Light Has Dawned
Matthew 4:12-17
The Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus as the King. We have already seen in Matthew 1 the King’s genealogy (Matt. 1:1-17) and His miraculous virgin birth (Matt. 1:18-25). In Matthew 2 we saw Him worshiped by the Magi as the King of the Jews (Matt. 2:1-11) and we saw the fulfilled prophecies surrounding His birth and early life. In Matthew 3 we saw the herald of the King, John the Baptist, preaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matt. 3:2) and we saw the anointing of the King at His baptism (Matt. 3:13-17). God declared (through the voice of the Father, the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the testimony of John the Baptist) that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, Israel’s King. At His baptism, we also saw a preview of the mission of the Messiah, which will lead Him to offer up His life as a sacrifice for sinners. In Matthew 4 we have already seen the testing of the King and His victory over the devil (Matt. 4:1-11) proving that He alone was qualified as the sinless Messiah who would “save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). In our scripture today (Matt. 4:12-17), the King begins His public ministry. Here we will see that Jesus is the Light, the King that Israel waited for and needed.
Matthew introduces Jesus’ public ministry starting in Matthew 4:12.
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: 16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.” 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
These verses, together with the calling of Jesus’ first disciples (Matt. 4:18-22) and His ministry of teaching and healing in Galilee (Matt. 4:23-25) are the beginning of Jesus’ public Galilean ministry. They will set the stage for the first of Matthew’s five major teaching sections from Jesus (the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7).
The first thing I want you to notice is,
1. The Timing of the Light (Matt. 4:12)
Jesus’ public ministry in Galilee began according to God’s timing. Matthew 4:12 says, “Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.” John was the forerunner, he was the herald of the King. The King doesn’t arrive until the herald is finished, until His way is prepared. Jesus was to minister after John.
If we did not have the Gospels of John and Luke we might not know that nearly a year has passed between Matthew 4:11 and Matthew 4:12. Much had happened since He had gone south to be baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist. The apostle John filled in the details in his Gospel. John told of the Lord’s preliminary activities in Galilee: the initial calling of some disciples, His first miracle at the wedding in Cana, and the first visit to Capernaum (John 1:35–2:12). John went on to tell of the Lord’s early Judean ministry, His first Passover after His anointing, the cleansing of the temple, the interview with Nicodemus, the Lord’s baptism of His disciples, and the loyalty of John the Baptist (John 2:13–3:36). John told of the Lord leaving Judea for Galilee, His short stop in Samaria, and His encounter with the woman at the well (John 4:1–42).[1]
How do we know that all this occurred before our text here in Matthew? John 3:24 tells us, “For John had not yet been thrown into prison.” This is why when His mother sent the servants to Him at the wedding in John 2, He responded by saying: “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). Jesus was following God’s ordained timetable, and that included waiting for John to finish His ministry first. John himself had said about Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Now that John is gone from the scene Jesus publicly begins His public ministry.
Luke also informs us that upon returning to Galilee, Jesus first went to His hometown of Nazareth and taught in the synagogue. At first, the people were amazed at Him, but after He condemned their hardness of heart and God’s blessing of Gentiles, they tried to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4:16-30). Luke then tells us that Jesus went down to Capernaum in Galilee and was teaching on the Sabbaths (Luke 4:31).
Matthew 4:12 alludes to the fate of John the Baptist. Matthew will give us more details about what happened to John in Matthew 11. What Matthew wants us to see here is that Jesus’ public ministry continues that of John. When John is arrested and imprisoned by Herod, Jesus immediately and boldly replaces him. John preached repentance, and that is precisely the subject of Jesus’ preaching.[2] And John’s imprisonment and death would foreshadow the more significant death of Jesus.
Matthew saw this move of Jesus to Galilee as a major event of significance for it clearly made the point that Jesus was the Messiah King that Israel had waited for and that they needed.
