Allen Jackson - Stormproof Foundations - Part 2
The things Matthew tells us the devil knows are intriguing to me. He knows Jesus is the Son of God. He knows the words of scripture. The devil knows that the angels will follow God’s commands. We got all of that from reading those three or four little verses. The devil acknowledges that God has angels who will follow his directions. And we’re told in other places in scripture that they’re almost an innumerable number of angels; in one scene, more than 100 million. What do we have a population these days? About 300 million people? Imagine being able to see a third of all the population of the United States in one scene. We’ve got a scene like that of angels worshiping the Lord. And they’re messengers.
The scripture says: «Sent forth into the world to do God’s bidding on our behalf». And the devil knows it. No wonder he’s angry. No wonder he doesn’t play fair. He can’t play fair. He’s got no chance if he plays fair. Verse 12: «When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee». Now, I’m gonna take a little license at this point. In English, the translation that I typically would use here is the New International Version, the NIV. And that phrase there in the NIV simply says that when Jesus heard that John had been in prison, Jesus returned to Galilee. But one of my habits is I’ll try to read a passage if time permits in more than one translation or I’ll change translations from one year to the next so that sometimes I will remember it differently than the translation I’m reading and then I’ll check, and in this case, the NIV’s translation is softer than the Greek words.
In the NIV it says Jesus returned to Galilee. I put the same verse in the New American Standard in your notes. It says: «When Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee». To me, there’s a pretty significant difference. In the NIV it says, you know, when Jesus heard about John being arrested, he went home. But the Greek actually says that when he heard that John had been arrested, Jesus withdrew. That’s a very different response. Different translations will offer different insights sometimes, not every day. So if you’ve done this more than once, maybe you wanna change the translation you’re reading this year. Say, «Well, I like this». I got it. You don’t have to. The best translation to read is the one you will read.
People get really, «Pastor, Pastor, I have a question». They get really serious on this one. «Do you read the King James»? Yeah, I do, actually. In fact, I started as a child reading the King James. I still sometimes think in thous and thees. I don’t know what they mean, but I think in them. But the question, you know, «Which translation is the best»? They get really serious on this one and my answer is. you know my answer. But if they don’t know me, I’m gonna pull them in. «Oh, I have a word from the Lord on that. I know definitively the absolute best translation». And now I got them. I mean, they’re like, «Really»? «Yeah, the best translation is the one you’ll read».
There’s no perfect translation; they’re translations. Well, why does it make a difference? Well, occasionally, it doesn’t always make a difference and don’t build your theology around a word or a comma. See, translation requires opinion, so reading a different translation gives you a perspective from a different opinion. It’s not about good or evil. You wanna get to know the character of God from the broader story. The effort of language and communication is important. It’s why the manipulation of language which we are watching these days in unprecedented levels. They’re making new translations of the Bible that are leaving almost completely much of what’s very apparent in the languages from which they’re translating to make it more politically correct. But we’ve got to begin to read our Bibles.
I put Matthew 12 because the same word is used there and in this case, even in the NIV, they used, I think, a better word. It says: «The Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus». It’s in your notes. «Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. And many followed him, and he healed their sick, warning them not to tell who he was». Now if all that it had said in Matthew 12 was, «Jesus went home,» you would again have missed the point. But here you get this sense, it’s very similar to the verse in Matthew 4 and verse 12.
Now in Matthew 12, it says that «they’re plotting how they can kill Jesus. And aware that they’re doing it,» Jesus knows what they’re doing. «So he withdrew from that place. And when many people followed him, he kept ministering. He healed many people, but he warned them not to draw attention to himself». Now that’s a pretty important piece to understand about Jesus. On more than one occasion when he was faced with very real threats, very determined adversaries, he withdrew. He wasn’t reckless. I have to think about that a bit, cause that’s probably not my intuitive response. Somebody pushes you, you push them harder. They’re bigger than you, get an equalizer. But from time to time, Jesus, led by the Spirit, would withdraw.
You see, when we’re led by the Spirit of God, we know when to be bold and defiant because on multiple occasions, Jesus is very bold and very defiant of those in power. He is frequently not a peacemaker. But it’s equally clear that there were times he knew when to be measured. «Well, how do you know»? Well, I suppose we’d have to learn to listen to the Spirit. «Oh, couldn’t I have a formula»? Yes, listen to the Spirit. That’s the formula. Verse 13. Now remember verse 12, «When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew into Galilee». In verse 13: «Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum».
Well, he kind of withdrew. Nazareth is tucked in the hills of Galilee. It’s a sleepy little village, 1200, 1500 people. There’s no major roads there. There’s not a water source, barely could sustain the people who live there, so there’s no reason for people to come there, but he moves to Capernaum, which is on the largest water source in the entire region, not just Israel. And Capernaum is located on a major Roman road. It’s still there until today with the Roman mile markers, just like we have mile markers on our interstates.
