[0:00] We're in the book of Matthew, so if you have your Bibles, take them out with me and let's go to the Gospel of Matthew. We'll be in Matthew chapter 4, and we're now up to Matthew chapter 4, starting in verse 12 and going through verse 25.
[0:11] So we'll be finishing up the fourth chapter. Traditionally, this time of the year, I began to think about a series of messages that I would preach leading up to the Christmas season or leading up throughout the Christmas season, maybe a Christmas series and looking through those passages that are so familiar to us and those, I think, at times get lost in the midst of the chaos of Christmas, and they kind of get lost in all of the busyness that this world likes to throw at us.
[0:36] But I think that we're just going to stay the course going through the Gospel of Matthew because what better way to enter into this Christmas season of celebrating his appearance and his coming than being mindful of who he is, and that is, he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
[0:51] Sure, he came as a babe wrapped in linen cloths and laid in a manger. He came in the most humbling of places, but he also came as the King of kings and Lord of lords. And as the Gospel of Matthew reminds us, he is the King.
[1:04] And Matthew is writing to the nation of Israel in particular, to the Jewish people in particular, and pointing out for them this reality that the King has come, the one that they have anticipated, the one that they have longed to see, the one that they have been waiting on, the one that after 400 plus years of silence, they were hoping would come and rescue them from their great, what they saw as suppression underneath Roman rule, and the one that they were longing to set them free so that they could worship God at least to the best of their ability, has finally come.
[1:36] And Matthew here is highlighting who Jesus is, and he has been lifting him up, and he is showing them, all throughout the Gospel of Matthew, that here is the King.
[1:47] We are not looking for someone to come and set us free from Roman occupation. We are looking for the one who has come to set us free. Even this morning, there is a passage that is referenced, it is from the book of Isaiah, and you will see it when we read our text together.
[2:03] And if you go read this prophecy in the book of Isaiah, you will go into Isaiah chapter 9, starting in verse 1 and reading that, and you will be amazed at the fulfillment of what comes from Isaiah chapter 9.
[2:15] And I know I am kind of getting ahead of myself, but just to kind of help you understand before we read it, what was in the mind of Matthew. Because this prophecy in the book of Isaiah is the one of the coming King.
[2:27] The prophet that Matthew points to more than any other is the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah is the prophet who speaks of the coming King, right? You know that. And it is amazing, because it is here where we see so much anticipation being built up of this King who would come.
[2:45] And if you were to go read Isaiah 9 and see the passage that Matthew highlights, you will see that the King would come to remove the yoke of bondage and the rod that sits across the shoulders of His people.
[3:00] Before we get into it, the yoke of bondage has nothing to do with political realm. The yoke of bondage is the bondage of sin, which suppresses man and holds them down from being all that God has called them to be and to walk in faithful obedience to Him.
[3:17] Here is the King. And we've seen in Matthew, just up to this point, how the King came, how He approached us. We saw at least the examination of the King there in the first part of Matthew chapter 4, His wilderness temptations and how He was validated that this is the King.
[3:39] This is absolutely who He is. He came out perfect. Man was tempted in a garden where everything was provided and failed. Jesus is tempted in the wilderness that is barren, and He comes out successful.
[3:51] We see this. He is the King. He is the one we need. He is the one we hope for. He is the one we long for. Matthew is constantly lifting Him up.
[4:02] So if you are physically able and desire to do so, would you stand with me as we read together the Word of God found in Matthew chapter 4, starting in verse 12. We'll go to the end of the chapter, which gets us to verse 25.
[4:15] The Word of God says, Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee, and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.
[4:27] This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, and those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a light dawned.
[4:42] From that time, Jesus began to preach and say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now as Jesus was walking by the sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
[4:55] And He said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. And going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, in the boat with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets.
[5:08] And He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him. Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.
[5:22] And the news about Him spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics, and He healed them. And large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.
[5:39] Let's pray. Lord, we thank You so much for this day. God, we rejoice in the privileged opportunity we have of the public reading of Your Word. Lord, we realize and we confess there is much to distract us.
[5:53] There is much to call our attention away from You. Lord, we pray that at this moment, at this time, that we would be still, that we would understand who You are, that we would see You in truth and in sincerity.
