God's Kingdom

Many of us are familiar with farming practices, and though some of these have changed over the years, the basic principles behind running a farm haven’t. One essential fact remains true, the success or failure in any given season is largely dependant upon the weather, something that rang true for 2018.

For those of you who have been on farms or have had a lot to do with farms, you tend to keep an eye on the weather and then make plans for how you are going to run the farm for that season, or at least I assume you do.

You make a plan, to achieve a purpose and then you act on the plan. Now that rule doesn’t apply only to farming, but to any business and even to your family.

Where we have been given some responsibility, we make plans to carry out our responsibilities to achieve a desirable outcome.

It shouldn’t surprise us that God does the same, except he does on a much bigger scale. His plans involve the whole of time and the whole of the universe.

What we find in is that God has planned out a future for his people to bring them into his kingdom through faith in his Son, shown by a changed life in his people.

It should come as no surprise that the key point of is the beginning of Jesus teaching which starts with “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

It should also therefore come as no surprise that vv. 12-16 are given to show us that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

God’s Plan

We begin in v. 12 with Jesus hearing that John the Baptist had been put in prison. This event seems to be the catalyst which launches the public ministry of Jesus, however, because we have the other Gospels, we find that Jesus has already been active in various ways for about a year or so. The difference is now Jesus is drawing attention to himself.

Matthew also tells us that Jesus left Nazareth and came to Galilee. I wonder if anyone knows why Jesus left Nazareth. Matthew doesn’t tell us, but Luke does. In Jesus comes into Nazareth and began teaching in the synagogue declaring that he was the fulfillment of which the people understood him to be saying that he is the Messiah.

Of course they looked at him and said to each other, this is Jesus, the carpenter’s son and they got angry at him. The leaders of the synagogue threw him out of the city – he was no longer welcome in Nazareth – they even attempted to throw him off a cliff. It was clear that he couldn’t make his home in Nazareth.

So Jesus made his way to Capernaum, a port city on the sea of Galilee and it was there that he settled and conducted a lot of his ministry.

Capernaum was a mostly Jewish town but it also sat on the main road to Damascus, so it was a mixed city meaning Gentiles lived there too and it was large enough to host a garrison of Roman soldiers as well as tax collecting booths.

Now it seems, simply on the face of it, that a country boy made some big claims in his country town, the folks there didn’t like it and he was forced to head to the big city.

You can imagine what it would be like, imagine a young local coming in and saying, “I’m going to be prime minister of this country in a few years and I’d like you all to support me with your finances.” They not only say this once but continually, you may make a donation to help them out in the beginning, but when they keep coming back again and again, you might just politely ask them to stop. And if everyone else in town does the same thing, where will they then go? They’ll probably have to go to someplace where there are more people to hassle. In the meantime, we’ll probably all end up thinking that they have rocks for brains if they think they’re going to be prime minister.

So it all looks like chance and happenstance, the local boys gone ga-ga, shoo him out of town.

But, says Matthew, this is part of God’s plan.

So he quotes

The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.

So what is going on?

To answer that question we have to look at what was going in the days of Isaiah, why did God say these words to Isaiah in the first place?

We read earlier from and we saw that the people of Isaiah’s day were seeking out mediums and wizards for counsel, looking to people who could supposedly call up the spirits of the dead. They had in fact abandoned God and God says to them at the end of , “they will be driven into darkness.”

That’s exactly what God did, he brought punishment upon his people giving them into the hands of their enemy, he sent them into exile. Into darkness which is to say, away from the blessing that he had previously shown to them.

And the land of Zebulun and Naphtali is in the northern part of Israel and were amongst the first to go into exile when the Assyrians invaded. They were the first to see the horror of what it meant to be out from under God’s protection and blessing. Their experience of being forcibly removed would have been awful beyond what we could even begin to understand, it is no wonder that it is described as “being driven into darkness”.

But in , God holds out hope for his people. He tells them that “the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light…”

God is going to do something amongst them that is going to bring his blessing back to them. It will remove the darkness that they have had to endure and he will bring his light to them, that is to say, he will bring his presence and his blessing back to his people.

Not only to his own people, but also as we read to the Gentiles. It is to the land of Zebulun and Naphtali…in Galilee of the Gentiles. God is going to something new and different that will not only be for Israel but it will also be for the Gentiles.

So as Jesus moves into Capernaum, we are getting ready for God to do something extraordinary, something that will bring his presence and his blessing to his people and to the Gentiles, something that God had planned to do from the beginning of time.

