JESUS' MINISTRY IS OUR CALLING

Introduction

-{Matthew 4}

-I want you to imagine that there is a weary traveler who is lost in the middle of a desert. He is parched and desperate for water. As he slowly trudges through the sand and harsh sun, he comes upon another traveler who tells him that he knows the location of an oasis that will offer refreshing water and save his life. After taking his fill, the one who brought the traveler to the oasis tells the traveler that because he has been so blessed knowing where to come for water, he now has a calling on his life to go back out into the desert to find other weary travelers and bring them to the oasis for them to be so saved as well.

-In a way, this mirrors how Jesus invites us to join Him. Those who find Christ, those who taste and see that the Lord is good, those who have taken a drink from the living water and are filled, are given a calling to continue the ministry that Jesus began so that we can point them to the one who provides hope and life.

-We are studying the gospel of Matthew who uses his gospel to prove that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah who has come to save His people from their sins. And now the narrative of Matthew has come to the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry. What we find and can learn from this part of the narrative is that Jesus calls people to join Him in the ministry for which He was sent. I want to lead us to view our lives as not a life meant only to live for ourselves, but we have a calling to join Jesus in His ministry. May God empower and enable us to do so.

Matthew 4:12–25 LSB

12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He departed into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled, 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 were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a Light dawned.” 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was 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 And 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. 22 And immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. 23 And Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. 24 And the news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them. 25 And large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.

-{pray}

-I first want to give you some context on where we are in the life of Jesus. The Gospels all tell the story of Jesus, but do so from different angles with different purposes, and not everything is necessarily told in chronological order. So, there may be some confusion where we might be in the life of Jesus, especially when a Gospel like John gives us so many more scenes not told by the synoptic gospels. But knowing where we are helps us with understanding what is going on.

-So, Jesus went through a sort of commissioning for His ministry, being baptized by John, the Holy Spirit coming upon Him in a visible form, and God the Father declaring that Jesus is His Son in whom He is well pleased. The Holy Spirit led Jesus to the wilderness where He fasted for 40 days and nights, being tempted by the devil throughout that time. But Jesus did not fall into sin, proving what kind of Messiah He truly was.

-While Matthew jumps to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry proper, John and Luke tell us about a few things that we might say are the preparation for His ministry. For example, John the Baptist points two of his disciples to Jesus, declaring Him to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. These disciples follow Jesus, one of which is Andrew who introduces Jesus to Simon (whom Jesus calls Peter). The name of the other disciple is not mentioned, but I have a suspicion that it was John (the apostle).

-Jesus spends some time with these men and others, taking them along to the wedding in Cana, and them witnessing His interaction with Nicodemus. Jesus and the men had spent some time in Judea, but after John the Baptist was arrested He returned to Galilee. Along the way, making their way through Samaria where Jesus had the interaction with the woman at the well, the men return to their normal lives and Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth.

-Luke tells us that Jesus taught at the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath, reading from Isaiah about being anointed to preach the gospel to the poor, proclaiming release to the captive, etc. Jesus told them that this prophecy was fulfilled in their hearing (which would have been perceived as a claim to Messiahship). They didn’t like that one bit, so they tried to throw Him off of a ledge, but He supernaturally escaped. And as our passage in Matthew says, He left Nazareth and lived in Capernaum which would become His home base for His Galilean ministry.

-Now Jesus is ready to begin His ministry proper. And while understanding His ministry, we understand that we are called to join Him and to be the continuation of that ministry. So, I want to quickly consider four aspects of our calling that reflect Jesus’ ministry. First, there is a calling:

1) To bring hope in the darkness (vv. 12-16)

-Matthew notes that Galilee is by the Sea of Galilee in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. Zebulun and Naphtali were two of Jacob’s sons from whom two of the twelve tribes came. When Joshua led the Israelites to conquer Canaan, he distributed the land amongst the different tribes. Zebulun and Naphtali had the northern portion that would make up what would later become Galilee in the time of the Roman Empire.

-Matthew says that Jesus coming to minister to this area was a fulfillment of a prophecy given by Isaiah chapter 9 about the people in darkness seeing a great light. In its original context, Isaiah had been warning the people that because of their idolatry they would go into captivity (which would soon happen for the northern kingdom when taken captive by Assyria). But God through Isaiah said that they would not always be in that darkness and death and doom and gloom. The answer God would give for the darkness is told by Isaiah just a few verses later, where he says:

Isaiah 9:6–7 LSB

6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will accomplish this.