So Jesus left, he withdrew to Galilee, but he left Nazareth and he moved to a city on a busy road, «which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali, to fulfill what was said through the prophet: 'Zebulun and Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 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.' And from that time on Jesus began to preach». Up until this time, Jesus hasn’t been preaching. When he left Nazareth, after withdrawing to Galilee because of the anxiety that was building, the hatred that was building around John and his message of repentance. Now the time has come and Jesus begins to preach. «Repent for the kingdom of God is near».
Jesus began his public ministry by leaving the comfort and familiarity of Nazareth, the town where he’d grown up. Leaving behind is a part of following. It’s not always about maintaining the status quo. Jesus’s preaching, his public ministry. It all began after the water baptism, the descent of the Spirit, the temptation in the wilderness, John’s imprisonment. That’s not a string of events that you would normally look to to build momentum in your life. I think if there’s a conclusion, it’s that ministry involves obedience, the help of the Holy Spirit, and the presence of opposition. You can’t be reading Matthew’s Gospel even in chapter 4 without understanding that the purposes of God are going to be resisted. That isn’t political.
Oh, the resistance may be given expression through political vehicles or delivery systems, but below that there’s a spiritual force. I mean, John’s words got him arrested. But the authority with which his words were delivered were derived from scripture. That there’s a law that supersedes the laws of men. There’s a divine law, God’s law, that we are bound to, whether it makes us popular or not. And Jesus begins his ministry and begins to preach from that platform.
Verse 18: «As Jesus was walking beside the lake, the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew, and they were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said, 'Come, follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of men.' And at once they left their nets and they followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets, and Jesus called them, and immediately left the boat and their father and they followed him».
Now I’m reading through that, there’s something in there that, to me, is pretty unusual. It borders on bizarre. In two separate instances, two different families, they’re not all united, it wasn’t just one message. On two separate occasions, Jesus extends an invitation, «Come, follow me». Not dramatically, I mean, I understand the persons are different. I’m not suggesting that, but we get invitations all the time: «Read your Bible with me». I mean, we’re very familiar with that kind of an exchange, but in this case, it says, first of all, in verse 20 that «at once they left their nets and they followed Jesus». At once, like, right now. Did he just say, «Let’s go»? What’d you hear him say? Something about, «Follow, let’s go». Wow, that’s weird. «At once,» Matthew says.
And then this last segment of this chapter, I think it’s really a synopsis of Jesus’s ministry. I mean, it fits into context here. It fits into a sequential place. It’s an unfolding story, but if I had to find two or three verses to give you a summary of Jesus’s ministry, this is it. «Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria,» beyond Israel, 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, the paralyzed, and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him».
It’s a pretty remarkable story. Jesus has had opposition from the devil himself. In this chapter, we’ve only looked at one chapter, Jesus had opposition from the devil himself. His friend John has been imprisoned. So there’s a public declaration that there’s a very low tolerance for challenging the status quo. You better cooperate. John said, «I think not,» and he’s in prison. The beginning of Jesus’s ministry, the establishment has a bias against him. His cousin’s already been arrested. Jesus is obedient, fulfilling his assignment. There’s two separate initiatives moving forward in time and space. The proclamation that the kingdom of God is at hand and the opposition to it, they are both emerging. That is a very biblical principle.
See, I used to imagine that revivals would take place, they would be so universal, so sweeping, so broad in scope that everybody you know would be raising their hand, going, «Oh, I’m in on that». That really isn’t biblical. There’s a couple of exceptions: Nineveh, we get this report of widespread, but it’s a very unusual circumstance. Typically, you see all the forces at work and the collision coming between the perspectives. Jesus is teaching and preaching regarding the kingdom of God in their synagogues, Matthew tells us.
Now, I promise you something about the 1st century in Israel. It’s very similar to the 21st century in Tennessee. Not everybody went to synagogue. I’ve visited synagogues that have been excavated in many of those smaller communities, and they would hold a few dozen people. Not everybody in the community went to synagogue. But Jesus went to deliver his message in the synagogue. If you wanted to get the Jesus message, you had to go to the synagogue.
Now I know he spoke to broader crowds and he gave a sermon on the mount, but the direct report is that he traveled around the region, speaking in the synagogues. You had to be in the synagogue to hear Jesus. Then it says that he was healing every disease and sickness. Jesus is a healer. He still is. Don’t debate that. I’m amazed at Christians. I mean, I got, I hear, I read the stuff. They publish whole studies, seminars, video tapes. «Does Jesus heal»? I’m like, «Which Bible did you read? I mean, how could you arrive at that conclusion»?
Jesus is healing every sickness and disease. News about him spread over a very wide area. You could miss this if you don’t know the geography a little bit. Jesus’s reputation is growing very rapidly. It says that people were brought to him who were ill. There’s no easy ministry. I smile, we raise our hands and go, «I would like to lead a group. I’ll host a small group». Then you call in a few weeks to go, «I want a different group. The people in my group are difficult». I saw it years ago. I saw an advertisement. I’m sure it was manufactured. This was before AI. But it said: «Lion tamer wants tamer lion». I feel that way about ministry most times.