[6:05] And Lord, that what we see of You would shape and mold us to become more like You and more like the people You long us to be. Lord, speak to our hearts, speak to our minds, and draw us closer to You.
[6:17] And we ask it all in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated. Matthew chapter 4, verses 12 through 25, introduced for us here, the beginning of the King's ministry.
[6:29] The beginning of the King's ministry. Now, when we think of a King coming, we do not think of the King coming as a servant. We think of a King coming in victoriously, much like we would see Him maybe in His triumphant entry into Jerusalem during that Passion Week that we read later on.
[6:46] When He comes in riding on the coat of a donkey, that was a sign of victory for a King. That entrance there was a sure sign, really. It was one that the people would have understood that here is coming a King who has won the battle.
[6:59] He is coming in triumph. He is coming in victory. He's coming in celebration. This is what we anticipate when we think of a King starting His reign. We think of one coming with military proudness.
[7:12] We think of one coming with might. We think of one coming with strength and setting up His rule. But as Mark tells us in Mark chapter 10, verse 45, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.
[7:27] Many of the things which we think would happen, Jesus turns it upside down and puts it on its head. And here we see that when the King begins to reign, the King actually begins to serve.
[7:39] And we see that the beginning of His ministry is really that which would kind of set the course and show us what it's going to be about and how it's going to come about and how it's going to happen.
[7:50] Now, sure, this victorious, reigning, powerful King is coming. We have seen in the book of Revelations, He will come on a white horse. He will come with authority.
[8:00] He will come with supremacy. He will come with might. He will come with His robe dipped in blood. But when He came to establish the kingdom, He came ministering.
[8:13] We see this. One thing that we've been reminded of, the forerunner of John the Baptist, when John the Baptist went ahead of him, for that short, probably six-month time frame of his ministry, John the Baptist came proclaiming one message.
[8:26] The kingdom of heaven is near. The kingdom of heaven is near. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. This was the proclamation of John the Baptist.
[8:37] He had but one message to preach, and he preached it over and over and over and over again. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. And when Jesus comes, what does it say? He preaches, the kingdom of heaven is here.
[8:50] So let's just settle this right from the very beginning. We are not waiting for a king to establish his kingdom. We are serving a king who has already set up his kingdom.
[9:02] Because when he set foot on this earth, the kingdom of heaven is here. And as Tony Evans likes to say, the church is a picture of the kingdom of heaven being displayed in the realm of the earth.
[9:19] The kingdom of heaven is here. Because where the king reigns, the kingdom is in existence. And when Jesus came to minister, his message was not the kingdom is coming.
[9:31] His message was the kingdom has come. And he establishes that by his presence. So where two or more gather together, I am there as well.
[9:43] Guess what? When the king walks in the room, the kingdom is present. Right? Right? Wherever the king goes, so goes the kingdom. So as he begins to minister, we are seeing the outflow of his kingdom.
[9:56] And if he is present with us, then the ministry of the kingdom that is displayed in the life of the king ought to be displayed in the life of the church. We're just laying that groundwork from the very beginning.
[10:09] That what we see the king doing, his people ought to do as well. And this is what it looks like when the kingdom shows up. This is what it looks like when Jesus begins to go public, if you will, with the kingdom.
[10:23] We're no longer looking for the kingdom to come. We're looking and seeing what the world looks like when the kingdom is present. And what we begin to see, that when the kingdom is present in a broken world, is what we should still see today.
[10:34] And this ought to cause every one of us to fall on our faces and cry out, Oh God, let your kingdom come. Because the reality is, is that when Jesus began his public ministry, it is groundbreaking.
[10:47] It is earth shattering. It is amazing. And it is something that should move us. Number one, we see that this is an intentional event.
[10:59] It was and is an intentional event, which means this. Kingdom business does not just happen. Right? It is intentional.
[11:11] The king moves with intentionality. The king moves with purpose. The king moves with plans. The king moves with organization. It is an intentional event.
[11:22] The king moves with intentionality.
[11:52] Get back on track. John the Baptist is arrested. You remember why John the Baptist was arrested, right? Because John the Baptist kind of chastised the ruler of that land today and said it is kind of wrong for you to be married to your brother's wife.
