Understanding Your Time: Matthew 3-4 (Ep. 49)

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G'day, and welcome to Stories of

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a Faithful God. I'm Dave Whittingham. Do you know what time you're living in? What time you're

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in is so important. It shapes your life and the decisions you should make. My grandparents grew up in the Great Depression followed by World War two. It shaped how they thought about the world. My parents grew up in the world of growth and prosperity built by their parents, but always in the shadow of the Cold War.

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My formative years of high school and university fell smack bang between the end of the Cold War and 09/11 and the world changing events of 2001. It was a time of optimism and hope and prosperity. As one author famously said, it was the end

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of history. In other words, we'd reached the culmination of human achievement and prosperity. It feels like my children are growing up in an age of increased financial pain, political instability, and anger. All of those times have been important in their own way, but none of them really tell the story of the time we're in.

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In other words, the time we're in now is exactly the same time we were in in the thirties and forties. It's the same time as the sixties and the nineties. It's a time where if you understand what's really important, what really matters, if you live appropriately to the time, it'll mean life. If you misread or misunderstand or respond badly to the time, it'll mean death.

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To understand the time we're in, we need God to show us in his word, the bible. So come with me as I present to you our next episode of stories of a faithful god.

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At the end of our last episode, we left Jesus growing up in Nazareth, not far from the Sea Of Galilee. We'd seen that he was the savior and king promised by God. In fact, he's known as Emmanuel, God with us, the fulfillment of all the hopes and promises of the Old Testament. And yet, at that stage, he was just a child, somewhere between two and six years old. We need to wait until he's an adult before he really bursts onto the stage to begin his public ministry.

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In the meantime, someone else appears on the scene, a man called John, known as John the Baptist. Although he's known as the guy who baptizes people, his first role is to preach, to announce the word of God, to call people to respond to the word of God. We're told in Matthew chapter three verse one that he's preaching in the wilderness of Judea. Judea is the area in the Southern part of Israel. It includes the city Jerusalem where God's temple is, the center of Jewish religious life.

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But he doesn't go into Jerusalem. He doesn't go into other towns and cities. He's in the wilderness. People need to go to him to hear his message.

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And he has a very clear message, a message that tells people the time they're living in and how to respond to that time. Here's the message from Matthew chapter three verse two. John says, repent because the kingdom of heaven has come near. It's pretty clear. The action you need to do is repent.

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It means turn around, turn away from living the sinful life, turn back to god and live his way. And why should they do it? I mean, it's a good thing to do at any time, but the time they're in now makes it urgent. There's no time to waste. It isn't time for debate or to set up a committee.

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It's time for action. Why? Because the kingdom of heaven has come near. Of course, if you

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have no idea what that means, you won't feel the urgency.

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You won't feel the need to repent right now. The words the kingdom of heaven has come near are just words. So what do

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those words mean? Why should they drive urgent action? The clue is in who John is, in his god given role. He was actually spoken about by the prophet Isaiah 800 before he arrived. Through Isaiah, god had promised a herald, someone who comes announcing someone else's arrival.

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Have a listen to Isaiah's words quoted by Matthew, and listen carefully for whose arrival the herald is heralding. In verse three, Matthew says about John, for he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said, a voice of one crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord. Make his paths straight.

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John is the voice crying out in the wilderness. He's the one preparing the way, and the one he's preparing the way for is the lord, god. Isaiah uses god's name, Yahweh.

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If John's the voice crying in the wilderness, then the next person to turn up after John will be the lord god, creator and ruler of the world. And Isaiah talks about what god will do when he arrives. For those who've repented, who've turned back to him and become one of his people, it'll be so good. He'll be like a shepherd caring for his people and keeping them safe. In Isaiah 40 verse 11, we're told, he protects his flock like a shepherd.

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He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them in the fold of his garment. He gently leads those that are nursing. Later on in Isaiah 40, we hear even more about how good it is to have god as your god, as your shepherd. God isn't some weak, soppy guy speaking meaningless platitudes while being too weak to help anyone. No.

