"Ministry"_Matthew 4b_May 5 2024
God With Us - Discovering the Gospel of Matthew • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
Welcome…
Series: God With Us
We’ll be doing communion right after the message
Bibles: Matthew 4
Why I’m here:
My story
I’m all about the Bible and following it
My goal is to always treat you with respect
never talk down to you
Sermon: “Ministry”
Jesus’ ministry speaks to ours
“Galilee of the Gentiles”
“people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light”
This is very much all of us before Jesus
We dwelt in the “shadow of death” until the light of Jesus dawned on us
At the same time - all of us can be the light of Jesus -
to those around us who dwell in darkness
We’ll be looking at the 2nd half of Matthew
It’s divided into three parts:
Jesus Begins His Ministry
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds
Scripture reading -
Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And 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 sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 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.” 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. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 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. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. 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. So 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. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
(Pray…)
There is a natural progression in the first four chapters of Matthew:
◦ Jesus is born
◦ He grows up and gets baptized – signifying the start of his ministry
◦ Then, guess what immediately happens?
◦ He goes through his first trial
◦ He's led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil – after fasting 40 days & nights
Chapter 4 begins the ministry of Jesus
So far - don’t forget all the drama that has happened - all because the Son of God came to Earth
Our series is God With Us
But there is a cost to having God With Us
I mean to say that because Jesus is God and holy - when he entered an evil, sinful world - at the very least, we would expect drama
When Jesus walked on Earth, much of the story is the response of evil to him - which eventually led him to the cross
When Jesus returns to Earth, it will be his response in judgement as he vanquishes evil
Think of all the drama so far in Matthew, mostly from Herod the Great
Trying to manipulate the wise men
Killing all the children 2 years and younger
All of this because of his crazy jealousy he had for the baby Jesus
Think of Joseph who had to move his family - and then had to settle in Galilee, not Judea
Think of the confrontation John the Baptist had with the Pharisees
And think of the drama surrounding the temptation of Jesus
The arrest of John the Baptist (v.12) foreshadows the suffering Jesus will endure - and was a signal for Jesus to begin his public ministry
John prepared the way - now Jesus begins his ministry
We see in verse 12 that Jesus “withdrew” into Galilee
In Matt 2 we read that Joseph withdrew his family to Galilee
In Matt 14 it says that Jesus withdrew in a boat to a desolate place
We other examples that Jesus did this in Matt 15 and in Mark 3
And in John 6 we read the story where the crowds were about to take him by force and make him king - it says that he withdrew to the mountain by himself
Jesus begins his ministry by withdrawing to the “Galilee of the Gentiles”
It describes the people as “dwelling in darkness,” and living in the “shadow of death”
Jesus went where there was a great need for the Gospel
Then there’s verse 17
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Verse 17 marks a significant shift in the life of Christ - it marks the beginning of his active, public ministry
What does that mean for us?
Everyone is a minister
Remember last chapter?
One of the most important verses on the Christian life
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Our ministry on Earth is bearing fruit
What is ministry?
Here is a definition I found:
to serve (minister) — verb. to attend to the wants and needs of others.
Ministry is: servanthood
Ministry is: serving God by serving others
Ministry is: serving God with what you got
We serve God by using the skills he has given us
Ministry means you serve God in everything you do
Ministry means you bear fruit and serve God with the gifts and talents he's already given you
When you become a Christian – you don't need to get qualified in order to serve, you just need to get busy in order to serve
The moment you become a Christian – is the moment you have been fully sanctified and set apart to serve the Lord
The moment you became a Christian – is the moment you were made holy – you were made fit to serve in his Kingdom
Notice how men and women in the Bible were first converted – and then served God immediately:
Abraham came from a pagan life – and the Lord instructed him to immediately go into a new land for a promise
Moses was a murderer in hiding in the land of Midian – and God had him immediately go back and deliver his people
The woman at the well – immediately drops her bucket and goes to witness to the entire town
In Mark 5 – Jesus heals a demon-possessed man and he immediately becomes Billy Graham of his day and evangelizes to the entire city
And think of all the disciples Jesus called to immediately serve with him
I just read: Verse 20 says, “Immediately the left their nets and followed him.”
And when he found James and John who were in their fishing boats -
Verse 22 says they immediately left the boat
Imagine that - professional fishermen leaving their means of support - leaving their careers
Over and over again – we see ministry right out of conversion
But there is also discipleship, and equipping that must happen
I’m saying: it’s appropriate to serve the Lord right away -
but we also need to allow others to equip you to serve the Lord in greater ways
This equipping comes from the Church
And we get this concept from Jesus - and how he taught and equipped his disciples
This is the role of the Church
Redemption Church: Love. Equip. Send.