[12:04] It is not kind of wrong. It just is wrong, right? He said you should not have done that. That should not happen. And he gets in trouble. So Herod has him arrested. And he eventually has him beheaded because his wife's daughter comes in and all this stuff.
[12:16] And I will give you whatever you want. And she says I want John the Baptist's head on a silver platter. So he does that. Even though he did not want to do it. He did it anyway. Some Bible scholars will tell you that when Jesus heard that John was imprisoned here and that he knew that this was going to result in his death, Jesus thought that it was probably time to leave because the water is getting a little hot, so to say, right?
[12:37] The environment is getting a little hostile around him. It's not a really good time to be ministering in Jerusalem. Now the problem I have with that, with all due respect to Bible scholars, is that comes across as if Jesus was taken by surprise.
[12:52] And I believe that Jesus is fully man and fully God. I do not think the arrest of John the Baptist told Jesus it's time to get out of Jerusalem. I think the arrest of John the Baptist was the appointed signal from God the Father that it was time to begin your public ministry.
[13:09] Big difference. Because the move of Jesus was not reactive. It was intentional. He didn't react to the fact that John was arrested.
[13:22] He was waiting on the day of John's arrest. Because Jesus said, He must increase and I must decrease. No better way to decrease than to be out of the way, right?
[13:35] He was the forerunner. So what we see here is that when John was arrested, Jesus moved. And he moved into Galilee. And he was not moving to get away from hostility.
[13:47] He was moving because the majority of his ministry, the three and a half year time of ministry, the majority of that ministry, that public ministry, is done in the northern portions of the land of Israel or the Galilean region.
[14:00] We understand that. We count his years by the number of trips he took to Jerusalem. Well, you don't take trips to Jerusalem if you live in Jerusalem, right? So we can count the number of times he went up to Jerusalem from Galilee.
[14:12] And we can see that he was probably publicly ministering three, three and a half years. And we see that the majority of that happened in Galilee. And he didn't do it just because it was a little too hot in Jerusalem.
[14:23] He did it because these are the people God had appointed for him to be there around. This was the things that were foretold by the prophets. These are the declarations that were made beforehand. One way we can be fully clear, we can have full confidence that Jesus didn't just react, is when you go read the other gospel accounts.
[14:42] And you remember all these times. I told you this last time we were together, and I'm sure there's been a lot of days that have passed, and I'm sure you've forgotten about them. But you remember how we said, until the fullness of time, until the fullness of time, until the fullness of time.
[14:55] Satan left him until an opportune time. And then we see there in John chapter 13, that Jesus looks at Judas Iscariot, and it says that he told him to do whatever it is he was going to do, and it wasn't just questioning.
[15:08] It says, At that time Satan entered Judas. Jesus gave permission for Satan to do what it is he wanted to do right there. So there's this great picture of the divine timetable, because if you read the gospels, you'll see there are a lot of times where they intended to kill Jesus, but they couldn't.
[15:24] And there's this word, because his time had not yet come, because his time had not yet come, because his time had not yet come. They wanted to throw him off the cliff, but they couldn't, and it says he walked through the midst of them.
[15:36] Again, some Bible scholars say that he disappeared. I don't think that. I think he literally just walked through the midst of them, because you're not touching him until his time comes, until his time had not yet come, until his time had not yet come.
[15:49] Not reactive. This is something, I remember one of the very first messages I've preached many years ago, a very bad message, I'm sure. I've looked at some of my old messages, and just really am just embarrassed by the outlines of some of those messages, and embarrassed by people who sat and heard me.
[16:05] But I remember one of the titles just resonates. It's called The Untouchables. The Untouchables. And I remember, I can't even remember my texts now, but I remember the premises of that.
[16:15] We are absolutely untouchable until God's through with us. Absolutely untouchable. That we live with absolute confidence, because God overrules circumstances.
[16:30] God overrules the plans and intentions and thoughts of man. God overrules all things, right? And we see this in the life of Christ. So what I want you to see is, and I know this is a long way to say it, when Jesus moved, that was his plan before the foundation of the world was laid.
[16:50] He didn't just say, Oh no, things are getting bad in Jerusalem. He said, Now is the time. This is the time, Mark, in history for the world to see, for me to begin to move.
