Foundations of Truth

Announcer: Welcome to Foundations of Truth with Pastor Timothy Mann from Providence Church in Ormond Beach, Florida. Psalm 119:105 reminds us, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Let’s join Pastor Tim now as he lets God’s word illuminate our lives and guide us into his truth today. This message is from The King and His Kingdom series.

Dr. Timothy Mann: This new series, we are working our way through the Gospel of Matthew, the first book in the New Testament. Matthew, and we are in chapter four, verse 12 down through verse 17. Follow along with me as I read from the New King James Version of the Bible.

The Bible says, "Now when Jesus heard that John," and of course, that is John the Baptist that we met previously, "when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, 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, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: '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 sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned.'"

"From that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" And we will stop our reading there this morning. This is God’s word. Amen. Every kingdom has a beginning. It's not necessarily the moment when it first appears on a map, but the moment when it becomes visible, when it breaks into history, when the ruler steps forward and speaks.

In Matthew chapter four, verses 12 through 17, it records that moment for the kingdom of God. After centuries of promises and prophecies and shadows and types and longing, Jesus now steps out of the wilderness where we saw him last week being tempted by Satan. He steps out of the wilderness and into public ministry.

The King is no longer preparing in obscurity anymore. He is now speaking with authority. In fact, what he is doing is he is announcing his kingdom. But Matthew here does something unexpected because the account doesn't begin with triumph; it really starts with trouble.

Verse 12 says, "Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he departed to Galilee." So at the very moment when the forerunner, John the Baptist, is silenced, the King steps forward. When John is imprisoned, Jesus moves. When one voice is silenced, the other more powerful voice rises. The enemy's attempt to suppress the message actually becomes the very moment that God advances it.

That's how the kingdom works. I want to remind you this morning, so that you can have peace in this regard, darkness does not stop God. It sets the stage for him. Jesus here departs for Galilee, which is the northern part of the country. He doesn't go to the religious center of Jerusalem or to the seat of power down in Judea. He's not in the place of influence or prestige.

He goes to Galilee, which is a region known for mixed populations and spiritual confusion. It's often dismissed as unimportant or as spiritually unclean, especially by the religious elite. But this is where the King begins, interestingly enough. He doesn't launch his kingdom from the palace or from the temple. He starts it in a region marked by darkness and division and neglect.

I believe that's the heart of God. He shines light where the world does not expect it. He steps into the shadows and the places of spiritual poverty, into the regions where they are most aware of their need. Matthew uses this announcement here. He wants us to see that the arrival of the kingdom is an invasion. It's the light breaking in where the darkness was the thickest.

Then Jesus speaks in verse 17. And we're going to go back and walk through these in just a moment. Jesus speaks and says, "From that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" Do you know that in Matthew's Gospel, these are the first recorded words of Jesus's public ministry?

This is the King's announcement. The kingdom is not far away or theoretical. It's near, it's present, and it's arriving in the person and the work of Jesus Christ. This means that the kingdom is not something you admire from a distance. It demands a response. It demands allegiance and repentance.

When Jesus announces his kingdom here, he is calling you and me to turn from our own way and follow him. Matthew here in these passages shows us three ways that this truth must shape our lives today. The first is this: We need to trust God's leading when your circumstances feel uncertain. Trust God's leading when your circumstances feel uncertain.

In verses 12 and 13, Matthew begins this section with a detail that almost feels abrupt. He says, "Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he departed to Galilee." We don't have time to fully unpack the story of John the Baptist, but he was the faithful forerunner. He's the man Jesus ultimately calls the greatest born among women and the greatest prophet ever. He is suddenly silenced.

John confronted sin, preached repentance, prepared the way, and baptized even the Messiah. And yet now he is in prison, placed there by a corrupt and immoral leader. Nothing about this feels triumphant at the beginning. Nothing looks like victory. It feels like the light is being snuffed out just as it's beginning to shine.

But I think the Holy Spirit would want us to see something more profound. God is not caught off guard. Jesus is not derailed in any way. The imprisonment of John the Baptist is not the collapse of God's plan. It's actually the catalyst for the next stage. God often works in ways that seem backward to us. He brings progress through events that feel like setbacks.

He advances his kingdom through circumstances that seem confusing, painful, or even discouraging. John's imprisonment was a reminder that obedience does not guarantee comfort. Faithfulness does not eliminate hardship. You can be absolutely, fully in the will of God and enter seasons of your life that feel dark or uncertain.

