Matthew 4:17-25 The Response to an Evidence Based Faith”
Matthew is keen to confront everyone with the evidence that Jesus is the only son of God. On either side of the challenge, ‘Come, follow me’, the evidence is summarised. Many times he emphasises that Jesus fulfils what was written in the Word of God by repeatedly saying, ‘This was fulfilled’, thus in this section we read:
“ . . . to fulfil what was said through the prophet Isaiah:” Matthew 4:14
After his challenge, ‘Come follow me’, Matthew gives us some contemporary evidence to support the claims of Jesus. He did miracles that only God could do.
“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralysed; and he healed them.” Matthew 4:23-24
He healed the physical illnesses of many people. It is interesting that Matthew stresses that people came from Syria, a vast first century Roman province, so stressing that Jesus came to open his Kingdom to all people including non-Jews. Great crowds came from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and Perea, the region west of the river Jordan. Jesus made radical claims that he substantiated. He had every right to do so because he really is who he claimed to be. The ultimate proof was his own resurrection three days after being executed by crucifixion. He convinced the disciples who lived closely to him. They gave their lives to share the news that Jesus is the risen Messiah.
The response of faith
In the West a casual, laid-back version of so-called Christianity is very common. This is not what ‘belief’ in the Bible means. Notice the response of the first four disciples when they were approached by Jesus. Jesus said ‘Come, follow me’, and their response was dramatic. We read about Peter and Andrew who were fishing:
“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.“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.” Matthew 4:18-20
Then he called James and John:
“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, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him”. Matthew 4:21-22
We have read in John’s gospel that Andrew and Peter had been followers of John the Baptist but he had passed them on to become disciples of Jesus:
“Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).” John 1:40-41
There was an immediacy about the decision to follow Jesus that came from the realisation that Jesus really was the Messiah of God. They left everything to follow him immediately.
It is obvious therefore that to teach the Sermon on the Mount that follows without emphasising who is teaching this sublime material is totally wrong. People first need a Saviour, someone who can put them right with God and empower them to live a very different life. Only when people have received this new life by accepting the rule of Jesus in their life will they be concerned to live in a way that pleases him. To teach the Sermon on the Mount as rules or an ethical code divorced from the authority of Jesus and his majestic claims would totally miss the point. Political parties may try to claim the high moral ground by quoting from the Sermon but they also have missed the point that this Sermon is part of the evidence that Jesus has come from God.
The Christian manifesto is all about Jesus. He is the God who created our universe and entered into it as a human being.
He is Lord of all and rules his universe. Consequently to preach a political ‘Back to Basics’ can be preaching a Christian ethic without Jesus Christ and is really just moralising.
Jesus demands a radical personal commitment to himself if people are to be saved and admitted into God’s Kingdom. When Jesus says ‘Come, follow me’, it literally means ‘come behind me’. Christians allow Jesus to lead. That is what repentance means. Without allowing Jesus to control me, there is no salvation. Jesus said,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” John 4:17
This radical manifesto is actually attractive to people. Large crowds followed Jesus (Matthew 4:25).
This does not mean that God wants every Christian to give up their job and go into full time Christian service. In the New Testament most Christians continue living normal lives with their families and jobs. Slaves who became Christians had no option but to continue where they were, serving their masters. What does change is that in everything Jesus is recognised as being in charge of our lives. Serving Jesus becomes much more than another interest that we try to squeeze into our busy jobs, relationships, families, shopping, hobbies and sports. What does change is that serving Jesus immediately becomes our highest priority.
A Christian asked his friend who had come to several Christian events:
“What holds you back from following Christ?”
“I have so many other things that already crowd out my diary.”
He then went on to list these, his girlfriend, his gym, his high-flying career and the DIY in his new house.
“I don’t know what I would have to give up if I was to take on being a Christian as well.”
This man has completely missed the point. It is God himself who calls him. He doesn’t want us to squeeze him in alongside other activities and our plans, he comes instead with a radical plan,
“Follow me”, God says to each of us.
He comes with so much evidence to support his claims. These are summarised in Matthews gospel as well as in the book ‘Stepping Stones’.
