1

Sermon Transcript April 19, 2020

God’s One Story of Redemption �e Kingdom of God Proclaimed

Matthew 4:12-25

�is message from the Bible was addressed originally to the people of Wethersfield Evangelical Free Church on April 19, 2020 at 511 Maple Street, Wethersfield, CT, 06109 by Dr. Scott W. Solberg. �is is a transcription that bears the strength and weaknesses of oral delivery. It is not meant to be a polished essay. An audio and video version of this sermon may also be found on the church website at www.wethefc.com

2

Sermon Text Matthew 4:12-25

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 “�e 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.”

18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is 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 Immediately they leC 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 Immediately they leC the boat and their father and followed him. 23And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

3

Introduction

Jesus has a way of turning things upside down. Have you ever noticed that about Jesus? When you read the first two verses of this passage it seems like Matthew is simply giving us interesting “tidbits of information” that help us trace the steps of Jesus. In verse 12 we read, “Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali.” Well that is nice to know. It is now the beginning of the second year of his three year ministry and Jesus retreats to Capernaum, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali.” �is region is to Israel what Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire are to the United States. It is that upper, northeastern, out of the way region of the country. It is not the epicenter of life in Israel. It is not the New York City or Washington D.C. of the country. Nor is it the bustling city of Jerusalem. �is region is called in verse 15, “Galilee of the Gentiles.” It is the “frontier region.” �ere are no major cities in this region of Israel. It was dotted with 200 obscure villages and towns. It is out in the “boondocks.” It is here Jesus sets up his base of operation on the northern edge of Israel. But this is more than just interesting tidbits of information. Here is something you need to see. One of the reasons Jesus went from Nazareth to Capernaum is because he had just turned everything upside down in his hometown because of something he said in the synagogue. Matthew hints at the fact that something negative ultimately drove Jesus to Capernaum. When Matthew uses the word “withdrew” like he did in verse 12, it is always associated with something negative that happened. In Matthew 2:12 it is used to describe the wise men withdrawing from the region of Israel because of the danger posed by Herod. It is used in Matthew 2:14 to describe Joseph and Mary withdrawing to Egypt as they too fled from Herod. Matthew tells us that Jesus “withdraws” to Galilee, from his hometown of Nazareth because John the Baptist had just been arrested. But it is what Jesus said in Nazareth that ultimately expelled him from his hometown and caused him to withdraw to Capernaum. What did Jesus say that turned everything upside down? Matthew doesn’t tell us, but Luke does. In Luke 4 we learn that on a given Sabbath day, Jesus was in his “hometown” synagogue where he took the scroll and read from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. �is passage spoke of a coming servant of God who would have the Spirit of God resting upon him and who would usher in a new era of hope and peace. Remember, our acronym for the New Testament begins with the letter “E.” �ere was a growing EXPECTATION in Israel that God would once again act on behalf of his people by

4

sending them their promised Messiah who will usher in a day of salvation for the people of Israel. �e passage Jesus read in the synagogue that day spoke of the coming Messiah, the coming hope of the nation of Israel. ACer reading from Isaiah, Jesus put down the scroll and said, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus announced to the people of his hometown that he is indeed the promised Messiah. �at alone could turn things upside down.

