“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Matthew 4:12-25 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹² Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; ¹³ and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴ This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

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 were sitting in darkness saw a great Light,
And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,
Upon them a Light dawned.”

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The First Disciples

¹⁸ Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was 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 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.

Ministry in Galilee

²³ Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

²⁴ The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them. ²⁵ Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.

Many people today miss the main reason Jesus came and lived here on earth as a man. Many in the church focus on Jesus acts and teaching around love and service. Unbelievers too tend to point to those characteristics and teachings of Jesus as the only ones that deserve any consideration. I am not trying to say that Jesus did not teach about love and service to others. But by  focusing on serving human needs and offering human love we overlook the real purpose that Jesus had for coming into this earthly realm as a man. Jesus came, first and foremost because:  “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Today’s text is written about the beginning of Jesus earthly ministry. After He was baptized and overcame the temptation of the devil, the text says:       From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”          In Luke 4:14-21, we see a little more detail about this time at the beginning of Jesus ministry. It says:      And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. ¹⁵ And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. ¹⁶ And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,    ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, ¹⁹ To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”    ²⁰ And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus came first and foremost to preach the gospel, the good news of the kingdom, the freedom from captivity and oppression Jesus came to bring was from the spiritual bondage of sin and as evidence of His ministry Jesus teaching and preaching was accompanied by miracles of healing.

In verses 23-24 of today’s text it says:   Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. ²⁴ The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.         Teaching, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people,   that was Jesus ministry focus. Of course Jesus did teach about love and serving. Those are important aspects of His character and the character of God the Father. But we get it wrong when we put that as our first or only priority as believers, to the world. We are called to love, but:  We love, because He first loved us.(1 John 4:19) Love is a response to and a reflection of God’s love for us. So if we love others as a response and reflection of God’s love, then our motive and focus should be the same as His. We should love enough to proclaim the good news of the gospel of the kingdom. We should love enough to tell the world that God’s love is this: that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

In today’s text we see Jesus begin to call His disciples into ministry. What does He say to them? What is His call for them?  And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”     Jesus called them to the same purpose and mission He had for coming to earth. In Matthew 18:11, Jesus says it this way:    "For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.”

When the church allows itself either from within or from without, to lose its focus on this first and foremost purpose and mission, when we make human love the primary focus of the church, we miss the mark. In our culture and society today true love has been contaminated by tolerance, acceptance and inclusion. Jesus did not love people by accepting their sinfulness. Jesus and God the Father love people in spite of their sin. But, the message and the mission of Christ is to call sinners to repentance. We, like Jesus, should not condemn sinners. When Jesus intervened for the woman caught in the act of adultery He did not condemn her, neither did He tolerate her sin.    and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. ¹⁰ Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”(John 8:9-11)

Do we as believers really want to live like Jesus did? Do we want to walk in the same walk and mission and purpose He had. Someone has made a lot of money marketing the concept of what would Jesus do. (WWJD) The world will try to tell us what we has believers should do to be like Jesus. They will say that Jesus taught us to love and serve, neglecting and ignoring the first and foremost reason Jesus came. What would Jesus do in today’s culture and society? Scripture says: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) Being the same today then as He was yesterday, I would say that Jesus would keep His message and His purpose the same. He would:  preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” If Jesus were here today He would be:    teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

What would Jesus do? More importantly, if we would be followers of Christ what should we do? In John 14:12, Jesus says:  Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.     What are the works that Jesus did?  Of course He loved. Of course He served. But first and foremost His mission and His call, His purpose for coming is the same as His commission to us as believers. What would Jesus do? What does Jesus ask that we do?

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  

Lord Jesus Christ thank You for coming to earth to fulfill the call and purpose set by the Father. Thank You that while I was yet a sinner You died for me. You came to seek and save me when I was lost. Holy Spirit thank You for convicting me of my sin. You loved me enough to tell me the truth, to call me to repentance. Holy Spirit empower me to be like Jesus, to do the things that He did, to tell the truth and call sinners to repentance. May my life be like Jesus, full of the power of God to change lives. May it all be to the glory of God the Father and His purpose. In Jesus name, the name above all names, I pray.    Amen