-Jesus is that child that would be born who would bring the light into the darkness for Zebulun and Naphtali. But not just to those tribes. The area is called Galilee of the Gentiles. Because of where they bordered, Zebulun and Naphtali had a lot of interaction with Gentiles. They did a lot of commerce, but then they also imported their paganism. But it had always been an area that had more of a worldwide reach. And it was still true in the days of Jesus.

-So, even though Jesus came to His people Israel, His bringing hope and light into darkness was always meant for the entire world. It wasn’t just Israel who needed light in the land and shadow of death. It was everyone, and so even at the beginning of His ministry, Jesus truly would be the light of the world.

-But then this is a pattern for us in our own calling. The world is in the darkness of sin and Satan and needs hope and light. And we are the continuation of Jesus ministry. Jesus is the light of the world. But later in Matthew, Jesus tells us that WE are the light of the world. We don’t produce the light, but we reflect the light so that we can tell a dark and dying world that there is hope and peace to be found.

-We think life is about us or church is about us--what can we get out of it. But Jesus says to die to self, and what we are called to do is go out into the world and be the light that the world needs. For those who have given up hope, we are the light that points them to where hope is found. That is our calling. How do we point people to light and hope? That comes in the second aspect of our calling, which is a calling:

2) To preach truth to the sinner (v. 17)

-In v. 17 we get a short sermon from Jesus: REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND. It is the same exact sermon that John the Baptist gave. However, while John was looking forward to the One who would inaugurate the Kingdom of God, Jesus IS the One who inaugurated the Kingdom of God. When we talk about the Kingdom of God, we are talking about the expansion of God’s rule and reign among the people. It begins in the hearts of believers, and after Christ’s return will be fulfilled in the new heaven and earth.

-But the condition for being a part of the Kingdom is REPENT--change your mind, change your direction, turn from where you’re going, and turn toward God (which means turn to and believe in the One whom God has sent). Jesus is telling the people of Galilee: IF YOU WANT A GREAT LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS AND A LIGHT DAWNING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, THEN YOU NEED TO REPENT.

-Jesus taught the people what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear. Sure, the people would have really eaten up what Jesus had to say if He would have preached that light and hope are found in doing your own thing, having a high self-esteem, and pursuing your dreams. If Jesus would have been more seeker sensitive, His message may have been more accepted. And I mean by seeker sensitive the modern meaning of watering down the hard truths of God’s Word so as not to offend the sensibilities and possibly pushing people away.

-But Jesus didn’t shy away from the hard truths that people needed to hear just so He’d gain a wider audience. He said REPENT! Jesus gave them the hard truths about themselves so that the truths of His gospel would sound sweet. The medicine you need to take doesn’t sound great until you know the extent of the sickness that you have. If the doctor tells you that you this is how bad the disease is, and here’s the medicine to cure it, you’re going to love that medicine and have a greater appreciation for that medicine knowing how bad a shape you’re in.

-The message that you’re good enough and smart enough and lovable enough doesn’t tell you how bad the disease of sin really is. We need to follow Jesus’ ministry of telling the people the truth they need to hear so they seek the remedy that will give them hope and light. You won’t find hope and light until you know how bad off you really are.

-And so we start with the message that you are a sinner that broke God’s laws, and you need to repent--change your mind and change your direction and head towards God. How do you head towards God? You believe in the One whom He sent. God sent His Son, Jesus, to die for you so that if you believe you have eternal life. Sin is the disease, Jesus is the cure. Only in Jesus is there light and hope. But the message that Jesus is the cure doesn’t sound that appealing if people don’t know the disease they have and that they need to repent.

-Telling people that God has a wonderful plan for their life (while true) won’t get them to seek Jesus as the cure. They might seek Jesus to bolster their ego, they might seek Jesus for power or influence, but they won’t seek Jesus to be their Savior and Lord. So, just like Christ, we are called to speak the hard truths sinners need to hear. There is third aspect of our calling, and it is the calling:

3) To imitate Christ in His work (vv. 18-22)

-Beginning in v. 18 we read that Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee. He sees Peter and Andrew casting their net into the sea and tells them FOLLOW ME! This is a very simple definition of what it means to be a disciple. A disciple is literally someone who would follow the teacher or master around, watch and observe what they did, learn the lessons that the teacher would teach, and then put it all into practice. A disciple watches, learns, and then does. A disciple imitates what the teacher or master does.