At first, when Jesus said this, I think the crowd there that day was somewhat intrigued by the prospect of what Jesus had just said about himself. On one hand they admired the authority with which he spoke and news of the miracles he performed down in Judea had made its way up to Galilee. �ey were somewhat intrigued with this hometown son of Nazareth. And yet at the same time, they know his mom and dad and that he is the son of a carpenter. �ey are just trying to put it all together. It was a pretty big announcement for them to absorb and process. While they are weighing these words of Jesus, he goes and turns the whole thing upside down. He questions whether they are ready to receive him as their Messiah. In fact, he compares them to their ancestors during the time of Elijah and Elisha. �at was a dark period in Israel’s history. �ings were so dark, Elijah wondered to himself whether or not he was the only one leC in all of Israel who still followed God. Because it was so spiritually dark during this time, Elijah and Elisha performed many of their miracles among the Gentiles. It was a Gentile widow who God sent Elijah to when he miraculously provided for him during a famine. It was a Gentile commander who was healed by Elisha of leprosy. Jesus is reminding them that when Israel rejects God’s prophet, God sends them elsewhere, even to Gentiles. So not only is Jesus claiming to be the Messiah, but he is also hinting that the Gentiles were more ready for his ministry than they were. He turned the whole thing upside down and the next thing you know they have him at the edge of a cliff, ready to push him over it. And Luke says, “But passing through their midst, he went away. And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. Jesus has a way of turning things upside down. So here we find Jesus in the “Galilee of the Gentiles.” �is region is described in Matthew 4:16 as “people dwelling in darkness” and a place where people are “dwelling in the region and shadow of death.” �e people of Israel called this place a place of “darkness” and “death” because of the overwhelming presence of Gentiles. And it is here where the light of the Messiah is first revealed. It is here where Jesus begins to preach his message; “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It is a message that turns everything upside down.

5

Still Turning �ings Upside Down

Jesus still has a way of turning things upside down. I pray Jesus never stops turning my world upside down by what he says. We ought to make it our constant prayer, “Jesus, we need our lives turned upside down. We need our families turned upside down. We need our church turned upside down. We need our world turned upside down.” It sure seems like things have been turned upside down. What is God doing through this virus? What is he turning upside down in us? Well one thing seems sure, he is turning church—as we know it— upside down. For starters, he is bringing the church into the home. He is forcing families to worship together, pray together, come together around God’s Word—to be the church together—in our homes. �at is a good thing. In Joshua 3 we see Joshua and the people of Israel crossing into the Promised Land. �e ark of the covenant—which is the presence of the LORD—went in before them. In fact, it was a good half a mile ahead of them. I love what Joshua says to the people here. He says that the presence of God is going in before them in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” But God has! Is God turning things upside down because he is wanting to take us to a place we haven’t been before. I understand the longing to go back to what we know as normal. But are there things in what was normal that God needs to turn upside down in us? I don’t want to be like the Israelites and fail to see what needs to be turned upside down in my life by longing to go back to what was normal. �ey actually said they wanted to go back to Egypt—back to normal. What is Jesus turning upside down in your life and what does he want you to see? Perhaps you can begin by asking what it looks like to be the church at home. �is morning we come to the letter “M” which stands for Messiah. One of the first things Matthew tells us about the Messiah is the message he proclaims. In Matthew 4:17 we hear Jesus say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” As soon as you hear the call to “repent” you have to assume that Jesus has come to turn things upside down. To repent means to turn or to change. �at is the very nature of the kingdom of God. �e next three weeks we are going to consider the dynamic nature of the kingdom of God. Jesus has come to turn things upside down. He has come to change us. It is the message he proclaims. His miracles demonstrate the dynamic nature of his kingdom. �rough the cross and resurrections he inaugurates his life changing kingdom. �is morning I want to consider four ways the message Jesus proclaimed . . . Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand . . .turns our lives upside down.

