Sermon Matthew 4:12-23 Fishers of Men

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Sermon Matthew 4:12-23 Fishers of Men

January 26, 2014

This is the third Sunday after Epiphany and we are continuing our look at the manifestation of God on earth as a man named Jesus. We witnessed Jesus' baptism where he received his commission to bring people from the darkness of unbelief into the light of faith. We have seen that this is done by sharing our testimony with others which then allows God to invite people into a relationship with his son. Today we will look at what Jesus said and did in his public ministry as a model for what we can say and do in our ministries today. But first, let's pray.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

Matthew 4:12-23 12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali-- 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: 15 "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-- 16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."

Jesus' public ministry began with the arrest of John the Baptist. John was handed over to the authorities in Galilee just as Jesus will be handed over to the authorities in Jerusalem at the end of his public ministry. Jesus' response to John's arrest was courageous. He went toward the trouble and began his public ministry in Galilee, the kingdom of Herod Antipas, who had arrested John.

The reason Jesus did this, as Isaiah foresaw, was to bring the Jews, descended from the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, from the darkness of unbelief into the light of faith. These people has suffered much for hundreds of years. They had been oppressed by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans. In Jesus' day they were the poor laborers working on farms and fishing from boats to feed the Roman empire. Jesus could have stayed in Nazareth or traveled the short distance to Sepphoris, a prosperous Roman city, but instead he went to minister to the working poor in Capernaum. Let's see what he did when he got there.

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

So Jesus continued what John the Baptist had started. He told people to repent, change their ways. Turn to God. But the reason he gave for doing this was very different. John had told people to repent for the “forgiveness of sins”. But Jesus told them to repent “for the kingdom of heaven is near”. There is much confusion about this phrase, “the kingdom of heaven in near”. Some believe that Jesus was teaching us to change our ways in order to get to heaven when we die. But this is not at all what Jesus was talking about. For Jesus, heaven is not just some place you go to when you die. Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven was coming here to earth. And and if the kingdom of heaven is arriving on earth then don't we owe our total allegiance to the God of heaven and not to something else?

In order to proclaim this radical message Jesus needed a group of disciples to assist him in his ministry. These disciples had to be courageous because the message Jesus was going to proclaim would be considered treason. Jesus knew that fisherman were very courageous because they battled the weather and the sea every day trying to make a living. He also knew that they were hard working, fishing all night and repairing their heavy nets by day. And he knew that fishermen were persistent, fishing night after night even if they were no fish to catch. So Jesus got some fishermen to follow him and assist in his ministry. Let's see what happens next.

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Peter, Andrew, James and John all left the only lives they had ever known to follow Jesus into ministry. They left families, boats and nets to respond to Jesus' call. We see from this that the kingdom of heaven demands our total loyalty. The government and business puts up obstacles to worship. We worship anyway. Our employers tell us we have to work on Sunday. We come to church anyway. Our families tell us that going to church is foolishness. We go to church anyway, because in the kingdom of heaven, God is our king. We need to be courageous because our faith will bring us into conflict with government authorities, employers and our families. But God demands our total allegiance. With this cost in mind, let us see what Jesus wants us to do.

Notice that Simon, Andrew, John and James were not told to follow Jesus because of anything they had done. Jesus' command was to follow him because he will make us into something. We don't have to be fishermen to be useful to Jesus. We just have to be who we are and Jesus will make us into what he needs. For years I never thought that I would be a pastor. But Jesus has made me into one. All I did was worship and pray and study the Bible. God changed me completely. And he will do that to you as well. If you continue to worship, pray and study scripture God will change you too. And you will be made into fishers of men. Let's return to the story and watch Jesus at work.

23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

And so our ministry as followers of Jesus Christ is to teach, preach and heal. We start by teaching what the Bible says. This is why we offer Christian education for all ages. We teach what the Bible says and hold it in our hearts. Then we proclaim that the kingdom of heaven has come near. We preach that God is our king to whom we owe our total allegiance. And we pray together asking God to heal our relatives and friends. We model our ministry on Jesus' ministry, teaching, preaching and praying for healing every Sunday. And we carry on these ministries of teaching, preaching and praying throughout the week as we witness to others.

Doing these things may come at a high cost. Many people mistakenly believe that being a Christian will make you prosperous and happy. But we have seen in both John and Baptist and Jesus that Christian ministry often leads to imprisonment and death. But we do it anyway because of the great love we receive from God, and the example of Jesus sharing this love with people living in darkness by bringing them into the light of faith. Let us pray.

We thank you dear Lord for choosing us to engage in ministry. We accept your call to fish for men and women by teaching, preaching and praying for healing. We pledge to follow you alone as our God and Lord. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.