A Study of Matthew: Arrested Development
A Study of Matthew • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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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.”
Today is our seventh look into the book of Matthew. Most of the time, we are able to cover a complete chapter, or even a couple of chapters, as we look into the stories that Matthew told about Jesus. Sometimes, though, we break things down to focus on a single concept in a particular passage.
Today is one of those days.
Last week, we began with the first half of Matthew chapter 4, which tells of when Satan came to Jesus in the wilderness to tempt him. But Jesus overcame the temptations, showing that he was indeed worthy as the sinless Lamb of God to be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. Today, we pick up in the second half Matthew, chapter 4, which begins with the statement:
Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee.
We have already been introduced to John the Baptist in chapter 3. Matthew doesn’t actually write that much about John. In fact, Matthew doesn’t write much about any person other than Jesus. He tells us that John came preaching repentance and preparing for the coming kingdom of heaven. Matthew describes John as what is known as an ascetic. This is a person of strict discipline. John’s clothing is made from coarse camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He eats locusts and honey. The ultimate of “no-frills.” John has instituted water baptism as a demonstration of repentance and submission to God. He condemns the Jewish teachers and religious leaders because they care more about their role as the authority on everything holy than about the actual spiritual welfare of the people. Jesus shows up to be baptized, and John freaks out because he knows that Jesus is special. He tells Jesus, “You should be baptizing me!” But Jesus insists that it is necessary, and John baptizes him. Then the two other members of the trinity show up to confirm that Jesus is the Son of God. That’s pretty much all Matthew has to say about John the Baptist, at least for now.
To learn more about John, we have to look in other books of the New Testament. Luke tells us that John is a relative of Jesus, less than a year older than Jesus. In fact, Luke starts his story of Jesus with the story of John the Baptist.
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.
But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,
according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.
And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,
for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,
and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”
And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”
And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple.
And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute.
And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying,
“Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
Luke says that, in the sixth month, Gabriel visited Mary to tell her about Jesus. Context seems to indicate that this is the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy.
Mary hung out with John’s mom and dad for a short period after she conceived Jesus, and we are told in Luke 1:39-41
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah,
and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.
Just around the time Mary left, Elizabeth went into labor. She gives birth, and when they go to circumcise the baby, Elizabeth announces his name as John. Everyone else protests, because John is not a family name, but mute Zechariah gets a tablet and confirms his name is John. Immediately, he is able to talk again, and Zechariah prophesies that the coming of the Messiah is very near.
Our next account of John is in Luke 3, where we hear more about John’s ministry. We learn that all kinds of people are coming to John, asking what they need to do as repentance. Many of these folks are people the religious leaders would NEVER talk to, because they would say there’s no hope for them.
Matthew 4:12 says that John the Baptist was arrested. Luke 3:18-20 gives us more information:
So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people.
But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done,
added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.
Herod the tetrarch, also known as Herod Antipas, was one of the sons of the Herod who tried to kill Jesus as a baby. After he rose to power, he stole the wife of his brother Philip, and she took on the name Herodias.
The Herods were not the rightful kings of Israel. They weren’t even really Jewish, though they had a trace of Jewish bloodline. They came to power through a deal with Caesar, and they were corrupt.
Matthew 14, Mark 6, and Luke 7 tell about how Herod arrested John because John condemned him for running off with his brother’s wife, among other things.
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
As followers of Jesus, we are all called to a life of holiness. We are all also messengers of God’s kingdom, which means we have to teach and demonstrate kingdom values.
And we have to be prepared for the fact that we will be persecuted for standing up for what’s right. Earlier this week, I was having a conversation with James Scheperle, and he was telling me how everyone around him outside of his family uses profanity all the time, and how hard it is to keep that language from creeping into his own vocabulary—just because it’s in his ears all the time. Not to mention the way they pick on you and try to make you feel like the bad one for not laughing at their jokes or not going to certain gatherings that you know will be full of sinful activity.
John knew he would face persecution if he stood up for God’s kingdom values. To stand up for God meant pointing out the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, just as it meant standing against the immorality of the man who claimed to be Judea’s king.
When Herod arrested John, the priests and religious leaders could have protested, and with the weight they carried, they could have gotten John free. But they didn’t protest. Why? Because John was a threat to them. They were supposed the be the mediators between man and God. People were supposed to come to the temple and let these religious leaders tell them what to do. Instead, they were going to the Jordan River to meet a man telling them how to be right with God. And it had nothing to do with all the religious hoops the priests made people jump through.
So yeah, the religious leaders could have helped John get free; but they didn’t. They wanted him out of the way. Herod wanted him out of the way. And the people who live in darkness continue to want us out of their way. John wasn’t spared persecution. We won’t be spared persecution.
And yet, in spite of it all, God’s kingdom goes on.
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.”
Look at that last verse again. When Jesus heard about John’s arrest, he wasn’t running away. He was taking the first steps of beginning his ministry in earnest.
In the end, what really matters? If all we care about is our comfort and protection, then Christianity is not for us.
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Our job as kingdom citizens is to follow Jesus, be his witnesses, sharing the full gospel of salvation. What is that message? All have sinned. The wages of sin is death. Salvation is found only by confessing our sins and trusting in Jesus. There is no other way to be saved except through Jesus.
Persecution will come. We must be bold and keep our trust in God.