Let us remind ourselves here Matthew does not recount every detail of the Jesus' daily life. He relies on the knowledge his Jewish readers had of that story, instead focusing on how that story showed Jesus was the Messiah promised of old. Thus, we are not told of the first few days of ministry following the Temptation, nor how he became acquainted with several of His Disciples via their discipleship under John the Baptist. He only briefly mentions the arrest of John, leaving it to the reader to realize this made the political situation hot for everyone associated with him. Not only Jesus, but John's disciples probably went underground. Some of them returned to their homes in Galilee, as did Jesus.
Nor are we told of the incident at the synagogue in Nazareth. It was there they tried to push Him off a steep high bluff at the edge of town. This was His Father's signal to move to Capernaum, a much larger city, and not so politically dangerous as Jerusalem nor other cities in Judea. Recall Capernaum as a major hub of trade traffic, as well as a primary regional tax office. It was, therefore, a major hub of news which gave His message the widest distribution. This represents a permanent move for His base of operations.
Matthew indicates how this is a direct fulfillment of Isaiah 9:1-2. The context of Isaiah's prophecy notes the long, troubled history of this region. First, this region had been settled long before the central highlands of Canaan had seen any settlement. The sea was fresh-water, filled with edible fish ever in good supply, and a crossroads from ancient trade routes stretching back before recorded history. This was easily one of the nicest places to live in the whole land of Palestine.
It was also the center of some desperately wicked pagan religions. The economic power backing these religions made them equally repugnant and powerful as enemies when Israel began The Conquest. The tribes of Zebulun and Naphthali failed utterly to drive them out. Later, when a portion of Dan migrated to an area north of this district, their new City of Dan there became a center of paganizing influence among the tribes of Israel. When Jeroboam broke away with the Ten Tribes to form a separate kingdom, it was no accident he chose Dan as the northern center of his alternate worship to prevent his subjects dividing their loyalty. This was the ultimate sin, using pagan idolatry as a political weapon, rather than trusting in Jehovah who had promised to make things work for Jeroboam.
Isaiah remarks on this deep spiritual darkness, and how it resulted in their being first taken away by Assyria. Unlike the rest of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the region around the sea did not long remain fallow. It was quickly repopulated by all manner of volunteers relocating within the Assyrian Empire. These also rekindled the gloom of pagan worship, but the Messiah would break the first light of the Kingdom of Heaven there as the new dawn of truth.
The message was the same as John's: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." However, Jesus was no mere herald, but held that Kingdom in His hand. In preparation for this Kingdom, He began to gather it's first royal officers. We find Matthew mentions first Peter and Andrew. Peter is the elder of the Twelve, possibly older than Jesus. These two men were business partners with Zebedee, whose two sons, James and John, are also called. We have already noted these latter were almost certainly first cousins of Jesus, and the former pair may also have been. At the very least, they were all fairly well known to each other already. Jesus calls them to join Him full time, to became a part of His inner circle. Peter, James and John are later seen as the closest inner circle. Jesus remarks they would leave behind the fishing business, and begin capturing the souls of men for the Kingdom.
This region was considered a part of the Jewish homeland in the Roman Empire, and the Tetrarch Antipas had succeeded in making it quite the bustling crossroads. That made it rather prominent in the whole of Syria, the imperial administrative division which included Judea, Galilee, Samaria, Idumea, Perea, Decapolis, and much more farther north. It was from this greater region which the word of this healing prophet and rabbi drew crowds to His outdoor sessions.
For centuries, the Jews had blindly sought the mere shadow of God's grace and love. They were wrapped up on mere external "blessings" as the sole evidence of God's favor. They never understand the presence or absence of mere human comfort were no reflection of deeper spiritual truths. It was not the need of healing that brought the miracles to these people, but the need of the Kingdom to establish the authority of the message of Jesus. There was no affliction God could not heal, no spiritual authority He could not humble, no suffering He could not end. Had the Jews been faithful, these things would have been granted to them under the promises of Moses. It would have been theirs to pass to the whole world, but they failed even for themselves. Thus, it belonged to Jesus to fulfill that mission.
Such a demonstration of Kingdom authority naturally drew immense traffic, but most of it was the poor, the ill, the disabled, the demonized, the lost and listless. These people had nothing but needs, each seemingly a bottomless pit of sorrow. The central message of the gospel was such things were so easy to resolve because they weren't important in the Kingdom. The definition of "miracle" is an earthly demonstration of deep spiritual truth. Most of the rabble appear to have missed the greater truth, for they eventually desert Jesus. Their human needs symbolized their deep spiritual needs, so deep they were unable to find the light, mostly. It came, but they never saw it. Indeed, we might safely say the demonstration of power was more to teach His disciples than any other reason. These men would have begun their discipleship not asking questions, but by custom simply absorbing everything their Master said and did for awhile in this noisy, carnival atmosphere.
Eventually, the rest of the Twelve, and a sizable group of others gathered around Him. In their hearts and minds, they were fairly certain this was the promised Messiah. However, as with all Jews, their understanding of the matter was deeply corrupted by centuries of Talmudic teaching. Indeed, until the very day He died, Jesus continued to struggle against their density on this problem, and they continued to look for signs of the false Messianic Expectations. Matthew begins the next section of his Gospel recording the early teachings of Jesus. In this, Matthew shows how Jesus struggles mightily with the mountain of lies, showing the Kingdom of Heaven was of a nature far beyond their assumptions. The jarring conflict, though, made it stand out in their minds. Later, when the Holy Spirit descends, this is all awakened and clarified, and they are instantly transformed.
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Ed Hurst
11 August 2007
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