6

Jesus Proclaims Good News

�e first thing I want you to see about the message Jesus proclaimed is that it is “good news.” It says of Jesus in Matthew 4:23, “And he went throughout all Galilee . . . proclaiming the gospel [the good news] of the kingdom.” �is is intriguing and fascinating to me because on one hand, we are very familiar with the word gospel. We talk about the gospel—the good news of Jesus—all the time. But what we oCen fail to do is link the idea of the kingdom of heaven (kingdom of God) to the idea of the gospel. I have seen this happen numerous times whenever I teach about this topic. I’ll ask those attending the class to give me ten words that they associate with the gospel. And they give me ten great words. �ey give me words like: Jesus, cross, salvation, forgiveness, redemption, faith and so on. Of all the times I have asked that question, not one time has someone suggested the word kingdom as a word associated with the gospel. And yet that is the word in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—the Gospels—that is most oCen linked with the good news that Jesus proclaimed. In fact, the topic of the kingdom of God is what Jesus talked about more than anything else. “And he went throughout all Galilee . . . proclaiming the gospel [the good news] of the kingdom.” So what is the kingdom of God? My favorite definition comes from Graeme Goldsworthy. He says that the kingdom of God is God’s people in God’s place under God’s good rule.1 If that is the case, where is the first place in the Bible where you find the kingdom of God—God’s people in God’s place under God’s good rule? You first find the kingdom of God in the Garden of Eden where God is ruling over all that he has made through Adam and Eve who are called to rule over God’s creation as they live under God’s good rule—the kingdom of God. I love what Jeremy Treat says about Adam and Eve. “Contrary to popular opinion, they were not placed in the garden for an eternal vacation . . . Adam and Eve were given the task to care for the garden and extend the blessings that come from the reign of God in Eden throughout the entire world.”2 We know Adam and Eve rejected God’s good rule and instead of brining God’s blessing to this world, we now live in a fractured and broken world—wandering through life as we try to make our way through it. And then we die. And so the good news of Jesus—proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom—is that through Jesus, God comes to restore his good rule to this broken world. So perhaps the first thing Jesus turns upside down for you this morning is your notion of the gospel. �e gospel if first and foremost about Jesus. Yes he is our Savior, but he is also our Lord. You no longer need to wander aimlessly through life. Instead you can find your way to God’s good rule through Jesus.

7

Jesus Speaks to the Heart

�e second thing you see about this message Jesus proclaims is that he speaks to the heart of a person. He calls those who hear him to repent. �is too, I am afraid, has been a lost word to our understanding of the gospel. We are good with calling people to believe. But the call of Jesus is to repent. In fact, the preaching of Jesus always calls for a response to repent and believe. It is no different for you and for me. �e message Jesus proclaims to us today about the gospel of the kingdom requires you and me to respond. To repent means to turn away from our sin and turn in belief to God. It is like a soldier who is marching in one direction and then does an about face and turns and marches in another direction. �e last verse in the Old Testament, Malachi 4:6 looks forward with EXPECTATION to the coming Messiah and Malachi anticipates the ministry of John the Baptist who preached a message of repentance in preparing the way for the coming Messiah. He said of John the Baptist that he would turn the hearts of fathers to their children and children to their fathers. �at is exactly what the angel Gabriel said to John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, when he announced that his wife would conceive. He said of John the Baptist, “And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God . . . to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” �at is what repentance looks like. It is a turning of the heart away from sin and to faith in God through Christ. �at is why Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3, “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus described that being born again is being born of water and the Spirit. With this phrase, he is referring back to Ezekiel 36:25-27 where the prophet saw the day coming—EXPECTATION—”I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean . . . And I will give you a new heart . . . And I will put my Spirit within you.” Jesus goes on to say that this it is like the blowing of the wind. You don’t know where it is going, it blows where it wishes and you can’t stop it. “So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirt. And so Jesus turns your life upside down by first turning you from the inside out. Godly change doesn’t come by behavior modification or by trying harder. Life in the kingdom of God is given birth when God speaks to your heart, awakens you and you respond with repentance and belief. I have seen it time and time again. Like the two men on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, aCer walking with the risen Jesus, “Did not our hearts burn within us while Jesus talked to us on the road, while he opened the Scriptures to us.” You can’t explain it. You can’t contain it. But you experience it. Is Jesus speaking to your heart? Repent and believe.