The second thing I want you to notice is,
2. The Location of the Light (Matt. 4:13-16)
Matthew says, “He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali” (Matt. 4:12-13). Capernaum was a city on the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee. The Old Testament never mentions it by name but the Gospels repeatedly show Jesus there. In this town and its vicinity Jesus spent no small part of the three years of His public ministry. Matthew calls it Jesus’ own city (Matt. 9:1). Here Jesus healed the nobleman’s son (John 4:47); Peter’s mother-in-law (Matt. 8:14); the centurion’s servant (Matt. 8:5–13); and the Jairus’ daughter (Matt. 9:23–25).[3]
To most Jews, it would have seemed strange that Jesus would go to that region, let alone settle there. If Jesus were King, it would seem the logical place for Him to go would be Jerusalem.
Even Jesus’ unbelieving brothers knew that. John 7:1-5 tells us
1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. 3 His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. 4 “For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him.
Jesus’ brothers knew that if He wanted to be known as the Messiah and King, He didn’t need to waste time in Galilee, He needed to go to Jerusalem. This was the mindset of almost all the Jews. Later in that same chapter of John he reports, “Others said, ‘This is the Christ.’ But some said, ‘Will the Christ come out of Galilee?’” (John 7:41).
Why not Galilee? Maybe because of the history of “the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali.” Galilee was cut off from the theological bastion of Jerusalem. The region had never been wholly Jewish, for these tribes had failed to drive out all the Canaanites as God instructed them to do in the conquest of the land under Joshua. Later, Solomon had given twenty Galilean cities to Hiram, king of Tyre, for his help with building the temple. Constant invasions and settlement by Gentiles gave the area a mixed population; the western shore of the sea of Galilee was dotted with numerous towns and fishing villages occupied by large numbers of Gentile people. The more racially pure cities of Judea looked with scorn on Galilee and ridiculed the Galilean accent.[4] The proper Jews of Judea and Jerusalem likely thought that if anything, when the Messiah-King came, He would destroy that region, not settle there.
But, Matthew stresses the fact that it was in this Gentile overrun area that Jesus settled and began to preach. Matthew shows that if this move seemed peculiar to the Jews it was only because they didn’t understand the purpose of the coming of the Messiah-King. He did not come to destroy sinners, He came to save them. Matthew himself was from Galilee. In Matthew 9 he will tell the story of how Jesus called him to be a disciple while sitting at his tax collector’s booth. When the Pharisees saw Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners at Matthew’s table, they complained to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matt. 9:11). To that, Jesus answered, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Matt. 9:12-13).
Jesus had come to save men, not destroy them. So when Jesus began His ministry, He didn’t first go to the “righteous,” He went to the sinners.
Yet, if the Jews had known their scriptures, this move would not have surprised them. Matthew shows here that this also is a fulfillment of prophecy. Matthew 4:14 says, “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet.” And then Matthew quotes from Isaiah 9:1-2. The backdrop of this prophecy is that Assyria is about to conquer Israel and God wants them to repent and return to Him. But instead of seeking God, they are ignoring Him. Instead of seeking God and His word, Israel was going to the mediums and wizards (Isa. 8:19) though “there is no light in them” (Isa. 8:20). Isaiah tells them what the outcome of their sin will be:
21 They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God, and look upward. 22 Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness. (Isa. 8:21-22)
That is exactly what happened to God’s people, the nation of Israel. Their first conqueror would be Assyria, followed by Babylon, followed by Media, followed by Persia, followed by Greece, followed by Rome. It would be one oppressor after another. It would be the gloom of anguish and a life of utter darkness. And this is where Israel remained even until the coming of Jesus, especially the Gentile-dominated region of Galilee. But despite the darkness, Isaiah promised their eventual salvation in Isaiah 9:1-7.
Isaiah had promised that God would send gloom and darkness. But then God would send “a great light” to deliver those who live in darkness.
Who is this light? Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 9:6-7,
6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isa. 9:6-7).
