Sermon for Sunday, November 24, 2024 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Old Testament reading:
[Isaiah 9:1-7 ESV] 1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. 3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
New Testament reading:
[2 Corinthians 4:1-6 ESV] 1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Gospel reading:
[Matthew 14:1-12 ESV] 1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, 2 and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 3 For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his half-brother Philip’s wife, 4 because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. 6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, 7 so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. 10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, 11 and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.
Sermon Text:
[Matthew 4:12-17 ESV] 12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles– 16 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.” 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Introduction
The beginning of the ministry of Jesus Christ; a great light shines in the darkness.
John the Baptist was like that little flashlight on your phone. You wake in the middle of the night and it is completely dark. And the LITTLE light of your flashlight helps you. It guides you to the switch on the wall which turns on the light to the whole room. This GREAT light is like Jesus. It illumines the darkness, totally. It allows you to see, and it things to be seen.
Jesus is a great light.
Light is a metaphor for knowledge.
As light allows you to see through what was formerly dark
so knowledge allows you to understand what was previous unknown.
And knowledge comes by the revelation of God.
Just like Moses and Elijah, Jesus had fasted 40 days in the desert prior to the revelation of God. But this is a greater revelation. The author of the Book of Hebrews says “Long ago, at many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”
So there were “little lights” in the Old Testament. Knowledge of God delivered through the prophets. Now, in the dark land there is a GREAT light.
Soon much more will be known.
Soon many more will know the Lord.
I divide the passage into three parts.
First there is the arrest of John the Baptist.
Then second Jesus moves to Galilee to fulfill prophecy.
And third there is Jesus’s preaching of repentance.
But the main point of the passage is that Jesus is a great light.
I. The Arrest of John the Baptist (v. 12)
First we hear of the arrest of John the Baptist.
John pointed to Jesus. “Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.”
And John has done his work. He was given free rein long enough in the desert for the word to get out. His mission is accomplished. And as soon as Jesus comes on the scene, John bows out. In the plan of God, John is arrested.
It is not until chapter 14 that we learn more about John’s imprisonment.
[Matthew 14:3-4 ESV] 3 For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”
There is a theme in the Bible, especially in the New Testament; the government is not usually the good guy.
They can do good. And we pray for that. Paul even says calls the magistrate “a servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”
But more often than not, power corrupts. And the corrupted are put in power.
So the Christians are persecuted by the Roman state.
So Jesus is killed by the authorities.
And John is imprisoned by Herod, the governor of Judea.
But why is he imprisoned? It is because he preaches repentance. And he include specifics. John doesn’t just say generally “repent.” But he calls out Herod for marrying unlawfully.
This woman, Herodias, it seems from the history, was the daughter of Herod’s brother Aristobulus. So Herod has now married his niece! And she was already married to Herod’s half-brother Philip. So she was Herod’s sister-in-law. Herod and Herodias each got divorces from the their first spouses and married each other. What a mess!
So Herod, being governor, doesn’t want any opposition to himself. He doesn’t take kindly to anyone calling him out for his sins. So he imprisons John.
Application: Now, what should we do when someone calls out our sins? [What do YOU do?]
Natural man resists. “No, I didn’t do that. And if I had, it isn’t so bad. Who are you to Judge?”
But the Christian is quick to confess and repent. Even to thank the person who had the guts to bring up your sin to you. For, why are they bringing up your sin other than for your own good?! It is good for you to turn from your sin. And so those who (in private conversation) bring your sin up to you, are to be commended.
Well, Herod is a self-focused unbeliever, not a god-focused believer. So he responds to John the Baptizer not with thank-yous but with imprisonment.
II. Jesus moves to Capernaum (v. 13-16)
Now, after Jesus hears that John has been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee.
Galilee is a region in the north of Israel. And there a number of towns there. Nazareth is one of them. That is where Jesus grew up. But now he goes to Capernaum which is a town on the Sea of Galilee. This is where a number of the Apostles come from; Capernaum. So that is one reason Jesus is going there; to find his first disciples.
But the text tells us another reason for Jesus’s move there. It is to fulfill prophecy.
We’ve seen a number of prophecy fulfillments already in Matthew’s Gospel.
