A Messiah On the Move
Text: Matt. 4:12-25
Introduction
1. Illustration: Living in Ohio during the cold winter months teaches us many things. However, one of the most important is the need to keep moving forward. When we drive on the ice and snow we do well as long as we keep moving forward, but as soon as we stop moving is when we get stuck.
2. This is also true with our physical bodies. When people retire and decide to sit and do nothing, they usually start to deteriorate rapidly. However, they do much better physically if they stay active.
3. This is also true of the Christian life. If we stay active in our faith and our involvement in the church we do well spiritually. However, when we stop looking to move forward in the Lord we are usually in trouble.
4. Jesus teaches us the importance of:
a. Stepping Out Into Ministry
b. Stepping Out Into Partnership
c. Stepping Out Into the World
5. Read Matt. 4:12-25
Proposition: Moving forward in our faith is a requirement for a healthy spiritual life.
Transition: First, we must...
I. Stepping Out Into Ministry (12-17)
A. He Left, Moved, and Preached
1. One striking aspect of this text is Jesus on the move.
2. Notice that "When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee."
a. Once John was imprisoned meant his ministry was over, and it was time for Jesus ministry to begin.
b. Jesus wastes no time or opportunity to get started.
3. After arriving in Galilee, "He went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali."
a. Nazareth was a small agricultural village and suburb of the old Galilean capital, Sepphoris;
b. Capernaum was a larger fishing town on the northwest edge of the Sea of Galilee (The IVP Bible Background Commentary – New Testament).
c. This meant more people, and more opportunity to minister.
4. All of this took effort on Jesus part, and it was about fulfilling the will of God. Matthew again points out "This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah..."
a. Jesus actively went after the Father’s will.
b. He did not hesitate, or make excuses.
c. He knew what He was supposed to do, and went after it with all of the gusto required to accomplish the job.
B. Working Until Jesus Comes
1. Illustration: Someone has written that there are four kinds of bones in the world. The WISH BONES who spend their time wishing someone else would do the work; The JAW BONES who do all the talking, but very little else; The KNUCKLE BONES who knock everything that anyone else is trying to do; The BACK BONES who shoulder the load and do the work.
2. God has not created us to sit, but to move.
a. If we sit we die; if we move we live.
b. This is true in our physical life, and it is true in our spiritual life.
c. 1 Peter 4:10 (NLT)
God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
3. God has not called us to passivity, but ministry.
a. He has gifted us for ministry.
b. Called us to ministry.
c. He is preparing us for ministry.
d. He has chosen to use us in ministry.
Transition: We also see Jesus...
II. Stepping Out Into Partnership (18-22)
A. Come Follow Me
1. One key element to the ministry of the church is that no one person can do it alone; we need partners.
a. The key reason that most Pastor’s leave the ministry is burnout, and most of this occurs because they try to do it all themselves or because others expect them to do it all.
b. However, Jesus shows us the importance of partnership.
2. Matthew tells us that "One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living."
a. Notice that these were just orinary working men.
b. They weren’t Theologians, Scholars, or Clergy.
c. They were simple fishermen.
d. Fishermen were central to the Galilean economy and made a good living by the standards of their culture, far better than the large numbers of peasants who worked the land through much of the Roman Empire (The IVP Bible Background Commentary – New Testament).
e. Not only did they make a good living, but for many of them it was a family business.
3. When Jesus sees them, he calls out to them, "Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”
a. Many people think that this is a casual invitation, but on the contrary, "it was an unconditioned, unexplained command" (Turner, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, 71).
b. Jesus wasn’t asking them to follow Him, He was demanding it.
4. What Jesus was asking of them was no small thing; He was asking them to give up their lives for Him.
a. Remember they made a pretty good living, and so they were giving up financial security.
b. He was asking them to walk away from family, friends, and associates.
c. He was asking for commitment, sacrifice, and eventually hardship.
d. They would follow Jesus into ridicule, persecution, pain, and death.
5. However, look at their response, "they left their nets at once and followed him."
a. They didn’t have to think about.
b. They didn’t hesitate.
c. They didn’t say, "Well, we’d like to pray about it first."
d. The prayer closet has been used more often as an excuse not to follow Jesus.
e. If God calls you, not a friend or relative suggestion but the voice of God speaking to you, what is there to pray about? Just do it!
6. They next duo that Jesus approaches to partner with have the same response, "And he called them to come, too. They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind."
a. They had the same securities to give up.
b. They had every bit as much to lose.
c. However, their response if the same: they went immediately.