[17:03] And it says, And he withdrew to Galilee, and leaving Nazareth, he came and settled in Capernaum. Now, he left Nazareth. Nazareth was his hometown. Capernaum will be his home base of operations, if you will. Well, why in the world would he choose Capernaum?
[17:16] I mean, just think about this. He was born in Bethlehem to fulfill the prophecy of Micah 5, right? Out of you, O little Bethlehem, one would come forth. And then he moved to Egypt, because the Bible says, Out of Egypt I called my son.
[17:26] And then he would have to go back to Nazareth, because the Bible says that he would be called a Nazarene, right? That he'd have to be from Nazareth. But then there's this prophecy in Scripture that says that he would go to Capernaum. Isaiah chapter 9.
[17:38] Do you think that Jesus just moved around and accidentally fulfilled every one of these prophecies? No. Intentional moves, because he knew. One of the things that has amazed me about our Savior, one of the things that has amazed me about Christ, is on the cross, the seven sayings of Christ on the cross.
[17:55] I believe it was Arthur Pink who preached a series of sermons on that. Other people have preached it, but I think he was the first one to ever preach it. But it's the sayings of Christ on the cross. And there's this one that always amazes me.
[18:06] Remember when Jesus says, I'm thirsty, right? And they gave him something to drink. Do you remember what it says before that? And when he realized all had been fulfilled, which was written about him, he said, I am thirsty.
[18:19] You know the picture I get when I read that? That Jesus is sitting on the cross. Nobody's taking his life. He's giving his life. But before he gives his life, because the Bible says he gives up his life, before he gives up, he runs through his mind every prophetic word.
[18:33] And there's this vague passage in the book of Psalms that says that while dying, he would cry out in thirst. And he said, oh yeah, I'm thirsty.
[18:47] You know why I'm telling you all this? It's because what the king does in your life is not happenstance. The way the king moves in your life and the way he leads you in your life and the steps he has ordained for your life, because the Bible tells us that a man plans his way, but God ordains his steps.
[19:01] What God does with you is not coincidental or reactive. It is intentional. He always moves with intentionality.
[19:13] You are where you are, when you are, on purpose. The king moves with intentional purpose.
[19:24] He knows what he's doing. He knows when he's doing it. And he always does it right on time. He is moving according to plans, the Bible said, that were laid before the foundations of the world were laid.
[19:40] God does not go, oh yeah, I better do this. God says now is the time to do this. So whatever it is you're waiting on, whatever it is you're crying out for, whatever it is you seem to be surprised by, whatever it is that you have a longing for, understand this.
[19:58] God knows what he's doing, and the king always moves with intentionality. If he's standing still, it's because he intends to stand still. If he moves, it's because he intends to move. If he takes you here, it's because he intends for you to be there.
[20:11] If he leads you there, it's because he intends for you to be there. If he doesn't say a thing, it's because he intends to be quiet. It's not because he's caught off guard. He moves intentional.
[20:24] And he began his ministry at the right time, at the right place, for the right reason. And he began to proclaim and preach, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[20:37] What does this tell us? Let's bring it from the personal now to the corporate. What does it tell us? If we are going to be intentional, or if we are going to be representatives of the kingdom of heaven in the realm of the world, we're going to have to be intentional about it.
[20:48] We're not just going to accidentally begin to represent kingdom heaven in the realm of this world. It's not like we can just go around and do our daily business and, oh man, I didn't mean to look like the kingdom of heaven here.
[21:01] No, we're going to have to be intentional about it. And purposeful about it. And that's what we've been called to do. Because if the king is present today, he still intends to do things today.
[21:14] And he's calling us to be intentional about it as well. Number two. This is the one we probably wish that wasn't there. Not only is the beginning of the king's ministry an intentional event, number two, it is an interruption to life.
[21:27] Probably really don't have to flesh that out anymore than I've already said to make us uncomfortable, right? The beginning of the king's ministry is an interruption of life. We don't like life interrupted.
[21:40] We don't like surprises. We don't like change. We don't like interruptions. Interruptions. We like to have things the way they are. Me personally, I kind of like interruptions. Maybe that's my, our personalities may be different, okay?
[21:54] My personality is, I'm never going to come home the same way I went somewhere. Sometimes that takes me through a national park that I probably had no business driving on because I'm about to run out of gas.