It is the promised Messiah-King, the Son of David, the Son of God. Matthew points out that Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy. Specifically, Isaiah spoke of this region as “The people who sat in darkness” (Matt. 4:16). Darkness is a picture of ignorance and sin. As in darkness or night, we can see nothing and know not where to go, so those who are ignorant of God and their duty are said to be in darkness. Jesus said, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19). It is these unknowing and unrighteous people who “have seen a great light.” As the light, Jesus comes to show the truth, to expose sin, and reveal God’s will.
Isaiah also referred to this place as “those who sat in the region and shadow of death” (Matt. 4:16). It denotes a dismal, gloomy, and dreadful shade, where death and sin reign, like the chills, damps, and horrors of the dwelling-place of the dead (see Job 10:21; 16:16; 34:22; Psa. 23:4; Jer. 2:6.). [5] They were without hope.
The point of Matthew in quoting this prophecy is clear. In despised Galilee, the place where people live in darkness, the land of the shadow of death, here the light has dawned (Matt. 4:16). This was God’s prophesied plan.[6] The Lord’s move to Capernaum placed Him right in the middle of all the bustle of a world where Hebrew and heathen met and mingled as nowhere else in the promised land.[7] Nowhere could Jesus have had such a chance of gaining a large following as in Galilee. “It is not uncharacteristic of God to go for the least likely place, where the orthodox would never expect to find Him, among the greatest masses of unreached humanity.”[8]
Albert Barnes comments,
It shows the great compassion of the Saviour, that he went to preach to such poor and despised sinners. Instead of seeking the rich and the learned, he chose to minister to the needy, the ignorant, and the contemned. His office is to enlighten the ignorant; his delight to guide the wandering, and to raise up those that are in the shadow of death.[9]
Jesus was the Messiah-King for whom Israel was waiting and the Savior that they desperately needed. Finally, we see,
3. The Proclamation of the Light (Matt. 4:17)
Matthew 4:17, “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” The phrase “from that time” marks an important turning point because it ties something new to what has just preceded it.[10] John was in prison and Jesus was in Capernaum. Herod had silenced one voice and now a far more powerful voice was heard. That voice began exactly where the other had been stopped. The message was the same.[11]
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” is a summary of Jesus’ message. Jesus was a preacher. The verb “to preach” (κηρύσσω, kēryssō) was used to describe the work of the herald in a Greek city. It involved bold, clear, challenging proclamation. When the herald had something to proclaim, people had better listen. It was important. It came with authority.
Jesus walked into this sin-infested region; this region that had compromised with the world; that region that had copied the world’s religion; that region that had intermarried with the world and brought hardship upon themselves; that region that Isaiah said consulted mediums and wizards instead of consulting the Law of God. And as a result of their sin and disregard for God, their lives were darkness and death.
So, Jesus comes as the great light to shed light on their situation. He reveals that the problem that is killing them is sin, and therefore the solution to the problem is repentance. It’s not a cruel message, instead, it’s the message of salvation. Stop your life of sin; turn around; come back to God.
Thank God that Jesus loved enough to reveal the problem and to give Himself as the solution. Jesus said in John 3,
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18).
He is the light that you need. He is the Savior from your sins. He is the King who will reign forever. He is Lord of all. Won’t you turn from your sin and trust in Him today?
[1] John Phillips, Exploring the Gospel of Matthew: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch, 2014), Mt 4:13.
[2] Michael Green, The Message of Matthew: The Kingdom of Heaven, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 84.
[3] Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Matthew & Mark, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), 37.
[4] John Phillips, Exploring the Gospel of Matthew: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch, 2014), Mt 4:13.
[5] Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Matthew & Mark, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), 38.
[6] D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 8 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 117.
[7] John Phillips, Exploring the Gospel of Matthew: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch, 2014), Mt 4:16.
[8] Michael Green, The Message of Matthew: The Kingdom of Heaven, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 85.
[9] Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Matthew & Mark, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), 38.
[10] D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 8 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 117.
[11] John Phillips, Exploring the Gospel of Matthew: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch, 2014), Mt 4:17.
