The Dawning of Light | Matthew 4:12-17

Scripture

• Matthew 4:12–17

About this sermon

Introduction: Mankind has a massive problem. So massive that he can’t fix it. We can’t fix it ourselves and we can’t fix it for each other. So massive that only God can open the spiritual eyes to recognize the gravity of it. So massive that God’s solution for it is something that neither men nor angels would have ever conceived. That massive problem can be described with the word DARKNESS. It is the darkness that belongs to death. It is the darkness that exists in sin. It is the darkness of estrangement from God. God’s solution for this massive problem is singular, yet all-encompassing. God’s solution addresses everything that has been affected by the problems of sin and death. God’s singular solution is His Son. Jesus is mankind’s ONLY hope. Emphasis on the word ONLY. The only answer for mankind’s massive problem is Jesus the Messiah. He is the Savior who was promised. He is the Savior who came from heaven and was born of a virgin. He is the Savior to whom God attested. He is the Savior who was proven by triumphing over the devil’s temptations. He is the Savior who went on (as we will learn) to triumph at the cross, and rose from the grave, has ascended into Heaven, and is coming again. HE is the Savior who ALONE offers hope to sinners. That Savior, and all the hope that is found in Him, can be described with the word LIGHT. HE IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. IN HIM IS THE LIGHT OF LIFE. ESV John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." When I look at this text, the main message is as simple as that. What we have in our verses tonight is, in one significant way, the launching of Christ’s public ministry. His baptism served as an introduction, and in that sense it was an inauguration. Following that baptism there was a time when Jesus and John were both preaching and both baptizing (maybe longer than a year) — so that Jesus was engaged in public ministry even while the forerunner was on the scene. But what we have tonight represents a very important transition. John is now off stage, and Jesus takes full stage. And what is emphasized, as He takes full stage, is that this world is in darkness, and Jesus is the light, and the light is sufficient for all the world, and the dawning of this light was promised long ago and was now — at that time — dawning. We look at our verses tonight under four headings, each one describing what Jesus does. (1) Christ returns to Galilee (vs.12) (2) Christ settles in Capernaum (vs.13) (3) Christ fulfills Scripture (vs.14-16) (4) Christ proclaims His kingdom (vs.17). • CHRIST RETURNS TO GALILEE (vs.12) Between verses 11 and 12 there is a time gap. That gap is covered by John’s gospel account. From John 1:19-4:43, we learn that Jesus carried out ministry that overlapped with the Baptizer. James Montgomery Boice summarized it well. James Montgomery Boice — “Before returning to Galilee (which John records in 4:43), Jesus met and called the first of his disciples, turned the water to wine at Cana, resided for a short while in Capernaum, returned to Jerusalem for an early Passover, drove the money changers from the temple, talked to Nicodemus, conducted an early teaching ministry in the Judean countryside, and had his encounter with the woman of Samaria on his way north again (see John 1:19–4:42). It is at this point that Matthew seems to pick up the story (Matt. 4:12–25).” The one element that Boice did not mention, is that during this time gap John the Baptist gave additional witness to Jesus. Following the wilderness temptations, Jesus had some time of ministry that intersected with John’s ministry. John told the people that the Messiah was on the scene, that Jesus was confirmed by the Spirit’s descent as the Messiah, and that Jesus was the Lamb of God and was to be followed (John 1:19-37). William Hendriksen — “Matthew does not indicate any chronological connection between this verse and the preceding material (the account of the baptism and the temptation). There may well have been a time interval of about a year, during which the events related in John 1:19–4:42 occurred.”