-Later down the lake Jesus sees James and John and tells them the same thing. And all four men heeded the call. In vv. 20 and 22 it says that they immediately left what they were doing and who they were with and followed Jesus. Now, knowing that they already knew Jesus before this encounter might seem to make it less dramatic than what it was, but consider what it is that they did.

-They left their career, they left their livelihood, they left their comfort zone, they left their family, they left their safety net in order to follow Jesus, be His disciples, watch Him, learn from Him, and then go and continue the ministry that Jesus started. They made the decision that following Jesus and learning from Jesus and imitating Jesus was more important than anything else in the world. Jesus was not merely an addition to an already busy life, Jesus was life itself. Jesus wasn’t just something to sprinkle on life like you sprinkle salt on your food, but He is the bread of life that is the sustenance of your very existence.

-And what was it that these disciples would become if they would follow Jesus, observe Jesus, learn from Jesus, and imitate Jesus. Jesus said I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN. Meaning that they too would share the message to REPENT FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND and then point people to Jesus so that they in turn would follow Jesus, observe Jesus, learn from Jesus, and then imitate Jesus.

-Of course, 2000 years later, Jesus is in heaven, not on earth. So, how do we follow Jesus, observe Jesus, and learn from Jesus? We who are disciples will in turn disciple others by pointing them to the Word of God that tells us everything we need to know about the Word of God who is Jesus. In the Word we follow Jesus, observe Jesus, and learn from Jesus, so then we can imitate Jesus and be fishers of men. And there is one final aspect to the calling that we want to touch upon, and that is the calling:

4) To confirm the calling with our lives (vv. 23-25)

-vv. 23-25 summarize the ministry that Jesus has in Galilee. It did include teaching and preaching about the good news of God’s Kingdom now coming to man through Jesus Christ. But Matthew continues to describe the ministry to include Jesus’ supernatural works of healing diseases and sicknesses, healing epileptics and paralytics, as well as casting out demons and spiritually healing those under Satan’s oppression.

-As much as this is Jesus showing compassion on the people and ministering to their needs, this is also a confirmation of His person and His message. By doing these supernatural works, Jesus was confirming that He was the Messiah, and He also was confirming the message that He taught and preached. I think of the time that John the Baptist, while in prison, sent his disciples to Jesus to see if He really was the One that they had been waiting on. Instead of just giving a straight yes or no answer, Jesus points to His works--the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised. Jesus’ works confirmed His identity and His message. And for Jesus, it worked. We are told that news spread about Him all over the place, and large crowds from all over the area followed Jesus.

-Now, we’re not going to be able to confirm that we are disciples of Christ with the message of Christ through similar supernatural acts. None of us are going to heal people or cast out demons. I’m not saying that supernatural healings and the like cannot happen, but it will happen from God through our prayers.

-However, we can confirm our discipleship and our message through lives that are consistent with the Word of God, which includes a life conformed to the biblical picture of Christ and a message that is consistent with the biblical message of the true gospel. People will notice when we are being hypocritical, and it will derail our calling in ministry. No, we aren’t going to be perfect. And most people with common sense wouldn’t expect us to be perfect. But, when there are glaring inconsistencies, it undermines what it is we are trying to accomplish. It will make it more difficult to fish for men.

-I mean, think about going to a doctor who smokes 3 packs a day telling you to quit smoking because it’s bad for your health. Or a doctor who weighs 400 pounds telling you that you need to lose weight for your health. You wouldn’t listen to a word those doctors said because their lives didn’t fit the message.

-Jesus confirmed His person and message through His works. We confirm our calling through the way we live our lives--bringing them into conformity to the message that we have believed in and teach. It truly is a great calling.

Conclusion

-The great calling of Christianity is continuing the great ministry of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Christ entrusted the ministry to the apostles. The apostles entrusted the ministry to others like Clement and Polycarp and Ignatius, who then entrusted it others, and on it has gone for centuries until it lands in our lap. This is our calling. Will we live and teach the truth so that others can find hope and light in the midst of darkness and death?

-Maybe you’re looking for a church through which you can fulfill this great calling. I invite you to come forward and join our church family. We aren’t perfect, but we are dedicated to Christ and His gospel.

-Christian, maybe you have lived for self for too long. It is not too late to right the ship and fulfill the ministry for which Christ has called you. Come to the altar for encouragement.

-But maybe you haven’t heeded the call to repent and believe. You are a sinner separated from God, and only by believing Jesus died for your sins and rose from the grave do you have the hope of eternal life. I invite you to come forward today and find the Savior...