The Draft

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Let’s jump into todays message.

If you are new to our church today, it would be helpful for you to know that we practice a form of preaching called “Expository Preaching”.

What that means, is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible and then breaking them down from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. Our goal, to better understand not only what God’s Word says, but what it means in our lives today.

Last week we finished up the temptation of Jesus.

Matthew leaves Jesus standing on top of a mountain near Jericho in the wilderness of Judea.

Which can be a little confusing because as we discovered last week Matthew reordered the temptations in order to place Satan’s offer to give the Kingdoms of the World to Jesus without Jesus having to follow God’s plan to get it.

This helps to illustate that Jesus is the promised King yet he was only willing to gain his kingdom through the Father’s way.

Let’s pick up in today’s scripture.

Matthew 4:12–17 ESV

12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Let’s begin to break this down. Immediately after the temptation Jesus finds out that John has been arrested.

He has been arrested by Herod Antipas.

Remember the Herod that ordered all the children between the ages of newborn and 2 years old to be murdered causing Mary and Joseph to take Jesus to Eqypt. This is his son.

Herod Antipas is every bit as nasty as his Dad. In fact he stole his brothers Philips wife, marries her, thus committing adultery.

Being a Godly man John spoke out against it. Resulting in his arrest and his head being brought to Antipas’ wife on a platter. You can read all about this in Mark Chapter 6.

So when Jesus hears this he withdrew to Galilee.

As we have learned through out this entire journey Matthew’s Primary Purpose in writing His account of all that he experienced with Jesus is to show Messianic Jews that Jesus is infact the fulfillment of all First Testament Prophecy on the Messiah.

So Matthew is accounting for Jesus’ Fulfillment of

Isaiah 9:1–2 ESV

1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

○ Isaiah says that the tribal territories of Zebulun and Naphtali would be especially blessed when the Lord brought light into darkness

■ Nazareth lies in the region of Zebulun, while Capernaum lies in the region of Naphtali

■ The majority of Jesus’ ministry took place in these regions along the northern end of the Galilee

■ Notice also, that Isaiah says the Messiah’s light would come “by the way of the sea,” the name of that Roman road running through Capernaum

○ So the prophet explicitly named the location that the Messiah would perform miracles and bring light to darkness

■ And more than Israel, Isaiah says the Messiah will also be sent to the Galilee of the Gentiles

■ As Gentile traders passed through the Galilee on the Via Maris, some encountered Jesus and His teachings, leading to early converts among the nations

■ Clearly, the Messiah isn’t trying to hide in this place

■ Jesus is working in a very public fashion to announce His arrival

I want to keep one thing clear throughout this series. Jesus is being led by the Holy Spirit.

He is not walking around simply fulfilling a check mark list of prophecies.

The Holy Spirit is setting the stage for Jesus to build his Dream Team of Disciples and Apostles.

So why Galillee.

The Galilee is the name for the region in Israel immediately surrounding the Sea of Galilee in the north

The Sea of Galilee is a fresh water lake, not a salt sea, and it’s the main source of fresh water for all Israel

Galilee was a place people went when they were sick or wanted to disappear.

Galilee was the region of unsophisticated blue collar folks.

In Fact what we will see is that 25 of Jesus 37 miracles will take place in this region.

Jesus will spend the majority of his three years of ministry in this region.

It is here where Jesus begins to preach his message.

Matthew 4:17 ESV

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

What Kingdom.

This is something powerful for us to understand.

Jesus first offers himself to the Jews.

Last week we learned that by overcoming the temptation thrown at him by Satan. Jesus fulfilled the covenant for Israel outlined in Deuteronomy.

The Israelites had been waiting for the coming Messiah a King who would sit on the thrown in Israel and rule.

Jesus is preaching that if they will repent and believe in him he will set up that thrown right now.

There were three things needed in order for this to take place.

1. Repenting from dead works of the Law and of disobedience to God.

2. Placing their trust in Jesus’ claims to be the promised Messiah in fulfillment of Scripture.

3. Submitting to His authority as their King ruling over the promised Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom Jesus is promising is the same Kingdom we are waiting for in the 1,000 reign of Christ.

This is the message we will see Jesus preach until the 12 chapter of Matthew.

But that will have to wait.

In the mean time we see the Holy Spirit setting up the perfect place for Jesus to start drafting his Dream Team.

Matthew 4:18–21 ESV

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. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their 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.

Isn’t that everyone’s story?

Jesus shows up and you drop everything.

Once again Matthew being a straight to the point guy he leaves out a few details.

For one thing we learn in the Gospels of Luke and John that Andrew and John were disciples of John the Baptist.

JTB told them to follow Jesus.

So Andrew and John left John the Baptist and started to follow Jesus

Soon after, Andrew introduces Jesus to his brother, Simon

Jesus immediately changed Simon’s name to Peter, which means, “Rock” (today we would say Rocky)

Later, Jesus called Philip, who lived near Andrew and Peter in the Galilee, and then later Philip introduced Jesus to Nathaniel.

One by one these guys began to follow Jesus around and listen to what he said.

They followed before ever seeing a miracle.

What most likely happened was that they started hearing the message and following by faith.

Once they started showing up they started waking up.

It was only after they started following that they saw the miracle at the Wedding of Cana.

John 2:11 ESV

11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Next they would travel together to Jerusalem for the Passover.

They followed Jesus, probably because as Jewish men, they were also required to attend the feast

So they traveled with Jesus to Jerusalem and on His return to the Galilee

They are also with Jesus when He has His encounter with the woman at the well in Samaria

However through all of this they kept up with their normal lives , They had lives and families.

So over the course of time they grew closer and closer to Jesus as their Rabbi.

Until that fateful day.

Matthew 4:18 ESV

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.

That is Matthews matter of fact version.

Luke records it like this.

Luke 5:4–11 ESV

4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 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 But 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 that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Now do you understand why these men were willing to drop everything to follow Jesus?

When Jesus Drafts a Dream Team.

Where does He Go?

Who does He Pick?

○ Peter instantly sensed his own sinfulness and unworthiness, as did his friends

■ Their sin weighed on their hearts

■ And they suddenly doubt they could even be in the presence of God, much less serve Him

■ So in Luke’s account, Peter tells Jesus to go away

○ Have you ever felt that way?

■ Have you ever felt unworthy of God’s call? Too sinful to be useful?

■ That God couldn’t possibly have time for you, much less any need for you

■ And so like Peter, in self-pity, you tell the Lord to go away

○ Let me share a secret…Peter was right…he wasn’t worthy to serve God…none of us are

■ There’s nothing in us that God needs, and we’re certainly not equal to the work

■ But that’s where grace comes in…God’s unmerited favor

■ The love of God is so great that He doesn’t just forgive us by calling us into a saving faith

■ He also overlooks our weaknesses and disqualifications to allow us to serve Him

Today we are talking about who Jesus’ Drafts. We will pick up on this next week.

What is Jesus’ Drafting you for?