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In Isaiah 40 verse 28, we're told, do you not know? Have you not heard? The lord is the everlasting god, the creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary. There is no limit to his understanding.

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He gives strength to the faint and strengthens the powerless. Youths may become faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not become weary. They will walk and not faint.

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For those who trust in the Lord, his coming is the greatest news in all the world. The announcement of his arrival is sweeter than honey. But what if you don't trust the Lord? What if you continue in sin and act like you don't need him or that you don't owe him your allegiance? What if you choose evil over faith?

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Then the Lord's coming will be

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a day of judgment for you. In Isaiah 66 verse 15, we're told, look, the Lord will come with fire. His chariots are like the whirlwind to execute his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire. For the lord will execute judgment on all humanity with his fiery sword, and many will be slain by the lord.

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In other words, the Lord is coming to establish his kingdom, to bless those who take refuge in him, and to punish those who reject him.

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And so if God's kingdom, the kingdom of heaven is almost here, if God's arrival is imminent, if his herald is announcing the king's arrival, what's the obvious thing to do?

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Repent. Turn away from evil and back to God. Rest in God. Obey God. Love God.

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All this is built into that precise summary of John's preaching. Repent because the kingdom of heaven has come near.

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As well as being told what John's message is, we're also told what he wears and what he eats. It's a little unexpected. Verse four says, now John had a camel hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. I think it's fair to say that John's not exactly living the high life. It isn't what you'd expect for the herald of the living god.

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If you've ever seen the herald of the royal family in England, you know he or she is dressed up in all the finery you'd expect from so exalted a position.

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But god's herald is wearing camel hair. This isn't just some random fact. This too is telling us something about John's identity. It links him back to the Old Testament prophet Elijah, who

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we looked at in the very first two episodes of stories of a faithful god. In two Kings one verse eight, Elijah is described as wearing a hairy garment with a leather belt around his waist. Why would John want to identify with the prophet Elijah? The answer is in the very last chapter of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter four. There, God describes what will happen on the day of the Lord, the day when God comes, and it's just like what Isaiah said.

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Good for those who trust him, not so good for those who don't. In verse one, we're told, for look, the day is coming burning like a furnace when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them, says the lord of armies, not leaving them root or branches. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and playfully jump like calves from the stall. Also, just like in Isaiah, God says that someone will go before him.

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This time, God names him. In verse five, he says, look. I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, and he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse. That's the very last thing God says in the Old Testament.

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And now here's John looking an awful lot like Elijah and telling people that God's about to come. He's warning people to repent, to stop their evil, for fathers to go back to loving their children, and children to go

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back and start loving their fathers just like God wants. It all makes total sense if you understand the time. And lots of people heed the warning. Matthew tells us in verse five, then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. In other words, they're repenting.

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They're acknowledging what they've done wrong, and they're being baptized as a symbol of their desire to change and trust God.

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With so many people going out to hear and be baptized by John, it makes sense that the religious leaders would head out to see him as well. Matthew tells us about two groups specifically, the Pharisees and Sadducees. Sadducees were a sort of religious order who had control of the temple. They were often upper class. They held a majority of seats on the Sanhedrin, which decided on religious and civil matters for Jews all over the world.

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Although they didn't necessarily like the Roman occupiers, they certainly worked with them to keep order and stability. They were pretty powerful. The Pharisees were more like the blue collar religious order. They usually weren't as wealthy or powerful, but they were very highly respected by the mass of the people. They saw it as their duty to live the holiest life possible, far more holy than your average person on the street, in order to help the nation be blessed.

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Some of them also sat on the Sanhedrin, but only as a

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minority. Together, these two groups represented the pinnacle of worshiping god for the Jews, which makes what John says to them rather surprising.

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He calls them snakes, vipers. He calls these men who are seen as the holiest of the

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holy evil, and he does it because their holiness is all a show. They say they're repentant from sin, but their actions tell a different story.