[22:05] Sometimes that takes me through some really cool places. Sometimes that takes me through some places and I'm like, I'm glad I'm not ever coming back this way again. But I've never really been one just to like things kind of always smooth.
[22:18] I like change. I like, I like, I guess you could say the adventure a little bit. I don't know if I like interruption because I like to be in control of the change.
[22:29] Right? I like to be in control. I like to be the one, I always say, I may not be the best, but I, I mean at least an intentional decisive person. I'm going to decide to do something and quite often think, man, I probably shouldn't have done it that way but I'm at least going to decide.
[22:44] But it's the interruptions that get us. Look at what it says. Now, as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee. Now, the Sea of Galilee is a, a very large fishing community at this time.
[22:55] The Sea of Galilee is just full of fishermen and it's a very populated region here so we understand this. He's walking by the Sea of Galilee. But I want you to get this picture in your mind, right? Because if there's one fisherman there, there are a lot of fishermen there.
[23:11] This past week, several of you went and ministered to the students at Motlow and I appreciate that. I appreciate your ministering to the students at Motlow and doing the Motlow lunch this past Monday.
[23:23] And I went and dropped some food off. Ethan and I went and dropped some food off and I kind of held the line up a little bit because I got to talking to an individual, an older student at Motlow who'd come back and he got to sharing his story.
[23:36] And he was sharing with me that he was from Biolibratory, Alabama. I said, Hey, I know where that is. I've been there. And he got to talk about being a commercial fisherman. I said, Hey, I know where that is. And then he got to talk about Tillman's Corner. I said, Hey, I know exactly where that is.
[23:48] And so there's some of you here. And I said, My wife's aunt from there used to go there. He started naming roads. I said, Yes, I've been there. I know where this is. And he owned, his dad owned the gas station right down the road from my wife's aunt that we used to go by and buy bags of ice and all this stuff.
[24:03] I knew, I know exactly what he's talking about, but I also know this, that when those commercial fishermen park, there's a lot of fishermen there. It's not just one or two, right?
[24:14] It's a fishing community. So understand this. Jesus is walking around the Sea of Galilee. And the only fishermen there are not Peter and James and John and Peter's brother Andrew, right?
[24:25] There's a whole fishing community. But what I want you to understand, okay, he walks past a multitude, but he only interrupts the life of a few. Okay? The presence of the king does not necessarily imply life interrupted.
[24:41] It is the intentional call of the king that leads to the interrupted life. Because look at what it says. Now as Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers. He saw two brothers.
[24:52] Simon, who is called Peter. Love Peter. Everybody loves Peter. He does some of the coolest stuff and also has some of the greatest failures. There's Simon, called Peter, and Andrew. We don't know much about Andrew.
[25:03] The only thing really we know about Andrew, Billy Graham Crusade, started a ministry called the Andrew Ministry, always being Andrew. Before Billy Graham would ever go preach at a large event or he'd go do a crusade, he would always have people going to the churches and encourage people to be an Andrew.
[25:18] Now the only thing you know about Andrew, all you ever read, other than the listing of the disciples, every time Andrew is mentioned in Scripture, he's bringing somebody to Jesus. You know, somebody with a question. I don't know.
[25:28] Let's go talk to Jesus. I don't know. Let's go talk to Jesus. That's why Billy Graham would always say, be an Andrew. Just bring him, right? Just bring him. Let him hear. People would go to Andrew with questions. I don't know. Hey, it's Andrew. Here's a boy with some fish and here's a boy who has lunch.
[25:39] I don't know, Jesus. What can you do with this? Here's some people who have questions. I don't know, Jesus. What can you do with this? Andrew's just always bringing them to Jesus. But here's Peter and Andrew, his brother, and they're casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen.
[25:50] So what are they doing? They're working, right? They're at work. He sees them and they're busy. They're casting a net into the sea for they are fishermen. And he said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
[26:00] Immediately they left their nets and they followed him. So while they were working, while they were actively doing something else, he calls them and they leave. Now we'll just keep reading and then we'll go on. It says, Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother.
[26:13] So here's James and John, later on to be called the sons of thunder. In case you ever thought John was just some little easy, you know, kind of, you've seen some of the paintings, right? They kind of paint John a little bit in a feminine light.