«God, isn’t there an easier problem? Don’t you have somebody that like had the sniffles? I don’t want to pray with somebody with a life-threatening problem. Is there anybody who didn’t come from a torqued family»? No, not many. Ministry is challenging. It’s sacrifice. You have to think about somebody else in front of you, you have to clean your house. Ah, what a hassle. Well, I mean, I know there’s eternity in the balance and there’s rewards to be gained, but I’d have to vacuum. I mean, it’s very clear, we just, we haven’t read a chapter. Well, we have read a chapter. They’re bringing only sick people to Jesus. They weren’t bringing all the people to say, «You’re the man». They’re putting difficult cases in front of him and going, «What are you gonna do now? What are you gonna do with this one»?
We know it’s true because you’re gonna read in Matthew where they bring cases to his disciples and his disciples can’t help them and they go find Jesus, say, «We brought him to your disciples and they couldn’t do anything». It’s like a test every day. Couldn’t we just have a polite Bible study and not talk about praying for people? You could, but there’ll be no life there. There’ll be no vitality there. Jesus described it as the blind following the blind, not because you’re blind and you can’t read, but you’re spiritually unaware. Large crowds are following Jesus. This is not a house church initiative.
I smile, people say, «You know, the New Testament is just about the house church». Which New Testament? They’re bringing people. Listen to Matthew’s description. It says: «They brought people from all over Syria,» not just from Israel; Syria. Syria is north of Israel, if you don’t know your map. And then he said that they were bringing the people, large crowds from Galilee, the region where he was, the Decapolis, that means Ten Cities in Greek. Eight of the cities are on the other side of the Jordan River in modern-day Jordan. So they’re gathering people from modern-day Syria, modern-day Jordan, all over the northern part of Israel, from Jerusalem and Judea, which is the south of Israel. There are people coming from multiple nations. Yeah, Jesus’s reputation is growing. This is one chapter, folks. We started the chapter, he’s in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. God’s up to something.
Now I’ve got 2 minutes, which is perfect because I’ve got 2 passages. And because we’re reading Matthew together, I want to skip ahead and those last verses I read you from Matthew 4, see if these seem familiar to you. These are the applications. In Matthew 24, Jesus is saying to his disciples… Matthew 24 is Jesus’s largest, longest prophetic message. He’s telling to his friends what’s ahead of them. And not just his first century friends. He says: «You’ll be handed over to be persecuted and put to death». Gee, like you and John? «And you’ll be hated by all nations because of me».
I’m amused people say God doesn’t care about the nations. In which Bible? «At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world». Matthew told us in chapter 4 that Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom in all the synagogues around Galilee. And when Jesus is getting near the end of his life, he looks at his closest friends and he said, «This gospel of the kingdom that you’ve heard me preach dozens and dozens and dozens of times, it’s gonna be preached in the whole world. And then the end will come».
If you want to find the penultimate, the ultimate sign of the end of this age, it’s the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom in the whole world. And the church has to be engaged with that. We’re a part of the catalyst for the end of the age. And then finally last chapter of Matthew, similar message: «The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; and some doubted».
Folks, things haven’t changed. Jesus has been resurrected and some believe and some don’t. «And Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven, on earth, has been given to me. Therefore, '» and I put the pronoun in parenthesis. So I added this, but it is included in the language of the text. It’s just not normally the way we would speak. «Therefore (you) go and you make disciples of all nations, (you) baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and (you) teach them to obey everything I’ve commanded you. And surely I’m with you always, to the very end of the age». Jesus said, «You’ve watched me do it. You’ve been a part of that drama. I’ve commissioned you and sent you out to do it, and now I’m leaving and you preach this message».
Folks, we’re the 21st century edition. We read one chapter. We saw the conflict between Satan and the unfolding purposes of the kingdom of God. We saw the difficulty of honoring the Lord. John is imprisoned, he’ll lose his life. We saw Jesus facing challenges. Every day people found challenges and brought them to him. If you will help people, other people will find troubled people and bring them to you. And if your response is, «I don’t wanna be bothered with that,» you really need to reflect a little bit. «It’s my time». Well, I understand you need some me time. Do you need some kingdom time?
I brought you a prayer and it’s really Psalm 138. If you look at the last phrase in verse 2, it’s really what brought me to this psalm. It says: «You have exalted above all things your name and your word». Jesus said there wouldn’t be one letter, one stroke of a pen in his Word, that God wouldn’t give attention to. One of the ways you and I can exalt the Lord is by investing time and effort and energy in his Word. So again, the invitation. But the outcome of doing that is wrapped around that verse in this psalm and so I think it’s an appropriate prayer, a conclusion for us, a commitment for us. If you’ll stand with me, we’ll read it together. If you’re joining us someplace else, you stand and read it with us unless you’re driving. You just sit right there. Can we read it together?
I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; before the 'gods' I will sing your praise. I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted. May all the kings of the earth praise you, O Lord, when they hear the words of your mouth. May they sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great. Though the Lord is on high… he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever, do not abandon the works of your hand, amen.