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They're like fruit trees that look beautiful but only ever produce rotten fruit. Part of their problem is the assumption or presumption they make about their heritage. They think, we're Jews. We're descendants of Abraham. We're the chosen people of God.

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Of course, God is happy with us. It's presumptuous because God didn't call them because they're righteous. He called them to become righteous, to repent from their sin, in fact, to trust and serve God.

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It's sad that today, there are Christians who make the same assumption about Jewish people, treating them as though they don't need to repent and turn to Jesus. It's very unloving, and it leaves them in their sin. John

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is far more loving to these leaders. He knows that if they don't repent, they're in serious danger, and so he tells the religious leaders what they need to hear. In verse seven, he says to them, brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore, produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don't presume to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father, for I tell you that God is able to raise up children from Abraham from these stones.

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The axe is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. They need to understand that the time for their hypocritical, self justifying ways is over. It's over because of who's coming next. Someone's coming who'll bring so much joy and goodness to those who've repented and trusted God, but disaster to those who are still living independently from God.

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In verse 11, John says, I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove his sandals. He himself will baptize you with the holy spirit and fire. I tried to find a verse in the Old Testament that John might be quoting here, but I think he's picking up on the themes of a few verses. One is that in the last days, when god comes, he'll give his people the Holy Spirit.

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Those who have the Holy Spirit will be forgiven and saved from judgment. So in Joel chapter two verse 32, God says that this is what will happen on the day he pours out the Holy Spirit. Then everyone who calls on the name of the lord will be saved, for there will be an escape for those on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem as the lord promised among the survivors the lord calls. John knows that while his baptism can represent a desire to repent, he can't actually save anyone or change anyone. That needs the holy spirit.

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According to the Old Testament, it also needs fire. Fire is described as two things. One, it will refine God's people like metal in a furnace. The fire will separate the impurities out, and you're left with perfection. God will refine his people like that, but he'll also burn up those who oppose him.

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John likens it to a wheat harvest. When the wheat is gathered in, you have to thresh it to separate the grain from its husk, what's called the chaff. The grain is good for food. The chaff is good for nothing except burning in the fire. So John describes the one coming after him.

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From verse 11, he says, he himself will baptize you with the holy spirit and fire. His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But the chaff here will burn with fire that never goes out. So if all that's about to happen, if this person is about to arrive, then it's so important to understand the time. It's so important to repent, turn away from sin,

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and take refuge in God. If you know what time it is, repentance is the most natural thing in the world.

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As John's telling people all this, someone turns up for baptism who he doesn't expect. We, as audience members to Matthew's gospel, expect it. Of course, Jesus is gonna turn up. The whole book's about him. But John is shocked.

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We have no way of knowing fully what John understood about Jesus, but he does recognize that Jesus is the one coming after him. The Old Testament speaks about both God coming and a human king coming to establish God's kingdom. It's only through years of watching Jesus that people realize that he actually embodies both. John does recognize, though, that Jesus is the one coming after him. And so when Jesus turns up to be baptized, John can't believe it.

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Remember, he's just told the crowd that he's not worthy to remove this guy's sandals. In verse 14, he says to Jesus, I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me? There are all sorts of reasons to be asking why Jesus is being baptized. The next scene after this is gonna raise a massive question about it. For now, though, Jesus assures John that this is the good and right thing to do.

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He says in verse 15, allow it for now because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness. So Jesus goes down into the river. He's baptized. And as he's coming up from the water, something happens that hasn't happened to anyone else who's come to John. We're told in verse 16, the heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him.

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And a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. It's a remarkable scene for a couple of reasons. One, here we get to see this beautiful picture of the Trinitarian god, the father in heaven, the son on earth, and the holy spirit descending on the sun from heaven to earth. It's also remarkable what the father announces about Jesus. This is my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased.