1. Christ’s genealogy, being a son of David and of Abraham
2. His birth in Bethlehem
3. His being born of a virgin.
4. The return of Elijah with John the Baptist
and now: Christ’s living in Galilee.
And so much of Jesus’s life and ministry is in Galilee. The beginning of course is in Bethlehem, which is near Jerusalem. And the end is just outside the walls of Jerusalem. But Jesus grew up in Nazareth, performed his first miracle at Cana (in Galilee), he spoke the sermon on the mount in Galilee, walked on water in the sea of Galilee, and his first disciples were from there. Indeed, Galilee is a blessed place to have light shone upon it.
These fulfillments of prophecy are, for many, the most convincing, the most convincing of truths for Jesus to be the promised Christ. It is a powerful argument. Hundreds of years before Christ, the prophets said these things would happen. And they did happen.
The prophecy we deal with here is that a light would come to Zebulun and Naphtali.
When the Jews were settling the land and each tribe got its allotment, Zebulun was given part of Galilee, and Naphtali was given another part of Galilee. Naphtali actually encompasses much of the shoreline on the Sea of Galilee including Capernaum, and Zebulun is a bit to the west.
So Nazareth is in Zebulun.
And Capernaum is in Naphtali.
So it is fitting to fulfill the prophecy that the great light will be seen in both places.
15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles– 16 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.”
That comes from Isaiah 9:1-2.
So Jesus fulfills this prophecy. He is the great light in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, in Galilee of the Gentiles.
Of course there are Jews living there too. It was a mixed place. Jews and Gentiles living there, both in Isaiah’s time and in Jesus’s time.
III. A Great Light
So Jesus is likened to a great light.
He is the light of the world. [John 8:12 and John 9:5]
Matthew and John both have this theme: Jesus shines light into the darkness.
John says:
[John 1:4-5 ESV] 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
And Matthew says (quoting Isaiah): “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.”
Darkness is sin, ignorance, and death.
The light of Christ is revelation of knowledge and life itself. Eternal life, giving from God through Christ to us.
Given to us SO THAT WE CAN SEE.
We were in the darkness of sin. Knowing nothing.
And the light of Christ shines in.
And this great light is not just “much light.” It is not just that Jesus tells us A LOT of things. It is also that he tells us the MOST IMPORTANT things. The knowledge of God is revealed. If you have seen Jesus you have seen the father.
IV. Jesus calls for repentance. (v. 17)
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Here we see Jesus preaching the same message that John the Baptist preached. It is verbatim the same. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
To be “at hand” is to be “here.” It is not out in the future yet to be grasped, but in one’s very hand. Now is the time to repent.
Some say that it is not that the Kingdom is “here” but it is “almost here.”
But Jesus does say:
[Mark 1:14-15 ESV] 14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
and
[Luke 17:20-21 ESV] 20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
Light does two things. Light not only reveals truth, it exposes error.
You’ve all been a room before that you didn’t know was dusty, but the sunlight coming through the window makes the dust evident. You can see it in the air, with the rays of sunshine illuminating it. I think of my grandparents house years ago; in a room with porcelain parrots. And dust like you wouldn’t believe.
As sunlight shows dust, spiritual light exposes error. That is why Jesus says “repent.”
[John 3:19-21 ESV] 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
And this wasn’t a one time call to repentance. This is what Jesus BEGAN to preach. And he continued to preach repentance. And the church of Jesus Christ continues to preach repentance. And as a pastor of this church I too preach repentance; turn from evil and look to Christ.
Conclusion
In the darkness we are surrounded by, a light has dawned.
Against the darkness that is our sin within us, a light of truth has come.
Our sins are exposed. Juxtaposed next to Christ and the written Law, we know that we are sinners. We are in darkness.
But into our darkness, we have the shining light of Christ.
We are not our own light. We need another. We follow Christ, the light of our salvation.
The call then is to repentance. Leaving sin, and embracing Christ.
We hear the promise in John’s Gospel:
[John 8:12 ESV] 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
And we see the work of Christ in us in 2 Corinthians:
[2 Corinthians 4:6] For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The result is repentance. Turning away from darkness and turning to Christ.
And the result is joy.
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. 3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
Let us have great joy. Infectious joy as we follow Jesus Christ, the great light.
Let us pray.