God has planned out a future for his people, both Jews and Gentiles.

God’s Purpose

Notice also that God has a purpose for what he has planned and done through Jesus’ change of location.

By quoting from , we learn that God intends to shine a light on his people who have been living in darkness and also upon the Gentiles.

What does that mean? What does it mean to be in darkness or to be in light?

Simply stated, it means to be living with the favour and presence of God - having light, or to be without his favour and presence - living in darkness.

Note that there is no other option, you are either in darkness or in light.

By speaking of God’s presence and his favour in this way, we are given a very clear picture of which is preferable.

I don’t know how you go when you need to move about your home at night when the lights are out, but I’m hopeless. I bump into furniture and walls and all kinds of things - and our house doesn’t get that dark. Imagine trying to get around your home in total darkness! You’d get frustrated, it is far better to have the lights on - better still to be able to see clearly in the daylight!

That’s the imagery we are presented with. To live without the light of God’s favour and God’s presence is to live in darkness.

Isaiah tells us that this was the state of God’s people when he exiled them from their land, it is also the state of the Gentiles - they are living without the presence of God and without his favour.

How did God’s people end up in this state of darkness?

That’s where we turn back to , “And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

Where did God’s people go wrong? They were wrong to seek out mediums and wizards, they were wrong to seek to speak to the dead, but their first and biggest error was that they abandoned the word of God, they ignored his wisdom, his guidance indicating that they did not want his presence and therefore they would not have his blessing, his favour.

That is the problem that God’s people face and it is the reason they have found themselves “driven into darkness”. This is also the state that the Gentiles are in. They do not know God’s word, they have not been exposed to it, therefore they cannot have God’s presence nor his favour.

Also, this is the basic setting for every human. In Jesus says, “He who believes in him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

In general, though we stumble around and do foolish things, our default setting as people is to not listen to the voice of God or Jesus. We go about doing our own thing, according to our own wisdom. We dare not acknowledge God and his word and his wisdom for to do so would expose how wicked our thoughts and deeds are. I know I can’t speak for everyone, but when I first understood that my rebellion against God and all the sin I committed cost Jesus great suffering and torment, when I saw that he died and suffered because of all my wickedness, I was overwhelmed at just how foolish I had been to think that I could live my own way without giving any thought to God. I realised I had been living in the dark, stumbling around being foolish. Even to this day, when I see some of the foolish decisions I make and the things I do that are against God’s word, I still get very disappointed with myself. I know these decisions and actions are foolish because they are exposed by the light of God’s word and by the life of God’s Son.

That’s the point of this prophecy of Isaiah and the purpose for Jesus’ move to Capernaum. God’s people along with the Gentiles won’t be in darkness forever because, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” Which people specifically? The people in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, in Galilee of the Gentiles.

When Jesus moves from Nazareth to Capernaum, this prophecy is fulfilled, Jesus is the light that God is sending to his people. Jesus is the light that has come to the Gentiles. Jesus is the way that God is going to bring his presence to his people, Jesus is the way that God is going to bring his word to his people and through Jesus, God is going to bring his blessing to his people.

The one’s who were in darkness will see a great light, a light that will dawn upon them. The purpose for Jesus’ move to Capernaum is so that God will win back to himself his people who had turned away and to bring into his kingdom people who had once been excluded.

God has planned out a future for his people to bring them into his kingdom.

God’s Son

In quoting , Matthew intends for us to understand that Jesus is not only the one who will bring light to his people, but that he is the Messiah.

was well known as a scripture reference that talks about the coming of the Messiah, the anointed one.

In we have these well-known words, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace. Of the increase of his government there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

Remember Matthew is writing for a predominately Jewish audience, who would understand that by speaking of here and quoting it directly, we are supposed to apply vv. 6-7 to Jesus as well.

Matthew is telling us here is the light in darkness, because here is God’s Messiah, who will be called, mighty God. In Jesus, God has visited his people, God has made his presence to be seen and known. Not only is Jesus God’s king, bringing God’s kingdom, but Jesus is God himself.

It is the author’s intention for us to know that God’s kingdom has drawn near because he has given us a son, his own son to be king over all, ruling over all things forever.

The reason that Jesus can bring light to his people is because he is God himself.

Imagine for a moment we are living in simpler times, before electricity. What would be the only source of light available? Probably fire. The easiest way to light a torch or other source of light would be to get it from something that is already burning. The easiest way to light something on fire, is to get it from something that is already on fire.