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He's not exactly saying that Jesus is god the son. It isn't a statement about Jesus' divinity. Rather, it's a statement about his kingship. Jesus is the king God promised to send in the Old Testament, the king who would establish a kingdom that would last forever, the king through whom the world would be judged. In fact, on the day of judgment, whether you stand or fall is entirely based on how you respond to this king.

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At the end of Psalm two in verse 10, the psalmist gives this warning. So now, kings, be wise. Receive instruction, you judges of the earth. Serve the lord with reverential awe and rejoice with trembling. Pay homage to the sun or he will be angry, and you will perish in your rebellion, for his anger may ignite at any moment.

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All who take refuge in him are happy.

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The king is God's representative. You can either reject him or take refuge in him. It'll be the difference between perishing and being happy.

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John's been announcing that the time is coming. In Jesus, the time is here. God's saying, this is my son who I spoke about. It's one of those beautiful connections where the son of god, the human king who was promised in the Old Testament, turns out to actually be god the son. The father's statement about his son, though, also raises the same difficult question that John raised.

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Why is Jesus being baptized? The baptism is a sign of repentance from sin, and yet the fathers just said he's really happy with Jesus. There's no sin getting in

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the way of their relationship. He's the one guy who doesn't actually need to repent. So why go through this baptism of repentance? We'll have

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to hold on to that question as we follow Jesus because he's on

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the move. The holy spirit who's just

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come down on him now directs him out into the wilderness. He does it for a very specific purpose. In chapter four verse one, we're told, then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After he'd fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. Well, you would be, wouldn't you?

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Just like with the baptism, we have to ask, why is this happening? Why on earth would the spirit put Jesus into this showdown with the devil? The answer is hinted at by the location, the wilderness, and by the forty days and forty nights. It's a reminder of when the Israelites went into the wilderness after God rescued them from Egypt in Exodus. When they arrived at Mount Sinai, Moses went up onto the mountain for forty days and forty nights to receive the law of God.

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The people at the base of the mountain, despite everything they'd seen and heard about God, turned away from God in that time and worshiped the golden calf. That was just a snapshot of the forty years they spent in the wilderness where over and over again they proved unfaithful to the faithful God. Now Jesus is standing in their place. He's like a new Israel out in

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the wilderness. How will he respond to the devil's temptations?

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Well, the tempter arrives and asks him what, on the surface, sounds like a perfectly innocent question. In verse three, he asks Jesus, if you are the son of God, tell these stones to become bread. It sounds so simple. Jesus is the son of God. He's been fasting for forty days.

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Why not make some bread? We're gonna see later in the gospel, he certainly has the power to do that. So is there a problem here? Well, there is the subtle suggestion that perhaps Jesus is not the son of God. Perhaps when God called out from heaven, this is my son, he wasn't telling the truth.

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Perhaps God's words can't be entirely trusted. It's a bit like back in the garden in Genesis three where this same tempter raised a similar doubt. He started by asking the man and woman, did God really say? And then switched to an outright denial of God's word. God said they'd die if they ate the fruit, and

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the tempter said, you will not surely die. They believe the lie. Jesus refuses to doubt God's word. He knows that God is always truthful, always faithful, always trustworthy. Surely he could believe that though and still make himself some bread?

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Well, apparently not. Jesus replies in verse four, it is written, man must not live on bread alone,

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but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. To understand why Jesus is so adamant about this, you have to see where he's quoting from. His words are a quote from Deuteronomy chapter eight verse three. In that passage, Moses is speaking to the Israelites as they come to the end of their forty years in the wilderness. He reminds them how through those forty years, they've been provided bread by their faithful god.

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Before that, they doubted him. They thought he'd led them out into the desert to die. They'd grumbled and complained. They'd failed to trust god. By his word, though, he looked after them and provided everything they needed.

