From the Wilderness to the Mission Field
Matthew 4:12-17
When Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody He went into Galilee not only for His own protection, knowing that the Pharisees in Judah were enemies as Herod was John’s and to build upon the good foundation John had laid. God will not leave himself without a witness, or his church without guides. When He removes one useful instrument, He raises up another. John is put into prison, now Jesus, arise.
The place where Jesus preached in Galilee was a remote part of the country that lay furthest from Jerusalem. The people were looked upon with contempt, as rude and boorish. Fit to be soldiers but not polite men, or fit to be scholars. Jesus went there to begin His ministry and in doing this He did as He always did, humbled Himself. The city He chose for his residence was not His home town Nazareth which He left because of an incident recorded in Luke 4:29. Nazareth was the first place that rejected Jesus and was therefore rejected by Him. Jesus will not stay where He is not welcomed.
When Jesus left Nazareth He settled in Capernaum. There are scholars who believe His father Joseph had a house there, others that He dwelt in the house of Simon Peter. It was a place where He could go to when He needed to rest though not a place of His own. It seems as if He was welcomed and respected in Capernaum.
Jesus going to Galilee fulfilled Isaiah 9:1-2. Matthew uses only the latter part of the prediction which speaks of the return of the light of liberty and prosperity to those countries that had been in the darkness of captivity, and applies it to the appearing of the gospel among them. When Jesus came to Capernaum, the gospel came to all those places round about.
We are told the people in this area were in darkness before the light came among them. This is the state of those that are without Christ. This darkness is greater than the darkness that upon the face of the deep. This darkness is the region and shadow of death, which implies not only a great darkness but a great danger. A man that is desperately sick, and not likely to recover, is in the valley of the shadow of death, though not quite dead. The people in this area were on the borders of damnation. What is even worse they were sitting in this darkness. They were contented and loved the darkness. They chose it rather than light. Their condition was the same condition of many great and mighty nations today. What is even sadder is the fact there are many who sit in darkness in the midst of gospel-light. Those who sit in the dark because it is night may be sure that the sun will shortly rise; but he that is in the dark because he is blind, will not see the sun rise. These people were spiritually blind.
When the gospel comes, light comes. Light is discovering, it is directing; so is the gospel. The light is not like the light of a candle, but the light of the sun. It is a great light. It reveals great things and consequences. It is long lasting and spreads fast. It is a growing light and it sprung up among the people. They didn’t seek it. It came upon them before they were aware it was in their midst.
From the time Jesus came into Galilee, into the land of Zebulun and Naphtali He began to preach. He had been preaching, before this, in Judah but his preaching was not as public as it now began to be. His message was the sum and substance of all His preaching, the same message John preached, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The commands the same, and the reasons to enforce them the same, even an angel from heaven dare not preach any other gospel because it is an everlasting gospel. John’s message prepared the way for Jesus. Jesus prepares the way for His coming preaching the same message John preached. Wherever Jesus went, this was His message. It was the message of His followers.
That which has been preached and heard before can be very profitably preached and heard again. The reason for preaching the message John and Jesus preached today is the same as it was when they preached it. The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
In all His preaching Jesus gave a common call to all the country, but His calling of the disciples there was a special and particular call. All the country was called but these were called out from the redeemed. It was a call to the work of the ministry. Those He called to the ministry didn’t come from Herod’s court. They didn’t come from Jerusalem from among the priests and elders. They came from Galilee. From a remote part of the nation, the inhabitants were less cultivated and refined. He called His first disciples from their fishing boats and nets to be fishers of men. These were to be the prime ministers of state in His kingdom, for He chooses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise.
Peter and Andrew, James and John; the two former, and, probably, the two latter also, had had acquaintance with Jesus before He called them to be fishers of men (John 1:40-41). They had been disciples of John. They were brothers. It is a blessed thing, when those who are brothers according to the flesh are brought together into a spiritual alliance to Jesus Christ. It is the honor and comfort when those that are of the same family are of God’s family. They were poor men. If they had had estates and money they would not have made fishing their trade. They were the uneducated men of Galilee. Jesus often chooses to endow those with the gifts of grace who have least to show of the gifts of nature. Yet this will not justify the bold intrusion of ignorant and unqualified men into the work of the ministry. Extraordinary gifts of knowledge and utterance are not to be expected, but requisite abilities must be obtained in an ordinary way and without a competent measure of these, none are to be admitted to that service.
Busy hands are pleasing to the Lord and no hindrance to a holy life. Moses was called from keeping sheep and David from following the ewes, to eminent employments. Idle people are more open to the temptations of Satan than to the calls of God. These men were men that were accustomed to hardships and hazards. The fisher’s trade, more than any other, is laborious and perilous. Fishermen are often wet and cold. They must watch, and wait, and toil. Those who have learned to bear hardships, and run hazards, are best prepared for the fellowship and discipleship of Jesus Christ. Good soldiers of Christ must endure hardness. Peter and Andrew were fishing when Jesus called them to follow Him. James and John were mending their nets. They didn’t go to their father for money to buy new nets, but took pains to mend their old ones. It is commendable to make what we have last as long as possible. It is a happy and hopeful sign to see children caring for and obedient to them.
Peter and Andrew, James and John had followed Jesus before, as John’s disciples (John 1:37). So that they might follow Jesus and fulfill their calling they must leave their boats and nets. Those who have been called to follow Jesus have a need to be called to follow on, and to follow nearer, especially when they are designed for the work of the ministry.
Jesus told Peter, Andrew, James, and John was called to be fishers of men, this refers to their former labors. They were not to take great pride in the new honor that has been given them, they are still fishers. They are not to be afraid of the new work cut out for them, for they have been used to fishing, they are still fishers. It was not usual for Jesus to speak of spiritual and heavenly things under such allusions, and in such expressions, as took rise from common things that offered themselves to His view. David was called from feeding sheep to feed God’s Israel and when he is a king, he is a shepherd.
Ministers are fishers of men. They are not to destroy them, but to save them, by bringing them into another element. They must fish, not for wrath, wealth, honor, and gain for themselves but for souls, to bring them to Christ. It is Jesus Christ that makes them fishers of men. It is Jesus that qualifies men for this work, calls them to it, authorizes them in it, gives them commission to fish for souls, and wisdom to win them. Those ministers will find comfort in their work that is thus made by Jesus Christ.
What must they do in order to be fishers of men? They must follow Jesus. They must separate themselves from the pleasures of the world and humble themselves as Jesus did. Those, whom Jesus employs in any service for Him, must first be fitted and qualified for it. Those who would preach the good news must first learn the good news. How can we expect to bring others to the knowledge of Christ, if we do not know him ourselves?
The apostles were prepared for their work, by accompanying Jesus. There is no learning comparable to that which is got by following Christ. Those who are to be fishers of men must follow Jesus and do it as He did, with diligence, faithfulness, and tenderness. Jesus is the great pattern for preachers, and they ought to be workers together with Him.
Peter and Andrew left their nets; James and John left the mending of their nets and followed Jesus. The answer to the call to follow Jesus by the disciples gives us a good example of obedience to the command of Jesus. It is good and proper for all the faithful servants of Jesus to come when they are called, and to follow their Master wherever He leads them. Peter, Andrew, James, and John willingly left their present employment, their ties with their families that would keep them from following Jesus. They object to following Jesus because of the difficulties of the service they were called to, or their own unfitness for it; but, being called, they obeyed, and, like Abraham went out not knowing where they would go but knowing very well whom they followed.