8

Jesus Proclaims the Presence of God’s Kingdom

�e message Jesus proclaimed was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It is here! It is at hand! It is not just some future hope or expectation. �eologians call it “the already but not yet.” It is not here in full, but it is here, nonetheless. And the kingdom of God has come in power. Jesus has come to save you and to rescue you and to deliver you. We will talk about this a little more next week, but we see the hint of the power of the kingdom of God on display in verses 23-24. “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.” Jesus said in Luke 11:20, “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” When we say that the kingdom of God has arrived in the person of Jesus we are claiming that through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, God is taking charge of this world and he is defeating the gods of this world and rescuing us from the tyranny of the devil. Only Jesus and the coming of his kingdom in power can do that. You don’t just need change. You need rescued. You need delivered. �is is where the cross and the kingdom come together. When we think of the good news of Jesus—the gospel—our minds automatically go to the cross. �e cross of Jesus and the kingdom of God don’t need be held in tension. Rather, they go together. Jeremy Treat says that the “kingdom is the ultimate goal of the cross and the cross is the means by which the kingdom comes.”3 Paul captures the relationship between the kingdom and the cross in Colossians 1:13-14. Here he says that God has “delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” �e cross is the means by which we come into the kingdom of God. If the kingdom of God is at hand then not only can we expect that God can deliver us from our sin and from the destructive nature that God can turn our lives around; but we can also expect that God is in the process of turning this world upside down as his kingdom advances in the hearts of people. In our passage this morning we hear Jesus offer an invitation to this disciples to follow him. He says to them, “Follow me.” But notice what he says next, “and I will make you fishers of men.” �e implication Jesus is making in his invitation to follow him is that he WILL use us to advance his kingdom in

9

the hearts of people. God’s kingdom has come into the world through Jesus and so we should live with the expectation that God is at work in us and through us. �is should motivate us to reach out to our neighbor. �is should motivate us to invest in our children and our grandchildren. �is should motivate us to participate in the missions. Why? �e kingdom of God is at hand and God is at work. �at is the point of the parables that Jesus tells in Matthew 13. Cast the seed of God’s word and some of the seed WILL fall on good soil. �is is what you are praying when you pray, thy kingdom come. It is not just a prayer for the future return of Jesus. It is also a pray for the advance of the good news—the gospel of the kingdom. It is a prayer that the wind of the Spirit would blow into the hearts of people who need to be delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the beloved Son.

Jesus Proclaims a Cross-shaped Kingdom

When Jesus invites us to follow him he isn’t asking us to do anything he hasn’t himself done. �at is a key principle to making disciples. You can’t invite someone to go to a place you yourself are not willing to go. So it is with Jesus. He invites us to follow him in this kingdom of God. But it is a kingdom that is formed and shaped by the cross. You see these two things come together with the sign that was nailed to the top of the cross where Jesus died: “�e King of the Jews.” And as we just saw, unknown to the crowd at the cross, God in his wisdom was bringing about the kingdom of God in the most unlikely way. What seems foolish to the world and foolish to human logic, the power of the kingdom of God broke into this world through the death of Jesus on the cross. Revelation 1:5-6 points out this paradox by saying that Jesus has freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us a kingdom. Jesus turns upside down the logic and the wisdom of this world. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “A king who dies on the cross must be the king of a rather strange kingdom.”4 Contrary to the way our world thinks, the kingdom of God is not built by force. �at is why the church around the world is growing in areas where there is a lot of suffering—a lot of cross bearing. �e kingdom of God advances when we take up our cross and follow him. When we take the posture of a servant and make sacrifice for the sake of the kingdom of God, God advances his kingdom. When you inconvenience yourself for the weak and the one in need you are embracing the cross shaped kingdom. Jesus told us that if we want to be great in the kingdom of God we need to be a servant. We need to take up our cross and follow him. In our passage we hear Jesus call Peter and his brother Andrew, James and his brother