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Moses says in Deuteronomy eight verse 15, he, God, led you through that great and terrible wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty land where there was no water. He brought water out of the flint rock for you. He fed you in the wilderness with manna which your ancestors had not known in order to humble and test you so that in the end, he might cause you to prosper. Moses also tells them how after the wilderness, God was gonna give them enormous prosperity. In verse seven of that chapter, he says, for the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams, springs, and deep water sources flowing in both valleys and hills, a land of wheat, barley, vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey, a land where you will eat food without shortage, where you will lack nothing, a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you will mine copper.

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When you eat in a full, you will bless the lord your god for the good land he's given you.

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So what's all this got to do with Jesus? Well,

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it's god's holy spirit who's led him out into the wilderness,

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just like God led the Israelites. Jesus knows that God's promised to look after him, and he isn't going

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to doubt God's word and turn rocks into bread himself. He believes that prosperity will come from God after his suffering. He's gotta be patient and wait for his God. He trusts the word of God, unlike the Israelites who went before him. The devil also knows the promises of God to protect and look after his son, so much so that he now quotes those promises and tries to weaponize them to tempt Jesus into disobeying God.

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He takes Jesus to the holy city, Jerusalem, and to the very top of the temple. They're standing at the center of the worship of God on earth. And from there, it sounds like it sounds like the devil tells Jesus to trust God. In verse six, he says to Jesus, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, he will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

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Those are words from Psalm 91 verse eleven and twelve. Again, the request seems reasonable. It seems like if Jesus really trusts the word of God, he'd be

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happy to throw himself off the temple. He'd believe the promise of God to look after him. It would seem almost faithless to not throw himself off. Except Jesus knows his Bible. He doesn't fall into the trap where someone quotes a single verse from the Bible out of context and completely misunderstands it.

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So Jesus goes back to Deuteronomy again and replies, it is also written, do not test the Lord your God. When Moses said that in Deuteronomy to the Israelites, he was reminding them how despite all the signs of God's care for them, when they came to a place without water, they still grumbled. They still complained. They tested God to see if

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he would really give them water, or if this time, he would just let them die. It was an astounding act of faithlessness. Moses called the place Massah, which means testing. And, of course, God gave them water there. He's always faithful, but their unbelieving hearts were exposed.

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Jesus is not like that.

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He doesn't need to test God to know that he's faithful. He knows that God's faithful. He trusts the trustworthy God, and he refuses to make God prove himself. So the devil tries one more trick. In verse eight, Matthew tells us, again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.

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And he said to him, I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me. This is a very different sort of temptation. With the first two, we had to work out why Jesus would say no. With this one, we have to work out why Jesus would say yes. Where does the temptation lie for Jesus to accept this offer?

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First, you have to ask, can the devil deliver? He's offering to let Jesus rule the world, and surely only God can give that. And yet there is a sense in which Satan can make the offer. Back in the garden in Genesis chapter three, when the man and woman were tempted to eat the fruit God told them not to, they thought they were declaring self rule. They thought they were becoming autonomous in charge of

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themselves. But, actually,

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they were exchanging the rule of the good and faithful god for the rule of the murderous, lying devil. Instead of believing God's truthful word, they believed the lies of Satan, and so they became enslaved to Satan. They came under his power, and they're still under his power today. In Ephesians chapter two verse one, the apostle Paul describes life before becoming a Christian. He says to Christians, and you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now working in the disobedient.

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Satan rules the world with lies, and he leads people to death. It's this authority he's offering to hand over to Jesus so long as Jesus bows down and worships him. But that is not where the real temptation lies. You see, God's plan is also to give his son authority over the whole world. In Psalm two, God says to his son, ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession.

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The difference for Jesus is how he'll get authority over the nations. Obey Satan

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or obey God? That may sound like an easy choice. If he obeys God, though, what will it cost him? Well, it'll mean enduring the cross, facing the wrath of God on the cross, not for his own sin, but for the sin of his people. On the cross, he'll face hell, shut out from the glory and love of his father.