Look at the passage, beginning at verse 13 with me
And 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 sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
That’s pretty specific
This is where Jesus moved as his base of operations for his ministry
It was his missions strategy to begin in the region of Galilee
Away from Judea - and initially, away from the Pharisees
Isaiah 9 is quoted here - so this is also a fulfillment of prophesy
Even though this is fulfills prophesy, later he draws criticism for living there
To the religious experts, it would be like the “messiah of country music” starting their career about 100 miles north of Nashville
Notice verse 15 says, “Galilee of the Gentiles”
This foreshadows what was about to happen -
That his Gospel would reach “all nations” as it does today
Back in that time, there were in fact, more Jews than Gentiles living in Galilee -
But the temple wasn’t there
Mostly the Pharisees were not there
And there were way more Gentiles who lived there than in Judea
Verse 23 says he taught in their synagogues - so there were obviously Jewish people there
Because Jesus started in Galilee, it kept him away from direct, constant fire from the Pharisees
This gave him more time to conduct his ministry and teach his disciples before he would eventually suffer the cross
Look again at verse 17 - and notice he says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The Jews at the time longed for their messiah to establish his kingdom on Earth
They longed for domination and independence from Rome
But this kingdom is spiritual
God in Jesus, came to Earth to save us from our sins - God With Us is God’s rescue plan for us
So Jesus repeats John the Baptist in Matt 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” - That was the beginning of John’s ministry, and now, the beginning of Jesus’ ministry
These are the first words of Jesus as he starts his ministry
In Rabbinic form, the teacher would begin teaching with a summary followed by a description and example
Verse 17 gives us that summary: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”
Then there are two sections which follow in this chapter
Verses 18-22 describe how Jesus calls his first disciples - he calls them by saying, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
In the next section, 23-25 it describes what that means
Jesus said he’ll make them fishers of men - then he showed them what that means
Jesus taught in their synagogues and proclaimed the gospel - and then he healed every disease and every affliction
I think this last section of Chapter 4 gives an example of what it means to follow Jesus and become fishers of men:
we proclaim the gospel
we serve God by serving others with the gifts we have
Jesus calls his disciples to follow him - to be “fishers of men” - and then he shows them what that means
Notice what he says contains an imperative, “Follow me...”
Before we can be fishers of men, we have to follow Jesus
It’s a command, an imperative
Jesus is doing the calling. He called his disciples- and he’s calling us to follow him - our job is to respond
Disciples normally sought after teachers, not the reverse - Jesus calls us to be his own
Also notice he doesn’t just say, “Follow me, and be fishers of men” - he says, “I will MAKE you fishers of men”
This is discipleship - It’s the Lord’s doing
Fishing, and fishermen were common in that area back then
The term “fishers of men” would have made sense to them - nothing highly intellectual or confusing
God called Moses & David to be shepherds - that’s what made sense to them
This was a radical call - to “follow him” meant that the left their nets and left their boats- they left their careers as fishermen
It’s time for the church to respond to the radical call with a with a radical lifestyle to serve him
How much do you trust him?
The church needs to be in radical service for the Lord - we can’t waste any more time
Several years ago my son and I visited two churches in our area because they had father/son activities…(not once did anyone come approach me)
Don’t skip over verses 23-25 - that’s radical love
Our ministry for Jesus should be radical in some way - before you became a Christian, you lived your life for yourself - now your life should be different
Seek the Lord - ask him what he would have you do for him
It’s radical to walk up to someone and proclaim the gospel - just do it - nowadays, people are looking for hope
It’s radical to give your time, money, and resources to the Lord
Nowadays, it’s even radical to pray daily for people
If God is calling us to something, then it’s radical - if you haven’t begun serving the Lord, do it now - begin your journey with him
It’s okay to make mistakes and learn - it takes work - verse 23 tells us that Jesus “went throughout all Galilee” - that would have been exhausting
Jesus was, in one sense, an itinerant preacher as he moved around
Back then, it was common to ask the visiting Jewish male to teach in their synagogue
V. 19 "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” sets the stage for the Great Commission in Matt 28 - Jesus begins and ends his ministry with this theme: the Lord has called us to follow him and we are all fishers of men
Verse 23 says that Jesus proclaimed the “gospel of the kingdom”
This gospel refers to God’s rescue plan for his people
Jesus does this by immediately dealing with evil in the world
Sickness and disease = evil - because that all came from Adam’s fall
Evil came into the world through sin - and we now live in a fallen world that is full of sickness and disease
The term “gospel of the kingdom” is repeated again in chpts 9 and 24. And Matt 26:13 refers to it at “this gospel”
Mark uses “the gospel,” “the gospel of God,” and “the gospel of Christ”
They’re all interchangeable - it all means the Good News - that Jesus came on a rescue mission to save us from our sins
We need to respond now to his call - we need to follow him
We need to serve him and proclaim his gospel
And we need to equip and encourage each other
(Pray…)
Communion
Communion
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
(Pray…)