingdom, or the kingdom of heaven, would know. This meant revolution. 2 Does this mean revolution today? If we believe there is one God who made the whole world and that all people are special, then it cannot be God’s will that they suffer. All of God’s people should equally participate in God’s blessings. We do not need to look far from our front door to realize this is not happening. The ‘kingdom of heaven’ question for us today is: What is God doing in our world and how can I be a part of what God is doing. The question I hear today is: “How much tax rebate should each tax payer receive so the economy will recover?” Seems the money would be better spent if it went to the lower economic families so they could purchase things they need rather than to those who purchase things they want. As I think about these words of Jesus, did his ‘kingdom of heaven’ include all of God’s people? What does the ‘kingdom of God/heaven look like to us? Does your view resemble Jesus’ view? 1 Geza Vermes, The Authentic Gospel of Jesus. New York : Penguin Books, 2004. p. 268 |