There is no partiality with God.

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

Jesus Begins His Ministry

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.”

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.

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.

Today’s text begins:   Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— “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.”    In all there are about 350+ Biblical prophecies regarding the Messiah, fulfilled by Jesus birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection. Yet even with all that evidence, people will not be convinced that Jesus is the Messiah. It requires more than knowledge; recognizing Jesus as Messiah, as Savior requires a change of heart. It requires that we acknowledge the need of a Savior. Jesus Himself says:  "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”   Romans 11:22 says:  Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.   Romans 2:4-11 says:   Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.     Jesus Christ is Messiah, Savior of and for all. God indeed is patient and kind and His kindness leads to repentance. The kindness of God draws people to recognize their need of a Savior. But for those who reject God’s kindness they will know the severity, the tribulation and distress of their own choice of evil. There is no partiality with God.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)  The fulfillment of prophecy proves that Jesus is the Messiah, but each individual must choose to believe.

Today’s text continues:  From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”   We tend to think of repentance as turning from sin to righteousness, and it is that. But to repentant is more than just changing what you do. It is also changing the way you think. To repent means to change your mind. For many of the Jews in Jesus time, it was critical that they change what they thought and believed about Messiah. Many, in that day, were looking for a Messiah who would be a strong political or military leader. They sought a savior from the political bondage of an oppressive government. Many missed their needed personal Savior because of what they thought, what they believed the Messiah would be. In the same way, it is vital for everyone today, whether Jew or Gentile, non-Jew, to change not only their actions, but to change what they believe.  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)  None of us are able to be our own savior. Ephesians 2:8-9 says:  For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.    There is no partiality with God.  If salvation were based on our own works or our own righteousness, it would leave room to question why some are saved and others are not. Jesus though calls us to repent, to change how we think and to believe in Him.

The text continues saying: 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. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 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. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.   For these first disciples there was no convincing, no proving by the fulfillment of prophecy, no following after the miracles, there was simply an immediate response, a drawing to follow the calling of the Son of God.  What about you, how will you respond? The text 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. 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. Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.    We are all different. We all process information and decide things differently. For us there is the evidence of the prophecies fulfilled by Jesus. There is the evidence of the signs and miracles. There is the drawing and the calling to follow Him. There is no partiality with God.   It does not matter whether we respond immediately as the first disciples did or we take a little more time to change how we think. In Matthew 20:16 Jesus says: “So the last shall be first, and the first last.”   It doesn’t matter when we believe. It really doesn’t matter why we believe, whether through the multitude of evidence, through the patience and kindness of God or simply through the immediate response to His calling and drawing. All that matters is that we repent, that we change the way we think, that we believe in Jesus, the Christ, our Savior. For there is no partiality with God.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus the Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for calling and drawing me. Thank You for Your patience and kindness. Thank You for the evidence of signs and miracles. I believe. I recognize that the kingdom of heaven is indeed at hand and I pray, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Amen.