[26:25] That's unfortunate, I think, because you don't call someone a son of thunder if they're real not strong, right? You don't become a fisherman. I'm not trying to, I'm not trying to get overly macho here.
[26:36] I'm just trying to be realistic, right? I mean, these are people, sure, he was the disciple of love, but he was a son of thunder. He said, You want us to call down fire from heaven and consume these people, you know? So I mean, these people with some fire and brimstone in them, right?
[26:47] It's okay. These were men. And he sees them and they're what? They're mending nets with their father. They're in a boat with their father mending nets. They're working. And he called them and immediately they left their boat and their father and they followed him.
[27:00] Now, I told you this before, but it's worth repeating that I used to be almost a little convicted I'd read this and say, Well, man, the moment Jesus calls you and he didn't leave, and that's true. That's true, okay? But put it together with all the gospels.
[27:12] Some say you have a four-sided or four-faceted view of Christ through all the gospels, four-dimensional, not three-dimensional. You have the whole picture. And when you put this together with the other gospel accounts, you know that this is not their first interaction with Jesus.
[27:26] Okay? They already went with him to Canaan to the wedding feast because they had been with John the Baptist and John said, Behold the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. And they followed him, right? And they went with him to the wedding feast.
[27:38] That was kind of a cool event. They saw some water turn to wine. So they were with him. They hung out with him for a little while and then they went back to work. So we see this isn't their first interaction. This isn't just like a one-time event.
[27:50] They knew who he was. They had seen him. They had heard him. But what I want you to get from this, while they were busy doing something else, Jesus called them to follow him and they left.
[28:04] Because every call of the king interrupts life. And if our response to the king of kings has not interrupted our life, then I would say we haven't rightfully responded to that king.
[28:17] I don't mean that it's always going to cause us to change our occupations, but it will always interrupt. It changes circumstances. It changes things.
[28:29] Because the president was to walk into the room. Now we're not getting political here. I said the president. We're going to leave it at that. Whoever that president was or is at that time, when they walk into the room, it changes everything.
[28:47] It changes everything. It interrupts everything. I have a dear friend who used to work for the phone company and he worked for the phone company for a while out of Murfreesboro, worked out of Tallahoma. He happened to be working at Tallahoma at this time.
[28:59] He always told me this story. He said that the president of the United States at the time, I can't remember who it was, was flying in and landing at Tallahoma Airport. Actually, he was landing at AEDC at the base there.
[29:11] It was my friend's job to have, those were days before the cell phone, right? When Air Force One landed, there was to be a telephone on the tarmac so when the airplane landed, someone could get off the airplane, pick up the phone and say, we've landed, we're here.
[29:24] And so his job was to install the telephone line so that the telephone could be on the tarmac when the airplane landed, someone could come off. And he had the red carpet was out there and everything waiting on it and he said, I was there to make sure nothing happened with the telephone line.
[29:35] He said, there were some secret service guys there. He said, I started trying to cut up with them. He said, I'm going to tell you something. He said, secret service guys don't like to joke. He said, they don't think anything's funny. He said, it's all serious with them.
[29:48] There's no kind of cutting up. He says, I just got real quiet and just stayed off to the side and never said anything. Because listen, who you are matters. And when the president was showing up, it interrupted everything.
[30:03] It changes things. When the king of kings shows up, he interrupts life. And here we see Peter and Andrew, James and John, they are going about their everyday business and the king shows up and calls them and it changes everything.
[30:24] Now, Peter goes back to fishing later after the death and burial and resurrection of Christ. And guess what? The king showed up again, right?
[30:34] Jesus showed up again on the shore and said, have you caught anything? And they said, no, we haven't caught anything. He said, well, then cast your nets. He interrupted life. He interrupted it again because every time Jesus shows up, I don't know if you've noticed this, every time Jesus shows up to work in someone's life, he interrupts it.
[30:51] He has a way of interrupting funerals. Have you noticed that? The widow from Nain, the widow's son from Nain, he's walking along. They're not even in Jewish territory and there's this funeral procession and he stops the funeral procession and here's the widow crying and it's her only son.
[31:05] He interrupts the funeral procession. Tells the men, hey, quit carrying him. He's about to get up, right? He's always interrupting things. The question is, has our life really been that interrupted by the king?