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In all four gospels, in Jesus' entire time on earth, that is the only thing he's ever afraid of. And he can avoid it all if only he bows down and worships the devil. But, of course, it's just another clever lie, isn't it? I mean, sure, if Jesus did that, he wouldn't have to go to the cross. But he would end

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up in hell, shut out from the love and glory of God for all eternity. Whereas with God, his kingdom will never end. His joy will be complete, and he'll be with his father forever. Jesus is faced with the same choice that Adam and Eve faced. Believe the word of God or believe the word of the devil.

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In the balance hangs not only Jesus' fate, but ours as well. Because if Jesus fails, then he can't act as our savior and king. He can't win us forgiveness and eternal life. Thankfully, there is no way Jesus will turn his back on his god. In verse 10, he says, go away, Satan.

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For it is written, worship the lord your god and serve only him.

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Unlike Adam and Eve, unlike the people of Israel, unlike every other human who's ever lived, Jesus refuses to believe the lie. He trusts fully and firmly in the faithful God, which means Jesus is the new perfect Israel.

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Where they failed in their wilderness temptation, Jesus succeeded. They were called the people of God, but he actually lives as the man of God, which helps us understand why Jesus was baptized. It's a strange event because unlike everyone else, Jesus has no need to repent. He really is sinless. His baptism, though, symbolizes the core of his ministry, that as the new Israel, he actually steps into the place of the old sinful Israel.

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He takes their sin on himself. It's symbolized in his baptism at the beginning of his ministry, but he experiences it in full at the cross where he bears the sin of everyone who put their trust in him. And, of course, he's completely right to keep trusting God. God does look after him, ultimately in the resurrection and in giving him rule over the whole world. But even here in the wilderness, verse 11 says, then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.

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The next part of our story begins with an ominous tone. Verse 12 tells us, when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. The last time we heard from John, he was giving a hard lesson to the religious leaders. It was a lesson they needed to hear, and it shows his boldness in speaking truth to power. That boldness, though, now seems to have dire consequences.

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It's ominous because Jesus is about to start his ministry where he'll speak boldly with the truth people need to hear. Jesus has grown up in the region of Galilee in the town of Nazareth. Nazareth sits to the Southwest of the Sea Of Galilee, about halfway between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Now Jesus moves north to make his home base in a town called Capernaum on the Northern Shore of Galilee. As Matthew describes its location, he uses some kind of unexpected language.

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He uses the Israelite tribal names for the area, calling it the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. It's unexpected because those tribes were wiped out by the Assyrians back in July. God had judged the northern nation of Israel and punished them for their sin by sending Assyria to crush them. The thing about the region of Zebulun and Naphtali is they were the first to feel the onslaught. The people there had lived under the threat of invasion for years, knowing that they were in the firing line.

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The invasion came from the North and wrapped around the Western Side of Galilee. When the Babylonians were sent by God to crush the southern nation of Judah just over a hundred years later, they took exactly the same route. So this area has been like a herald of the coming judgment of god. Now, though, it has a different role to play. Now it's gonna be the first to feel god's coming salvation, the first to taste the joy, the first to see the light.

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Matthew quotes Isaiah's prophecy about this. He says in verse 14, this was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah. Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, along the road by the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who live in darkness have seen a great light. And for those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.

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With that land as his home base, Jesus begins preaching exactly the same message that John had spoken. Repent because the kingdom of heaven has come near. The quoting of Isaiah shows us something of the wonderful nature of Jesus' ministry. As we've said before, the coming of God's kingdom according to the Old Testament is a time of both judgment and salvation. And although we see both in Jesus' ministry, the focus is on salvation.

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What looks like one event in the Old Testament turns out to be two events, or at least one very long event stretched between the first and second coming of Jesus. In his first coming, he'll bring about salvation. The judgment that falls will fall on him. And now's the time for grace and mercy. Now's the time to repent before his second coming to bring the final judgment.