B. Working Together
1. Illustration: Living dangerously. That was one of many themes in Brennan Manning’s superb book The Signature of Jesus. Manning presents a radical alternative to the normal everyday, ho-hum, “comfort zone” mentality lived out by so many “so-called Christians.” His final statement in the book: The Signature of Jesus is offered to Christians who want to live by faith and not by mere “religion,” for those who recognize that many of the burning theological issues in the church today are neither burning nor theological, [for those] who see Christianity neither as a moral code or a belief system but a love affair, who have not forgotten that they are followers of a crucified Christ, who know that following Him means living dangerously, who want to live the gospel without compromise, who have no greater desire than to have His signature written on he pages of their lives.
2. The ministry of the church is a partnership.
a. Philippians 1:5 (NLT)
for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.
b. It is the meaning of fellowship.
c. êïéíùíίáa, áò f: an association involving close mutual relations and involvement (Louw and Nidda, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Symantic Domains).
d. You cannot have fellowship in the church if you are not involved in the ministry of the church.
3. The ministry of the church is a body.
a. The church is called a body of believers.
b. 1 Corinthians 12:12,14 (NLT)
The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ...Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.
c. What do you call a body that is missing one of its parts? Deformed!
d. If we are in the body, but we are not doing our part in the body, we cause the church to be less than it could be.
4. The ministry of the church means living dangerously.
a. It means, stepping out of our comfort zone.
b. It means, being vulnerable before God.
c. It means, walking by faith and not by sight.
Transition: Jesus also shows us the necessity of...
III. Stepping Out Into the World (23-25)
A. Jesus Traveled
1. Jesus not only shows us the importance of ministry to the church, but He also shows us the importance to minister outside the church.
2. Matthew tells us that "Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness."
a. There are two interesting things we need to get a hold of here.
b. This verse is repeated almost word for word in Matt. 9:35, and the two verses serve as bookends to a major teaching section in Matthew. Scholars refer to these bookends as an inclusio (Turner, 72).
c. It shows the necessity of putting what we have learned into practice.
d. James 1:22 (NLT)
But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.
e. It is not enough to know what it says, we also have to do what it says.
3. What was it that Jesus did? He "traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness."
a. He traveled.
1) He knew there was work to be done, so He went around doing that work.
2) He didn’t sit still and wait for people to come to Him.
b. Teaching and Preaching.
1) Jesus shows us the importance of both teaching and preaching. Matthew uses to separate words in the Greek.
2) One means "to know" and the other "to proclaim."
c. He healed every disease.
1) He not only meet their spiritual need, but also there physical need.
2) Notice that he healed "all their diseases."
3) Emotional disease can be just as real, and just as debilitating as physical disease. Jesus cares about the whole person.
4. Notice what happens when we begin to reach out to others. Matthew says that "News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick..."
a. If we reach out to others, eventually they will begin coming to us.
b. They will hear about what God is doing in and through us, and it will speak to the need in their own lives.
c. However, it starts with our willingness to step out and be used by God.
B. Outside the Four Walls
1. Illustration: “Most churches do a good job of getting people to first base or maybe even second base. People will receive Christ, be baptized and join the church (that’s getting them to first base). Some churches also do an excellent job of helping believers develop the habits that lead to spiritual maturity (that’s getting to second base). But few churches have a plan to insure that every believer finds an appropriate ministry (third base), and even fewer quip members to win others to Christ and fulfill their life mission (home plate).” Rick Warren
2. Faith requires action.
a. God did not save you so that you could sit on the seat and take up space.
b. God did not save you just so you could take it all in.
c. He saved you to minister His love to others.
3. Power demands action.
a. Acts 1:8 (NLT)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
b. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is not so that we can show everyone how spiritual we are, but to make us a more effective witness.
c. The power is for telling others about Jesus.
d. The power is not just those who are right next to us, but we have to go out and find them if necessary.
4. Knowledge requires proclamation.
a. Romans 10:14 (NLT)
But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?
b. They cannot believe if we do not tell them.
c. They cannot hear if we do not tell them.
d. They cannot respond if do not deliver the message.
Conclusion
1. A church that is following Jesus is one that is stepping out into ministry.
2. A church that is following Jesus is one that partners together with Him and each other.
3. A church that is following Jesus is one that takes the message to all who will listen.
4. Are you a Christian that is following Jesus?