Jesus demands that everyone turns away from living for themselves to living with him in control. It means we will do better jobs as we are now living as God prioritises. Our families will benefit as he wants our families to be a major priority, they come under his rule. This is all so liberating. We do not serve a draconian God but one who loves us deeply and what he wants is always for our eternal benefit. Far from cramping us or narrowing our interests we find his Lordship leads into new exciting areas.
There is a third side to the Christian manifesto:
3. “I will send you out to be fishers of people”. Matthew 4:19
This can be misunderstood. A man who had recently become a Christian said,
“When I first read this verse a wave of terror swept over me.”
It does not mean
‘I will compel you, I will force you against your will’.
What Jesus is saying is that he will teach and guide us how to continue the work he came to do in verses 18-22. He longs to give us and train us in the privilege of acting as the Lord’s own people who will attract people back to God. Jesus entered this world for this purpose and he has put his Spirit into his men and women to continue this task of calling others to belong to God.
When people respond to Jesus and asked to be forgiven and changed into his people he promises to train us so we enjoy being fishers of men. The Lord never makes his people do anything against their will - he loves us deeply.
Some are fearful that they might have to behave in a way that is totally false to themselves and contrary to their personality, others are fearful of becoming clones of some Christian they know. This is not what God wants. His objective is to use all his people with our different gifts in different ways. Some may love teaching the truths winsomely to others in public, others are good at befriending people and can say, ‘Would you like to come with me to hear . . . ‘ We all have different roles in our Lord’s service and he will ensure that we are satisfied with the role. Some fishermen may fish in trawlers, they are the evangelists like Peter or Billy Graham, but not many of them are needed in a local church.
When Mathew first became a follower of Jesus he put on a supper in his home and invited Jesus as the after-dinner speaker (Matthew 9:9-13). When the demon-possessed man Legion experienced the new life God offers, Jesus sent him back to his home town to share with people what had happened to him (Mark 5:1-20).
How we become ‘fishers of men’ will vary immensely, but Jesus wants to encourage us and train us into having this ambition.
In the final commission he gave to his disciples he said to them:
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 29:18-20
Some have suggested that this role was only for the special few but look at what the disciples were to teach the new Christians:
“ . . . teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 29:20
That ‘everything’ must include becoming ‘fishers of men’. The book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament makes this very clear, all Christians are called to be ‘fishers of men’.
But note how Jesus finishes, it is so encouraging. As we set our hearts and minds to find ways to be effective for him he promises that His Spirit will be at work alongside each of us.
Could it be that because some have determined not to let the Lord lead them that they do not love the business of winning others for Christ. A West Indian preacher was giving a sermon on this Great Commission, using the Authorised Version of the Bible. He stressed the words ‘Go’ and ‘Lo, I am with you always’ finishing with the catchphrase:
“No ‘Go’, no ‘Lo’!
To enjoy God’s presence we must be about his business. Could this be why some church people do not seem to love being Christians?
Some people will say, ‘But that is not my gift!’ They have forgotten that God gives his Holy Spirit to all his people to empower us to promote the Lord Jesus. The Spirit of God always points to Jesus. We will do this in many different ways but all christians will be involved.
Paul wrote to the Corinthian church:
“God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” 2 Corinthians 5:19-20
One person, trying to excuse his lack of involvement suggested that the ‘we’ and ‘us’ in this passage might be restricted to the apostolic group around Paul. The final verse of this section makes it clear who he means when he uses the words ‘us’ and ‘we’.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
This paragraph is clearly about every true Christian who has been forgiven and has entered the service of Jesus Christ.
Nabeel Qureshi was an ardent Muslim who after several years of questioning committed his life to Christ. From that time on his life changed. He began to see the world as Jesus did. When he saw someone walking across the road he realised:
“That is someone Jesus was willing.to die for.”
If we want to enjoy the presence of the Lord we must find ways to satisfy his wishes and be used to draw people to put their faith in Jesus. Paul recognised that those who love finding ways to effectively share the news about Jesus are so often the ones who enjoy his presence:
“I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” Philemon 6 NIV 84
“I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we[a] may do for Christ.” Philemon 6 RSV
BVP
