Jesus Advances His Kingdom (Matthew 4:18-25)
We have a fitting word today in light of all that is happening in our broken city. A word about God bringing heaven to earth in Jesus. Oh Lord, we need heaven on earth.
After Jesus spent time in prayer and fasting in the wilderness, defeating the evil one’s temptations, he went out preaching that the kingdom was here and that the fitting response was repentance. But now we not only see a call to repentance, but a call to other men to come along with him, to follow him on mission and become his apprentice co-workers. Right from the start, it was Jesus’s intention not to advance his kingdom by himself, but to make disciples who would make disciples as he was doing.
This is kingdom advancement. Not a physical war, but spiritual. As people turn from sin and back to God, the devil loses ground and God’s rule on earth expands.
We see this in today’s text, starting in verse 18.
Jesus calls the First Disciples
English Standard Version Chapter 4
18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus is in his new “home” town by the sea of Galilee in Capernaum and he was walking by the sea. I imagine this walk was becoming part of his daily rhythm, a time with his Father. Based on the Gospels telling of his traveling ministry, Jesus spent a lot of his time walking. Many scholars estimate around 20 miles a day based on distances in Judea and Galilee. For example, the walk from his hometown Nazareth to where he now was in Capernaum was around 40 miles. That’s wild isn’t it? Jesus was seriously in shape. That’s on average 6-8 hours a day. Verse 23 tells us that Jesus went throughout all Galilee, and this was likely on foot.
The story Matthew records is quite simple. It says he saw two fishermen, Simon Peter and Andrew his brother. They were fishing. Jesus saw them, went to them, and called them to follow him and they left their boats and nets and followed him. Verse 21, he went a little further and saw two more brothers, James and John, sons of Zebedee. They were in the boat with Zebedee working and Jesus called them too. Likewise, they left their boat and their father and followed Jesus. What does the father think? Does he say, “go”. This is the Messiah. This would disrupt the family big time. There is real cost here for the family and for these disciples.
The Right Response To Jesus
This is truly incredible and seems almost unbelievable. What’s going on here? Why would these men up and leave to follow this seeming stranger?
Matthew’s Gospel doesn’t include the extra details that Luke and John’s Gospels do. In Luke 5:2-11, the narrative includes getting in their boat and teaching the crowds from it followed by a miraculous catch of fish that required the help of the other fisherman, James and John. John’s Gospel also records an earlier encounter with Jesus before John the Baptist was arrested (Jn 1:40-42). At that time John the Baptist had pointed to Jesus and called him “the Lamb of God” when Andrew, one of the two brothers here, followed Jesus and eventually brought Peter his brother to him.
If there is more to the story compelling these men to leave everything and follow Jesus, why doesn’t Matthew include it?
I think there is an important clue in the word “immediately”, which Mark uses as well in his Gospel (Mk 1:18). I think Matthew wants us to see the importance of the moment. If the king of kings shows up, this is the only appropriate response. Likewise, when our hearts recognize who this man is, we should be willing to immediately lay everything down and follow him, saying, “Jesus is Lord! I will follow you wherever you go no matter the cost!
This sounds a lot like the call of Elisha by Elijah (1 Ki. 19:19–21). (The Gospel of Matthew B. Calling Co-workers (4:18–22))
English Standard Version Chapter 19
19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. 20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” 21 And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.
He left his plow when Elijah called him. He knew about this man and knew that God was with him in power as a prophet of God. He didn’t make provision to come back to his work, but slaughtered the oxen and fed it to the people and followed Elijah as his assistant.
This should be our response to King Jesus today. The kingdom has come in Christ. He is our promised deliverer and Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This should evoke radical surrender, allegiance, and devotion, a “ready to sell all attitude”, which is exactly what will continue happening in verse 25 as the great crowds traveled great distances to get to him and follow him. It is often extremely costly to follow Jesus, but always worth it.
The dependence of Jesus on the Father
Not only does the response of these men seem rash, so does Jesus’s decision. He saw them and called them. Though Matthew makes it seem haphazard, Jesus has done all in dependence on the Father, being fully led by the Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus never charges ahead on his own but always depends on the Holy Spirit.
He says that he is doing what his Father is doing in the world (Jn 5:19) and over and over models for us time of solitude and prayer to get direction and wisdom. In fact, Luke’s Gospel records Jesus going to a desolate place just before calling his first disciples in 4:42 and likewise in 6:12-13 we read: In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles…”
It is right to imply that Jesus operates no differently here in calling these first men who would become part of the twelve and even more incredibly, part of the inner three – Peter, James, and John – who would be closest to Jesus during his ministry. Jesus began his ministry with prayer and fasting in the wilderness and he continues to be led through dependent prayer to the Father, which shows us and trains us, likewise, that dependence on the Holy Spirit in our day to day life, an abiding relationship with the Father, is the key to a healthy heart and life in this world.