But John was not abandoned. He was fulfilling his role, and Jesus was not hesitating. He is now stepping into his. Jesus's response here teaches us something important. Jesus moves forward in the Father's plan, even when circumstances around him appear chaotic. He doesn't retreat into fear or delay his mission. He actually doesn't interpret John's imprisonment as a sign that God is suddenly absent. Instead, he sees this as the moment to step forward.

When one part of the mission ends, another begins. When one voice is quieted, another is raised. What looks like a loss becomes the moment God advances his kingdom. If you've read the Gospels, you know ultimately John is killed. God's at work. God is advancing his kingdom.

Matthew tells us something equally significant in verse 13. He says, "And leaving Nazareth, he," meaning Jesus, "came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali." Those regions are named after tribes of Israel. What happens here is Jesus is relocating his base of ministry. He leaves Nazareth, the town where he grew up. He leaves familiarity, comfort, and what is known to him.

He goes to Capernaum, which is a strategic but very spiritually dark fishing village along the Sea of Galilee. This move is not accidental. Jesus is doing something very specific. It's intentional. Jesus is going where the Father leads him, not where the world expects him to go. He doesn't begin his ministry in Jerusalem or in Judea. Instead, he begins in Galilee, an area that many in Judea actually looked down upon.

It was even said, "No prophet arises out of Galilee." They considered it to be spiritually inferior. But interestingly enough, Jesus chooses that place. He chooses the overlooked and the forgotten. That teaches us something about God's leading. His direction for your life is not always what you would have chosen.

Sometimes he moves you into places that feel unexpected, unfamiliar, and even uncomfortable. Sometimes he takes you away from what is familiar and into what is uncertain. But uncertainty does not mean that something has gone wrong. Uncertainty often means that God is doing something new.

Jesus's move to Capernaum reveals the heart of the kingdom. God builds his kingdom through divine wisdom, not human expectations. He often places his people in locations and circumstances that they would have never chosen for themselves. He places them where his light is needed most.

That relationship you're trying to decide whether or not you should really have with that friend or neighbor—think about that. It could be where the light you have to shine is needed most. He sends his people into places of darkness so that his grace can be seen and his glory can be revealed. Capernaum becomes the center of Jesus's ministry. From there, he called disciples, worked miracles, and preached sermons. It was a launching pad of the world-changing ministry of the Son of God.

What others saw as unimportant, God saw as essential. When God leads you into a situation that seems small or overlooked, do not assume it is less valuable. It may very well be the place where he intends to display his power through your life to impact that other person's life and their situation.

I think this account speaks directly to the hearts of believers who find themselves in seasons that feel confusing or difficult. You might very well be walking through circumstances right now that do not make sense. You might feel like John the Baptist, wondering why obedience has led to hardship. He ultimately asked the question, "Is he the one? Did I miss it? I'm here in prison. Is he the one?"

You might feel like why is obedience seemingly leading to hardship. Or you might feel very much like Jesus in stepping into a new season with uncertainty all around you. The message is really clear: Trust God's leading. He knows what he is doing even when you do not. He works through what appears to be setbacks and advances his purpose through adversity.

He guides his people into places they would not choose so that his glory can shine where it's needed most. Jesus's move to Capernaum prepared the way for prophecy to be fulfilled, for the light to shine, and for the kingdom to advance. Your time period that you're in right now, your difficulty, your uncertainty may very well be preparing the way for God to work in ways that you cannot yet see.

I want to assure you this morning that the King does not lead you aimlessly. He leads you very purposefully. And even when circumstances are challenging through the hardships of life—and life is difficult—know his hand is steady. You can trust the Lord's leadership even when circumstances feel uncertain.

That leads us to the second principle. Not only must you trust God's leading, but we also need to see the light that Jesus brings into the world's most profound darkness. In verses 14 through 16, Matthew now shows us the deeper reason that Jesus relocated to Capernaum. This was prophetic. Jesus didn't choose this region because the fishing was good. He didn't choose this region because the roads were busy or the population was large.

He went there because the Father determined that this would be the place where the light of the kingdom would break into the darkness of the world. Verses 14 through 16 say that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet 700 years before Jesus was born, saying, "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 sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned."

This is one of the most beautiful Old Testament prophecies that Matthew cites. Isaiah chapter nine is a chapter that speaks of the coming Savior as Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. But before Isaiah describes the glory of the Messiah, he describes the people's darkness. They live under the shadow of oppression, spiritual blindness, fear, and unbelief.

