Matthew 4:12–25
12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people dwelling in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
on them a light has dawned.”
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”1
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.”2 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.
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.
1 Or the kingdom of heaven has come near 2 The Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women
Section Overview
Matthew 1–2 established Jesus’ identity and his protection from the Enemy. Chapter 3 recounted the preparation for his ministry, as John prepared the people (3:1–12) and the Spirit prepared Jesus (3:13–17). Next, Jesus’ temptation demonstrated his loyalty and holiness (4:1–11). Thus all is in place for the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry, outlined in 4:12–25. The passage is a series of vignettes. One vignette first establishes the location of his early ministry, two state his great themes, one names his first disciples, and one mentions his miracles.
Section Outline
II.C. Jesus’ Initial Ministry in Galilee (4:12–25)
1. First Steps in Galilee (4:12–17)
2. Calling the First Disciples (4:18–22)
3. Proclamation of the Kingdom in Word and Deed (4:23–25)
This passage introduces Jesus’ ministry in Galilee with a series of short scenes. First, Jesus moves from Judea to Galilee, choosing “Capernaum by the sea” of Galilee as his center of operations (4:12–13). This fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy that a great light would dawn in “Galilee of the Gentiles” (vv. 14–16). The essence of Jesus’ message is, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (v. 17; cf. v. 23). The first proclamation leads to the call of the first disciples (vv. 18–22) and a summary of the miraculous deeds Jesus performs (vv. 23–24) in Galilee and beyond (v. 25).
Response
The faithful response to this section of Matthew is twofold. First, sinners should repent. The Westminster Larger Catechism, answer 76, calls repentance a “saving grace.” It is a work of the Spirit and the Word (Acts 2), the result of which is a sinner’s sensing the danger, contamination, and repulsiveness of sin. Repentance entails a grasp of God’s mercy for repentant sinners who receive Christ by faith. Repentance can include—yet is more than—guilt, shame, remorse, or sorrow at causing suffering in oneself or others. Judas felt most, if not all, of these, yet he did not repent.
As Paul says, “Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Cor. 7:10). Denial of sin is itself a sin, but self-condemnation and self-recrimination do not equal repentance. Both are selfish dispositions that turn in on themselves rather than turning from sin to God in his mercy. Repentance may begin with a sense that something is wrong, but it ends in conviction that the problem is sin against God, the only cure for which is faith joined to repudiation of sin.
This passage also shows that Jesus came to do more than heal and attract crowds; he came to make disciples. As noted, the call of the first four disciples is paradigmatic. In the next passage, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus sharpens the picture of discipleship.
Or the kingdom of heaven has come near
The Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women
4:12–17 Shortly after Jesus’ baptism and temptation, John is arrested (cf. 14:3–12). Jesus returns to Galilee, since hostility to John could lead to antipathy to Jesus, and he inaugurates his ministry there, in “Galilee of the Gentiles” (4:12–15). Jesus stays briefly in Nazareth, then chooses Capernaum for his center of ministry. This was a sizable town resting by the Sea of Galilee and the great road connecting Damascus to Caesarea.
This, Matthew says again, fulfills Scripture, suggesting again that all unfolds according to God’s plan. Following Isaiah 9, Jesus begins in Zebulun, which encompasses Nazareth, and Naphtali, which includes Capernaum. Both Zebulun and Naphtali belonged to the ten northern tribes, which God handed to the Assyrians because of unrepentant sin. The Assyrians scattered the Jews and allowed pagans to enter the land, which remained Gentile territory until being forcibly reclaimed by the Jews in 104 BC. We may doubt the depth of reconversion back to Judaism following this reclamation—Matthew justly calls it “Galilee of the Gentiles” due to its Jews’ lack of faith and its many Gentile residents.
The decision to minister in Galilee fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy. This is the fifth appearance in Matthew’s narrative of “that . . . might be fulfilled.” Each instance implies that Jesus’ ministry conforms to God’s plan. The prophecy of Isaiah begins to come to full fruition, as “light has dawned” on “people dwelling in darkness” (Matt. 4:16). “People” translates laos, a Greek term reserved in Jewish texts for Israel, the people of God. So Jesus first shines his light on Israel, yet, because he labors in Galilee of the Gentiles, his work touches them, too.