The call: Follow Me, and I will form a new identity and purpose in you.
English Standard Version Chapter 4
19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
You should see in this call two things: 1) Kingdom of God advancing 2) apprenticeship beginning
Follow me. This is a call to be near Jesus. To follow him is to leave the old path in repentance (that’s kingdom advancement) and follow in his path, to watch him and listen to him and then to walk in his footsteps, to do as he does (that’s apprenticeship). This is a deliverance out of the dark kingdom moment (kingdom advancement) and a joining the ranks moment, a call to partnership in Jesus’s kingdom expansion (apprenticeship).
But notice how he describes the kingdom work he calls them to join. “I will make you fishers of men.”
Jesus speaks their language. They are fishermen, but with a word play he welcomes them into an even more important work that he has already begun - fishing for men.
Look at the words “I will make you”. Jesus wants to form them, form their identity and purpose in life. Not just fishermen anymore, but fishers of men. Following Jesus never means business as usual. Jesus wants to remake you and form your identity and purpose in this world like he does these men. You may carry out a similar vocation, but your identity and purpose changes as a follower of Jesus. Your vocation now includes the more superseding work of welcoming others into the kingdom even as Jesus is doing. Following Jesus means that we will do what he does. What he does is call disciples and equip them to make disciples.
The Nature Of the Kingdom
Early on in this ministry of Jesus, this phrase “fishers of men” let’s us in on what the kingdom of God looks like. It’s not military expansion, it’s not political dominance or overhaul, or destruction of opposers, but rather the call of men into the kingdom through faith in the Gospel of Jesus.
In Matthew 13, Jesus told his disciples a parable about what the kingdom of God is like using a fishing analogy.
English Standard Version Chapter 13
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The goal of Jesus is not condemnation but salvation. He came not to condemn but save an already condemned and dying people. We’re told in verse 23 that “he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom.” The Gospel of the kingdom is a good news message. Jesus was casting the “net” of the Gospel, a message that calls us to repent of sin and the coming death and come to Jesus who brings life! Many will repent and believe the message but many will not. Sadly, there is a coming punishment for those who reject Jesus, but Jesus came for salvation! He’s on a mission to save the lost.
Jesus was teaching his new apprentices and us that his work was to gain men’s heart through his preaching (and good works, which we’ll see in a moment). Jesus’s kingdom advance is truly the most merciful kingdom building strategy God could have employed!
Verse 23 and following shows us even more the merciful nature of the kingdom of heaven, which he wants his disciples to continue advancing.
Jesus Ministers His Mercy to Great Crowds
English Standard Version Chapter 4
23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
Jesus’s travels to teach in their synagogues. He moves from village to village to explain from the Scriptures that he is the Messiah King, which we see in Luke 4:16-21, when he read from Isaiah 61 and proclaims the Gospel that he is the fulfillment of the Scriptures, the Messiah King come to rescue them. He read from Isaiah 61:18-19:
English Standard Version Chapter 4
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
But he didn’t just preach it! He went and did it. Healing every disease and affliction. Nothing too powerful or great for Jesus. No demon too strong or disease to difficult. He healed them and delivered from them all! Verse 24 says, “…they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them.”
This is our God. This is what the kingdom of heaven is like. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us, bringing heaven to earth. He is undoing the curse that came into the world through sin, which destroys body and soul, marriage, and relationships, and all human flourishing. But we see all that being reversed as people encounter heaven through King Jesus, even as Aslan drives away winter in Narnia and brings life to it everywhere he goes.
Now, for obvious reasons, Jesus’s fame spread quickly. People from all over Israel and beyond begin following him. People were making extremely large journeys, days or week long journeys, to get to him and hear him and be touched by him.
It’s important to note that the Decapolis would have been largely populated by Gentile peoples, whom Jesus also healed and showed mercy to as Matthew shows in 7:24-29 with the Syrophoenician’s daughter.
Jesus was reversing the curse through his merciful ministry to the crowds and as he did many people turned and followed him. The kingdom of heaven was advancing!
The nature of our ministry: Word and Mercy
Jesus not only shows what his kingdom looks like in his preaching and acts of mercy, but also trains us what our ministry as his people, his hands and feet on earth, should look like.
We must preach the Good News of heaven coming to earth in Jesus, that he is our king come to save us, which demands that all people repent of their sin and come to him for forgiveness, life, and healing. This is the message Jesus preached and the only message that saves. He came not to condemn us but to take our condemnation on the cross, and he rose again and ascended to heaven and now draws all men to himself through the Gospel proclamation of his people.
