Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Matthew 4:12-17 Pt. 2
Oct 17th, 2010
Weekly Bible StudyArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Exhortation;Book Study

111 - The Problem

Verse 16a "The people which sat in darkness"

A - Galilee, was by Jerusalem’s religious standards a place of darkness.

Many gentiles lived in Galilee and their influence had corrupted the Jews of Galilee. Some inter-marriage had taken place between Jews and Gentiles and this had further corrupted the Jews of Galilee.

 By God's spiritual standard Galilee and its people were in darkness.

B - The world is a place of darkness.

The problem with the unsaved man is that he is spiritual blind.  2 Corinthians 4:4 says "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

The unsaved man is blind to reality. He thinks his needs and desires can be satisfied with material things, with pleasure and achievement. And so he blindly gropes, seeking in the world, seeking in pleasures and in things the satisfaction his heart craves. He is vainly seeking to satisfy the longings and the emptiness of his life in that which cannot satisfy the soul.

Never once in his blindness does he realize that all he craves, all he desires and all he longs for is to be found in Christ and in Christ alone. "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness." John 12:46

Paul said to the Colossian Christians, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:" Colossians 1:13.

The Galileans were sitting in spiritual darkness and Christ came to give them light.

C - The illustration of Matthew.

Matthew the writer was an example of one who had sat in the darkness. Matthew had been spiritually blind. He had been living for all of the things of the world he could get a hold of. His friends were prostitutes and drunks. He had lived in the fast lane. As a publican he had lied and cheated to grab every dollar he could. Yet his heart was still empty and his life was meaningless. Nothing that he did brought peace or satisfaction, nor could he conceive anything to satisfy his empty heart. He was blind and he didn't know it.

Then one day Jesus passed by and the eyes of his understanding were opened. He suddenly found that all of his inner longings were satisfied by Jesus Christ. Verse 16 was true of Matthew, "The people who sat in darkness saw a great light"

All around us today are men and women who sit in darkness and do not realize it.

Illustration

Some years ago in the mines of our land mules were used to pull heavy carts laden with ore. The mules lived underground in the bowels of the mine. They never had their eyes exposed to the light and after awhile they became blind. When they were exposed to a torch light in the mine it did no good they were blind. They lived their whole life in the darkness.

We have a world today filled with people who are spiritually blind.

Jesus said "I am the light of the world."  He came to bring spiritual light and life eternal.