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The fact that Jesus calls people to repentance shows God's willingness to have people back. As well as preaching that invitation, Jesus starts recruiting others for the task as well, beginning with two pairs of brothers. The first pair is Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew. As Jesus is walking along the edge of the water, he sees these fishermen casting their net into the sea. In verse 19, he says to them, follow me, and I will make you fish for people.

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Their response to his call is immediate. Matthew tells us immediately they left their nets and followed him. It's like Jesus' call is irresistible. As soon as the words have left his lips, they drop everything to follow. These nets they're holding, that's their livelihood.

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And yet they give it up straight away. We see the same power in Jesus' words just a bit further down the shore of the lake. This time, he sees James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. This time, they're not only in a boat with their nets. They're also with their father as well.

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This is the family business. Galilee is a freshwater lake teeming with fish. It's a good business to have. And yet when Jesus calls them, we see the same response as before. In verse 22, immediately, they left the boat and their father and followed him.

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With this small start, Jesus suddenly explodes onto the scene. In verse 23, we're told, now Jesus began to go all over Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness among the people. Then the news about him spread throughout Syria, so they brought to him all those who were afflicted, those suffering from various diseases and intense pains, the demon possessed, the epileptics, and the paralytics, and he healed them. Large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. Basically, if you put a pin in a map in Capernaum and draw a very large circle around it, People are flooding to Jesus from everywhere within that circle.

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How amazing must it have been to suddenly have this guy healing all the sick, casting out all the demons, and calling people into the kingdom of heaven? It's like they get a taste of heaven as suffering is ended, evil is vanquished, sin is turned away from. It really is a remarkable time, which begs the question, what time are we in now? It's easy to read about a time two thousand years ago and consider how the people then had to respond to their time. That's a really comfortable question.

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It can be slightly less comfortable to talk about our response in our time two thousand years later. And yet we don't have to be afraid of that question.

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We live in an in between time, a

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time between the first and second coming of Jesus, a time of grace and mercy, a time where the kingdom of heaven has already been established in the hearts of believers ever since Jesus' cross and resurrection. And so the invitation for us is the same as it was back then, to repent, to enter the kingdom, to enjoy the kingdom, enjoy living under the rule of God's appointed king, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the perfect king, the sinless king, the one we can rely on, knowing that he'll never fail, just as we saw when he was in the wilderness. Some people listening to this may have never taken up that offer from Jesus to repent. He wouldn't offer it if he didn't mean it.

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He's called you to repent because you need to repent as we all do, turn away from living for yourself or something other than God, and now live for Jesus. The consequences of not doing that are terrible. But, also, Jesus called you to repent because he wants to forgive you. He wants to welcome you into his kingdom. He wants to show you his love and grace and mercy.

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And so repent. If you have already accepted Jesus' offer and come into his kingdom, let this passage remind you of how good and wonderful a king he is. He's the faithful king who never sins. He never does what's evil. He always loves and cares for his people.

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There is no better king than him. Of course, there is the question, what does it look like to live for Jesus? If you're in the kingdom, how should you live? How does it affect your day to day?

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Well, that's a story for next time.

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Thanks, everyone, for listening. I hope you're enjoying this series through Matthew's gospel. It's wonderful to come and look at Jesus afresh. If you are enjoying it, I'd love for you to leave a review on whatever platform you're listening on that can help other people both find the podcast and see that, hey. Yeah.

[00:47:52] - [Speaker 0]
This is worth listening to. So if you are willing and able, then please leave that review. If you wanna discover other great podcasts, please go to my website, faithfulgod.net, and find different podcasts that are gonna be helpful. For now, keep trusting Jesus, and we'll talk again

[00:48:21] - [Speaker 2]
then please help Dave to keep it free for others by making a donation at faithfulgod.net. That's faithfulgod.net. Don't forget to like and subscribe on whatever app you're listening on. You can also follow stories of a faithful God on Facebook and Instagram. If you know or have kids, make sure you check out the sister podcast, stories of a faithful God for kids.