But part of this labor, which we see not only with Jesus but also with his disciples as he sends them out in Matthew 10and later in the book of Acts, is acts of mercy through the power of prayer in Jesus’s name. We are called to go in his power and authority and pray for healing and deliverance of the sick and those oppressed by demons. We preach the Gospel and we display God’s mercy, showing what heaven is like. Mercy is not enough. Good works is not enough. We need a Savior. But our Savior showed mercy to the suffering and welcomes us into the same ministry.
God is still powerfully at work in his people by the indwelling Spirit in us. Jesus is very much alive in us, Church. Don’t underestimate his power, but step out in faith and pray for the sick even as you preach the Good News of Jesus.
I’ve seen people healed miraculously. I’ve been healed. I’ve seen demons cast out and people set free from all kinds of affliction.
As followers of Jesus, we are fishers of men after our Savior Jesus. Jesus wants to equip you and empower you in greater measure to do this work not just with people you would expect, but with people far from God, perhaps far from you, in other lands.
Charles Spurgeon famously said, “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned, unprayed for and unpreached to.”
And I would add, uncared for.
This is why we see the church through history being at the frontlines of hospital development, orphan and widow care, of racial reconciliation, and so on.
This is the Lord’s heart for sinners, indeed the whole world. May it be ours too. Disciples of Jesus are called to live as he live and do as he did. May we be faithful, giving our energy to the Lord and to the precious people he made that we see in our daily life and wherever the Lord may lead.
Right now, our city is suffering and desperately needs good news. Would you tell someone? And people are suffering lack and pain. Would you care for them?
Application and discussion:
Do you see Jesus as worthy of leaving everything for? What does it look like for you to “leave your nets” and follow Jesus and let him define your identity?
If Jesus called fishermen fisher of men, In your context, with the influence he has given you, what would Jesus say to you? For example, If you are a builder, I will make you a builder of eternal foundations, or a mother to the orphan heart or salesman of the healing balm?
Can your Christian life be defined by the purpose of fishing for men, by making disciples? Can you claim this as part of your identity and purpose as a follower of Christ?
Does your identity in Christ include showing mercy to suffering neighbors through sacrificial service or giving?
What’s the biggest obstacle for you to following Jesus in making disciples and showing mercy to the suffering?
I don’t want you to be overwhelmed by the need to leave your job and your family to find this work right now, but I do want us to have our hearts changed a little more in Christ’s image, helping us follow in his footsteps in greater degree with the life he has given you.
I want us to consider the work, play, and live circles of our life.
Where you live: Think and pray through who the neighbors are around where you live you and how can you take steps towards them with the Gospel and mercy. Yes, your kids are certainly part of that but not the only thing. Your kids need to be discipled by watching you and participating in this work to neighbors. Who can you get around your table, what community building things can you begin, Saturday bonfires or Taco Tuesday once a month.
A Send Network training at did this week asked the following questions:
1. As God’s missionary people—the sent ones—it is incumbent upon us to constantly ask missionary questions. Some questions we should be asking regarding our neighborhoods.
• How would a missionary live on my street?
• What would he or she notice is missing here?
• Who are the poor, marginalized and hurting in my neighborhood?
• What would good news be for my neighbors right here, right now?
• In what ways would my neighborhood be different if God’s kingdom came here as it is in
heaven?
Finding answers to these questions would be helped greatly by neighborhood prayer walks.
Also, neighborhood grid worksheet.
Where you work:
1. How might you do your work as a God-honoring act of worship?
2. How would your coworkers describe you as a worker?
3. How does Jesus’ work as a carpenter change the way you view your work?
4. Do you see your workplace as a place for discipleship? If not, why not? What would need to
change for you to see your workplace in this way?
Where you play: This is where you go for fun, exercise, a conversation over coffee.
What can you do to become more aware of your surroundings when you enter these social spaces? In what ways will you be more intentional to engage these places for the sake of the other?
Pray. Before entering each of the different types of third places mentioned in this lesson, pray that you would be more sensitive to what God is doing in that place. Ask the Spirit to give you not only insight into how He is at work in the lives of others, but the wisdom and courage to lean into what He is doing.
Who might God be leading you to engage with the Gospel and if needed, acts of mercy?
Meals
Most people eat 21 meals a week. Make a list of people you should share one of those meals with each week. What if you shared three to four meals each week? Don’t define sharing a meal too narrowly. It may mean you have coffee with someone before work. Or you take someone out to lunch. Perhaps it involves inviting someone over for dessert after dinner?