“From that time” Jesus proclaims, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (v. 17). Jesus preaches exactly as John had preached (cf. 3:2; comment on 3:1–6). To review, “repentance” has four principal meanings in Scripture: (1) a desire, possibly falling short of redemption, to forsake iniquity and to lead a better life (Jonah 3:6–10); (2) a saving conversion that begins with sorrow for sin and ends with faith in the God of mercy (Isa. 55:7); (3) the way of life that follows the definitive act of turning from sin and to God (Ezek. 18:30); and (4) a revival in the redeemed, by which they return to God after a season of sin or faithlessness (Rev. 2:4–5; cf. 2 Sam. 12:7–13; Ps. 32:1–7). “Repent” in Matthew 3:2 and 4:17 probably focuses on the second and third meanings but would include the fourth.
Historically, the Reformation turned, in part, on the proper translation of Matthew 3:2 and 4:17. The Latin Vulgate, which was Europe’s Bible for centuries, translated “repent” (Gk. metanoeite) as “do penance” (Lat. paenitentiam agite). To overstate the difference, “repent” means turn to God for mercy, whereas “do penance” means to do something to pay your own debt.
4:18–22 Matthew shifts from the first message of Jesus to the calling of his first disciples. Read in isolation, the call of Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John seems abrupt, as if Jesus spots four fishermen and summons them without logic or preparation. But a comparison of Gospel narratives shows that they meet Jesus several times before they hear the definitive call to follow him. John says Peter and Andrew met Jesus earlier, when they were attached to John the Baptist, who had started to point his disciples to Jesus (John 1:40–42). In Luke 5, the first disciples call Jesus “Master” and witness his miraculous powers before they leave all to follow him (Luke 5:1–11).
The scene is still remarkable. In saying “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19), Jesus summons them, promises to equip them, and commissions them. The men are decisive—they leave family, work, and home at once (v. 22). The mention of a boat in verse 21 shows that at least James and John have capital and thus enjoy middle- or upper-class status. Their move entails socioeconomic sacrifice.
The disciples stop catching fish and begin to catch men. This echoes Jeremiah 16:14–20, in which the Lord says he sends “many fishers” and “many hunters” to call his people back from their dispersion in “the north country” and beyond. The tone in Jeremiah is ominous: it promises return from exile but declares that none who return will be able to hide their sin, especially their idolatry, from the Lord. But Matthew is positive. Jesus proclaims a kingdom and calls allies to catch men for it.
Later, Jesus tells disciples to “count the cost” of discipleship (Matt. 10:16–25). But here Peter, Andrew, James, and John neither vacillate nor delay when they hear the call. The call of Matthew in 9:9 is the same. Matthew says twice (4:20, 22, in nearly identical language) that the men leave their livelihood and follow Jesus, as the disciples themselves later recall (19:27). They follow both physically and spiritually. Leaving their former way of life, they become like the Master as they walk with him (10:24–25).
The scene is paradigmatic, even if subsequent followers change neither vocation nor location. Rabbis waited for students, in whatever number, to apply to them; Jesus issues a summons, sovereign and absolute, to just twelve. Rabbis had their disciples separate from sinners; Jesus wades into the masses and chooses men with no discernible superiority to those masses. The rabbis outlined a strict but familiar path; the disciples break with old loyalties and take Jesus’ mission as theirs.
4:23–25 Matthew notes that Jesus’ ministry included three elements: preaching, teaching, and healing. His programmatic statement appears, in almost identical language, in 4:23 and 9:35: “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.” In the synagogues, Jesus initially finds welcome as an itinerant teacher and he instructs those who assemble for worship (Luke 4:16–22). He also proclaims the gospel of the kingdom, the good news that God reigns. The Evangelist discloses the content of this proclamation throughout his Gospel, especially in Matthew 5–7 and 13.
Jesus traverses Galilee, a region up to 80 miles (130 km) north to south and 50 miles (80 km) east to west, all on foot, healing “every disease and every affliction” as he goes. The language is hyperbole; it is “absolute because it describes something of absolute importance.” We know that Jesus will sometimes stop healing and move on to proclaim the kingdom in other cities (Luke 4:42–43). Still, he heals multitudes who suffer all sorts of ailments and afflictions, including diseases, pains, paralysis, and demon possession. In an age when medicine was so undeveloped, the result is foreseeable. Great crowds, hearing the report of his miracles, stream to him from across the region. Indeed, they gather from beyond Galilee: from the Decapolis, the largely Gentile region southeast of the Sea of Galilee, from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.