[31:18] Or can we just continue on? Will tomorrow look just like today and will the next day look like that and will it just constantly go along as normal? We see it is the interruption of life.
[31:31] And finally, we see here at the beginning of the king's ministry the thing that is to be played out or lived out among the king's people as the kingdom is being represented in the realm of this world.
[31:45] We see third and finally the inclusion of all. The inclusion of all. Because look at what it says in verse 23, Jesus was going throughout all Galilee.
[31:57] Now Galilee was a little bit more liberal than Jerusalem, right? Jerusalem would have been a lot more legalistic, the Judean region would have been a lot more legalistic because that's where the Pharisees and the Sadducees hung out.
[32:10] Between Judea and Galilee was this region called Samaria. People didn't walk through Samaria, at least the Jewish people wouldn't necessarily walk through Samaria because they weren't full-blooded Jews there.
[32:21] They were mixed breeds, they were half-breeds people would say and that was intentional because when the northern kingdom fell and the southern kingdom was still in existence, the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrian empire and the Assyrian empire put this buffer zone called Samaria there to keep the nation from getting real big again and it just kind of stayed that way.
[32:42] So Galilee up here was completely Jewish but they weren't touched as much by the Pharisees and the Sadducees and they were a little bit more relaxed. I don't want to say liberal because they were still true and sincere but there was a lot more freedom to be moved around here.
[32:57] So Jesus is there in Galilee and he's going through it all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and he's proclaiming what the gospel of the kingdom. Gospel means good news right? That's the good news of the kingdom.
[33:08] I want to share something with you friend. When you begin to share the kingdom with someone you're telling them good news. I think we have forgotten that. When we talk to people about Christ we are talking to them about good news and everybody needs to hear good news.
[33:24] Especially in the world in which we live today we need some good news. Best news we could ever share is the news of the king and the kingdom. So he's proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and look at this and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.
[33:39] So he's proclaiming a message and he's using the means of healing and the news about him spread throughout all Syria and they brought to him look at this look at the people who were attracted to the king.
[33:50] Okay. I mean if he's trying to build an entourage this probably isn't the entourage he wants to build but maybe it was the entourage he wants to build because look at this. What we find throughout the gospels is Jesus is always touching the impure and the unclean and he's ministering to the outcasts and he's ministering to those that most people would avoid.
[34:25] Right. He's touching what the rest of the world would say is untouchable. Not only is he touching them he's attracting them. He's drawing them and he's calling them to himself.
[34:39] So an intentional gospel proclaiming church should be attracting those that the rest of the world would shun because I'll be honest with you I'm probably the greatest one that the world would ever shun if it really knew me.
[34:57] I know me. And I know my failures and my shortcomings and my faults and I'm the greatest of all outcasts and the king still wants me here.
[35:08] And that's amazing. And he's bringing them and he's including them and he has those that nobody else wants that they're trying to stay away from. This isn't the typical crowd that the king of any earth would go hang out with but this is who the king of kings is drawing and this is who he's calling to himself and it says in large crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis.
[35:29] Now the Decapolis that literally is ten cities on the other side of the Jordan region many of them not even Israelite cities so the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea from beyond the Jordan. What is he saying? All walks all manners all race of life is being drawn to the king.
[35:46] and it's amazing because when the king began his public ministry he literally drew everyone in.
[35:59] And the attraction of the kingdom is an attraction that should supersede any physical limitations any likelihood of who we are.
[36:14] it is one that should exceed and go beyond the norm. One of the greatest pictures this world will ever see is when a group of people get together and they draw people who are nothing like them together.
[36:26] And they have but one common bond. They serve the same king and they serve the king with rejoicing together. May we be busy about the ministry of the king as we see he lays out for us here at the very beginning.
[36:44] Let's pray. Lord we thank you so much for this day. God we're so thankful to have the opportunity to come and to worship and to rejoice in who you are. We pray that the truth of the message will resonate within our hearts and minds.
[36:58] Lord that it will draw us closer to you. Lord that we move closer to you. We will be even closer to one another. We will work in the labor of the kingdom. For your glory and glory and all. We ask for all.
[37:09] Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[38:11] Amen. Amen.
[39:12] Amen. Amen. Thank you.