Sound The Trumpet : Matthew 4:12-17 Pt. 1

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“Matthew 4:12-17 Pt. 1”
by Art Sadlier
September 26th, 2010

The Light Dawns

Outline

1 - The Time - verse 12

2 - The Place - verse 13-15

3 - The Problem - verse 16a

4 - The Proclamation - verse 17

Introduction

1 - The ministry of Jesus was divided into 3 periods

-- The year of His inauguration

-- The year of His popularity

-- The year of His rejection

2 - There is a year elapsed between verses 11-12.

-- The first year of His ministry

-- The year of His inauguration

-- Matthew does not record these events, they are recorded in John 1:35 - John4:44

3 - That ministry had taken place in Jerusalem and Judah

-- He had cleansed the Temple the first time

-- He had performed miracles

-- He had shared the gospel with Nicodemas

Now His greatest ministry was about to begin

- The year of His acclaim

- The year of His acceptance

- The year of His popularity

1 -- The Time

Verse 12, "Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;"

The herald of the king had been arrested! That was foreboding news for the king, but Christ was not running from His enemies. It was God's time for His Galilean ministry to begin. God has a time, God has a timetable. All through scripture we see God's timetable. god's timetable is very important. God has a timetable for your whole life.

1 -- God's timetable is seen in creation.

Exodus 20:11, "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Why 6 days? God doesn't say. Why not 6 weeks? Why not 6 months? Why not 6 years? God doesn't tell us but we do discover that God operates on a timetable and that God's timetable is important.

2 -- God's world is on a timetable.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;"

3 -- God's son came into the world according to God's time table.

Galatians 4:4, "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,"

4 -- God's Son died according to God's timetable.

John 7:30, "Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come."

5 -- God has a time of visitation for every man and woman in the world.

John 1:9, "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world"

Every man and woman born into God's world, receives some light of the truth about God. Romans 1:19-20, "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"

Also John 12:32, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

1 Peter 2:12, "Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation."

6 -- God has appointed a time of judgment for all men. Hebrews 9:27, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"

All men have an appointment with death. With the exception of those believers who are living at the time of the rapture.

All men have an appointment with God for judgment. With the exception of those who by faith in the shed blood of Christ have had their sins blotted out and have received the imputed righteousness of Christ.

So the arrest of John was a signal that it was God's time for Jesus to leave Judea and go into Galilee to begin His mighty ministry there.

11-- The Place

Verses13- 15, "And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;"

1 -- It was the place where Christ was to minister and live.

The tribal inheritance of Zebulon and Naphtali was the area that surrounded the Sea of Galilee on the north and on the west. It was the area where most of our Lord's ministry took place. Probably Peter's home at Capernaum; was the closest thing to home our Lord knew during His ministry.

2 - It was the place of God's appointment.

Notice verse 14, "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying," It was the place of Christ's ministry, forecast 800 years earlier in Isaiah 9:1-2.

3 -- It was a place of open hearts.(At least initially)

John 4:45, "Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast." He left Judea because He had been rejected there! Their hearts had not been open to Him in Jerusalem and Judea. He left Nazareth because He had been rejected there also. They had sought to kill Him. He came to Galilee because it was, at the time, the place of open hearts and open ears and open minds. Later their attitude would change, but now it was the place of open hearts.

Here is a principle- 'Christ always leaves the place of rejection.' In Matthew 13, the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord why have you changed your teaching methods?” “Lord why are you now teaching in parables?” Jesus answered, “I am concealing truth from those who have closed their eyes to the truth and have rejected the truth.”

We have an illustration of this in 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12, "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." For what cause does God send them a strong delusion? Verse 10 tells us, "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."

The place where you will find Christ is the place of the open heart! Is your heart and mind open to Christ today?

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13