They had endured invasion and suffering. They were worn out and spiritually numb. Matthew says that Jesus went to Galilee because Isaiah the prophet had prophesied that the light would shine there first. Zebulun and Naphtali were northern tribes that had suffered some of the earliest and worst blows from foreign invaders. They became a kind of symbol of spiritual darkness.

They were borderlands, mixing Israelites with Gentiles and resulting in compromise and religious drift. And yet these were the places where God said the light would dawn. I want you to notice the language. It says, "The people who sat in darkness." They were not moving or looking for light. They were sitting—resigned and paralyzed.

That is the posture of spiritual darkness. It steals movement, it drains energy, and it crushes expectation. Spiritual darkness actually convinces people that nothing will ever change. But Matthew says they have seen a great light. Not a flicker or a spark, but a great light.

The arrival of Jesus is the invasion of divine grace into the lives of people who had lost the ability to hope. Then Matthew adds, "Upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned." Spiritual darkness at its deepest level is described as the shadow of death. The picture is of people living in the valley of spiritual death, unable to free themselves from fear, guilt, shame, or sin.

But the light dawns. Light doesn't ask permission. Did you notice this morning when it began to get daylight, did the sun ask you permission? No. Light doesn't ask permission or hesitate. Light just breaks in. I want you to know, Jesus did not come to tweak the world. He came to pierce the darkness with the glory of his presence.

His movement to Capernaum fulfills this prophecy and reveals that the kingdom of God often breaks into places that seem beyond hope. It shines into the regions forgotten by others. It reaches people who have been sitting too long in the shadows. It brings life to those who are living in death's valley.

Theologically, this shows that Jesus is not only the bringer of light, but he's also the light himself. He does not illuminate Galilee from a distance. He steps into it. He walks its roads, touches its lepers, and calls disciples from its shores. He shines in their darkness with personal presence and redemptive power.

This is the heart of the gospel. God does not wait for sinners to find their way to him. He comes to them. Salvation is the story of God descending down into our brokenness. And every genuine believer in this room, that truth speaks to you. Your story is one of light breaking into darkness.

At whatever age you were, you once sat in the shadow of death. You once lived in spiritual blindness and you had no hope. But praise God, the light dawned. Jesus came into you. He opened your eyes, he broke the power of darkness, and he called you out of the shadows. And the kingdom broke into your world.

That truth should also shape the way you see the world around you. Some people appear to be hardened, uninterested, or deeply confused. They may sit in darkness, but I want to remind you that those are the very places where Christ shines brightest. No one is too lost for his light to reach. No community is too broken, no heart is too wounded, and no sinner is too deep in the shadows.

God chose Galilee to show that his kingdom advances by reaching the overlooked and the broken. That's why the gospel goes forth with such power when the church is willing to shine in dark places rather than hide in safe ones. Your call, Christian, is to see the darkness around you through the eyes of Jesus. Do not despair when the world seems dark because light shines best in the places where the darkness is thickest.

Do not retreat from people who seem spiritually resistant. They may be just moments away from seeing the dawn break in their life. Don't underestimate the power of Christ to transform the most unlikely situations. The King announces his kingdom by stepping into the shadows and shining his light.

That prepares us for the final truth. The kingdom has dawned, but the King calls for a response. We respond to the King with repentance and allegiance. Matthew now brings us to the very first recorded sermon of Jesus in the Gospel. In verse 17, Jesus speaks and says, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." This is not a suggestion or an invitation to consider. It's a command from the King.

And when Jesus announces his kingdom, he immediately declares the response he expects from every person who hears his voice. Repentance is not simply a religious word. It's actually a posture of a heart that comes under the rule of Christ. It is the doorway into the kingdom.

Matthew says, "From that time," which marks a transition in Jesus's ministry. He is moving from preparation to proclamation and from private obedience to public authority. This is the beginning of his kingdom preaching. The message that's going to define his entire ministry is one word: Repent. This word means a change of mind that leads to a change of direction. It is not merely feeling sorry for your sins. It is actually turning away from them. It is not self-improvement. It's surrender.

Announcer: Thanks for listening to Foundations of Truth with Pastor Timothy Mann from Providence Church in Ormond Beach, Florida. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Until next time, keep building your life on God’s eternal truth, the Bible.