| The Foundation of Lady Katherine Leveson at Temple Balsall | ||
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St
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Preparing for the Kingdom Matthew 4: 12 - 23 Sermon preached on Sunday 23th January 2005 by In this passage Matthew prepares carefully for the Sermon on the Mount. What is said about Jesus and his activity here conditions the way the sermon is heard. Let's look at the passage which neatly divides itself into four sections. First - Following the arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus leaves Nazareth and begins to live in Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee. The move has immense significance - Jesus' journey to Galilee is part and parcel of God's redemptive plan - it is a piece of the fulfilment of the promise expressed centuries earlier by the prophet. For Matthew, the ministry of Jesus is predominantly among and for Jewish people. This is his priority. However, Matthew does point to something more, to the mission Jesus gives the disciples from the mountain in Galilee following the resurrection 'to make disciples of all nations'. The two belong together in the divine plan. Second - With the move to Galilee, Jesus begins to preach saying 'Repent for the Kingdom of heaven has come near' (verse 17). This is the ancient anticipation of the Jewish people that someday God's rule will be universally revealed. This rule is now declared as being near. So close, it impinges on the present, that the reign of God demands dependence. So radical and powerful its presence called men and women from their safety and routine to a life of unheard of newness. Repentance here means a change of direction, a gaining of a new set of values, the readiness for life under the reign of God. Third - The demand for change takes on particular force in the story that follows the call of the two sets of brothers, Simon and Andrea and James and John. Clearly the narrator has no interest in providing us with any explanation of how and why the brothers leave their nets and follow Jesus. The curiosity that wants to know whether they may have had some experience or knowledge of Jesus prior to this encounter is left unsatisfied. What matters is that Jesus addresses them, and immediately they leave to follow him. Where the Gospel of God's reign is preached, people are called to complete and absolute obedience. The abruptness of the disciples' departure, their break with fishing and family, and their instant acceptance of Jesus' invitation to 'fish for people' underscore the sharp demands of discipleship. The message of God's reign is not for the tentative and indecisive, because it necessitates whole- hearted allegiance. It brings a severing of old relationships and securities. It puts people to following Jesus, the one whose person and ministry embody God's reign. Fourth - The passage concludes with a summary statement of Jesus' activity following the call of the disciples. He teaches, preaches the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and heals all sorts of diseases. Here God's rule means the exercise of the divine power to make things right. It is not only a spiritual reality, touching the hearts of humans, bringing them into obedience. It corrects physical ailments and disabilities, human constitutions that for whatever reason have gone awry. So here we have the announcement of the nearness of God's reign, the demand for repentance, the call of the four disciples, and the description of Jesus' powerful and redemptive activity. The stage is set for the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew's reader now knows who this Jesus is and how he teaches in a radical way and has power to change. The authority that moves followers to break with the past and their previous loyalties and that miraculously heals broken bodies is that the authority is the authority that confronts hearers and readers in the sermon that we shall look at next week.. For your prayers and reflections:
The Reverend Dr James Woodward |
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