10

John to follow him. And it says that when Jesus called them to follow him they leC their fishing nets, their boat (their job) and their father (their family) and they followed Jesus. What is Jesus calling you to leave? What sacrifice of service is Jesus calling you to? What neighbor is he calling you to? What need is he calling you to? Of course it is going to cost you time. Sure it may cost you resources. Perhaps it will even cost you the need to display patience and grace and love in difficult and challenging situations. It may even need to start with grace extended to the people who live in your own house. �e kingdom of God advances through the humble service and sacrifice of God’s people. It is a kingdom shaped by the cross. No doubt, Jesus wore a crown while hanging on the cross under the sign that proclaimed “King of the Jews.” But it was a crown of thorns. �us it reminds us that there is power in the message that the kingdom of God has come in the person of Jesus and that it is truly at hand. But the message Jesus proclaimed—what turns our thinking upside down—is that the power of the kingdom of God is most demonstrated in Christ crucified. And so we are used to proclaim the kingdom of God as we take up our cross and humbly serve our God.

Conclusion

It goes without saying, our lives are being turned upside down with this virus. But that may not be a bad thing. In fact, Jesus is accustomed to doing that kind of things. It makes me wonder what it is that Jesus is speaking into your heart through all of this. Is he turning upside down your understanding of the gospel of the kingdom? Have you embraced Jesus as your Savior, who doesn’t like the idea of having their sins forgiven. But have you lost sight of the fact that the invitation of Jesus is not just to believe in him But you have been called to follow him, You don’t make him Lord. He is Lord. What step of obedience is he calling you to this week? Is he turning your heart upside down this morning? Is he speaking to you this morning? Did the Spirit of God reveal some issue very clearly to your heart this morning? Perhaps, for the first time you felt you heart strangely warmed to God? Repent! Turn in faith to Jesus. Perhaps you have been flirting with some sin or playing with some temptation or you have driCed far from God. But in your heart, you sense God drawing you back. Do not harden your heart. �is is the work of the Spirit of God. Repent! Is he turning your vision upside down. Has your heart been awakened this morning to

11

the fact that God is at work and God will advance his kingdom through you and through me. So has he awakened in you some way that he wants you to serve him, knowing full well that the kingdom of God is at hand and your labor is not in vain. Has your thinking and frame of mind been turned upside down? Have you been reminded that the kingdom of God is a cross shaped kingdom? Is God calling you to carry your cross in some specific way as you answer the call to follow him knowing that the power of the kingdom of God is on display in the cross. Is there a next step of sacrifice Jesus is calling you to. In Christ, we have been delivered from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of the Beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. May Jesus graciously turn our worlds upside down this week for his glory! �at is what the Messiah does. Jesus has a way of doing that. ____________________________ 1Graeme Goldsworthy Gospel and Kingdom (Cumbria UK: Patertnoster Press, 1996) 46 2Jeremy Treat “Kingdom and Cross: What God has joined together, let not man separate” www.thegospelcoaltion.org September 30, 2014 3Ibid 4Ibid

© by Dr. Scott Solberg - All rights reserved

12

Sermon Title: �e Kingdom of God Proclaimed Sermon Text: Matthew 4:12-25 Sermon Date: April 19, 2020

1. What was Easter like for you this year? 2. What do you think are some of the things God is communicating to us through the current virus? What is he saying to you?

3. Read Matthew 4:12-25. What do you observe about the good news of the kingdom of God in this passage? How does the message of the kingdom of God deepen your understanding of the gospel? 4. Read John 3:1-8. When did you first sense the wind of the Spirit of God at work in your heart? What has the Spirit of God recently spoken into your heart? 5. Read Matthew 13:31-33, 44-50. What are these parables telling you about what you can expect God to do? How does this encourage you to serve God? 6. Read Colossians 1:13-14. What is the relationship between the cross of Jesus and the kingdom of God? Read Matthew 20:20-27. What does this tell you about the cross- shaped kingdom? Where is God calling you to carry the cross?

7. What is Jesus turning upside down in your life? Your understanding of the gospel and that Jesus is Lord? Some issue in your heart where he is calling you to repent? Some place where he is calling you to serve? �e invitation to pick up the cross and sacrifice?

Ge�ng To Know Me Ques�ons

Diving Into The Word

Taking It Home