Light then comes from light, we say that phrase in the Nicene creed don’t we? “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light.” Jesus brings God’s presence and God’s favour to his people through God’s word because he is God.

It shouldn’t surprise us that when John writes his gospel, his opening words are , “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” In v. 9 we read, “That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” and then in v. 12, “as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name.”

In Jesus, Matthew is telling us that the light of God has come, his presence and his favour have come and as God’s son, Jesus fulfills the prophecy of the Messiah of , he fulfills the hope of God’s people and he brings God’s favour and God’s presence to the Gentiles.

God has planned out a future for his people(1) to bring them into his kingdom(2) through his Son(3)

God’s Way

Finally, and this is our last point, people enter God’s kingdom only by the way that God has made; and entering God’s kingdom results in a changed life.

We get this idea from what Jesus is teaching in , “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.””

From to , including what we’ve been looking at today, Matthew has gone to great lengths to show us that by Jesus’ entry into the world, God’s kingdom - the kingdom of heaven is close by. That’s great, that’s what we want to hear, isn’t it? But the question we’re left with is, how do I get into this kingdom?

To become an Australian citizen, you have to pass a citizenship test these days, well how do I become a citizen of heaven? It’s an important question to ask, and whilst Jesus doesn’t answer that question fully, he does begin to give us an answer in the message that he is preaching. It’s the exact same message that John the Baptist was preaching - repent! It’s an imperative, it has the force of a command, and given that it is the son of God, the king of all eternity giving this command we would be unwise to ignore it or treat it lightly, as though it doesn’t really matter if we do this or not.

For anyone wanting to be part of God’s kingdom, anyone who wants his presence and his blessing in their life, they must repent. They must turn away from a life of darkness, from a life that is lived as though what God says is unimportant, or can be treated lightly. Look, you cannot dwell in sin - that is, you cannot continue in a deliberate course of disobedience to God and consider yourself to be part of God’s kingdom. On the other hand, a single act of disobedience will not expel you from God’s kingdom. Part of being in God’s kingdom is bringing our disobedience into the light of God’s presence, seeing it for what it is, turning away from it and knowing that we are forgiven for it.

The difference between those living in darkness, without the presence or favour of God and those who are in his kingdom is what we saw in , “he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” Those who are in God’s kingdom bring their deeds before God, through Jesus, both the good and the bad and the bad they repent of - they acknowledge them and see them for what they are.

Now repentance just one side of how we gain entrance into God’s kingdom. The other side is by faith. Jesus doesn’t talk about faith explicitly here, but it’s part of the reason that Matthew wrote this biography of Jesus. He wants his audience to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God. He wants them to believe everything that he writes about the life and especially the death of Jesus.

John is even clearer in his biography of Jesus, where he says in , “as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, tho those who believe in his name.” and again in , “and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.”

It is this step of believing that Jesus is the Son of God, that he came to bring God’s presence and God’s favour to God’s people that brings repentance. It is specifically believing and trusting in Jesus’ death for our disobedience which brings us into God’s kingdom, but the very next step is that of repentance. A step that is impossible without the knowledge of Jesus’ death for our sin.

See, without Jesus’ dying, we cannot pay the debt we owe for sin, we continue to exist in a bad relationship with God. Even if we know we have done wrong, there is no way to repair the damage. Even if we could under our own strength of will turn away from disobedience to God, the stain and the debt for sin remains. The reality is though, that apart from the power of God, through the Holy Spirit, we are not forgiven and we cannot repent.

That’s what we are told in , as Peter, empowered by the spirit explains to the crowed at Jerusalme on the day of Pentecost, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

There we see the two conditions of entry to God’s kingdom. To be baptised in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, is to say, “Yes, I believe that Jesus has died for my sin.” It is a visible act of faith, but then we receive the Holy Spirit as well who convicts us of sin and empowers us to live for God - that is to say he enables us to repent.

That means we will be a changed people. Changed by the power of God, through the Spirit of God because we have believed in the Son of God.

So we see that God has planned out a future for his people(1) to bring them into his kingdom(2) through faith in his Son(3) shown by a changed life in his people(4).

As you reflect on this message from God’s word, ask yourself, do I belong to God’s kingdom? Does it show through my life of obedience? Do I bring my sin into the light of God’s word and God’s presence to seek forgiveness and repentance?

These are attributes of those who are in God’s kingdom, whom God has brought into his presence, to show them his favour.