Matthew 4:16

Matthew 4:16

In Matthew 4:16 the Bible says, "The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up." Matthew 4:16 gives the reason that Jesus came into the world: the darkness and the death of people that could only be resolved by Him. Spiritual darkness manifests itself in many ways: unbelief, inability to grasp the truth about God, false religion. Have you ever been in a room and the light has gone completely out? It can be both frightening and hazardous. How comforting it is when the light comes back on. There is spiritual darkness and there is death. Death may be the last great enemy of mankind. We have conquered many things through technology and modern science and medicine, and there are more things that humans will conquer, but we have not conquered death. Only Jesus can conquer death. Death can be especially cruel to those that are left behind. Thousands and thousands of people will die this year from disease and accident and violence. I read in the Reader's Digest that approximately 5,500 teenagers will be killed in car accidents each year. That means that 5,500 families will be devastated by such a death this year. Knowing that it could happen never seems to prepare us fully for that phone call from the police. If you have ever stood over the grave of a departed friend or loved one, you know how the despair and agony of such a separation can grip our hearts. The death of a loved one may be the greatest trial of your faith that you ever face. I have known some bitter people in my life that never seemed to recover from the tragedy of losing someone. The sorrow and the tears and the agony and the nightmares go beyond words to express.

We have only just mentioned some of the negatives of physical death. There is also spiritual death: to be separated from God forever, to be separated from all that is good and all that is comforting and all that is beautiful forever. What a horrible destiny some individuals are headed for. First Corinthians 15:55-57 says, "Oh death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Jesus came into this world to deliver us from the darkness and death that would otherwise destroy us. His motivation was love for us.

Out of the ivory palaces,

Into a world of woe.

Only his great, eternal love,

Made our Savior go.

The darkness and death and other sorrows of this world are so great that God decided to introduce us to another kingdom. Jesus has changed death for His children. Instead of the horrible destruction that it might have been, death is now simply going through a door to leave this life and enter the next, which is far better. Listen to this great promise about the kingdom of the heavens from Revelation 21:4. "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

The Bible says in Matthew 4:17, "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." In verse 17 of Matthew chapter 4 Jesus said how to get into the kingdom. He said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Repent is an interesting word. It means to change your mind. Before a person follows Jesus, that person is headed in a certain direction. All human beings make their own decisions; some of which are sinful. All human beings are in charge of their own life. To repent is to have a change of mind about which direction to take in life. Instead of going my own way, I turn to Jesus and start going His way. The emphasis is not on our emotions but on our intellect and on our will.

Jesus invites us to become a part of His kingdom. Notice that He calls it the "kingdom of heaven." It is the “kingdom of heaven” and therefore in contrast to the kingdoms of this earth. The problems of mankind will never be solved by the kingdoms, by the programs, or by the governments of this earth. Christians who understand the message of Jesus, understand this.

When we go through the election process in our country, don't make the mistake of thinking that the party and the platform that you favor are more holy than the others. This viewpoint of demonizing the opposition that so often becomes a part of politics is not of God. No matter who gets elected they are to be honored and respected because of the position that they will hold. As citizens we have a certain opportunity and responsibility to vote, but as Christians we also have a responsibility to pray about the outcome of an election. I would venture to say that many of you prayed in this past election that God would choose our leaders. Once they were chosen, did you support them with your respect and continued prayers? Jesus said to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and Paul said in Romans 13:1, "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God." Paul was writing to Christians who were living under the ruthless authority of the Roman Empire. Certainly the heathen emperors were worse morally and politically than any of the presidents that we have had. We therefore ought to respect and honor our leaders if they agree with us or not.

We realize that once we have turned from our sins and turned to Jesus that we are citizens of His great kingdom. There are certain requirements to becoming the citizen of a nation. One of the common requirements is to promise one's complete allegiance to that nation, disavowing allegiance to any other. One of my fond memories of early childhood is that of standing at attention with the rest of the class, our hands over our hearts, and making the promise:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag

of the United States of America.

And to the Republic for which it stands,

One nation, under God, indivisible,

With liberty and justice for all."

But no matter what is our citizenship in this world, if we are followers of Jesus; we know that the problems of this world will not be solved until He returns and sets up His kingdom. Until then we are, in a spiritual sense, strangers and pilgrims on the earth. We will never really be at home until we are in our heavenly home. For several years the disciples made the mistake of thinking that the Messiah would over-throw the Romans and set up His kingdom right then and there. Don't make the same mistake. No matter who is in power, the country will be made better if more people repent and follow Jesus. Nothing will fix problems as much as great numbers of people repenting and turning to the Lord.

In Matthew 4:18-25 the Bible says, "And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he said unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway 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 a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought unto him all such people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan."

We see that four of the apostles were called in this passage to follow Jesus. But they were not the only ones in this passage who followed Him. There were James and John and Andrew and Peter, and there were also great multitudes that followed Him according to verse 25. It is very noticeable that the 4 apostles were asked to leave their occupations. This they did willingly. It is just as noticeable that the majority of people who followed Jesus were not asked to leave their occupations. I think that most of the time when we come to know Jesus as Savior, He wants us to stay right where we are. It is important that we be willing to go wherever He wants us, but it is just as important to notice that the majority of all of these followers of Jesus did not leave their occupations. That is probably because the Lord wants witnesses in every trade and every profession. None of us can reach the entire world by ourselves. There are people that only you can reach in your family or in your neighborhood or where you work or shop. Remember Jesus said, "Follow me and I will make you to be fishers of men." One of the main reasons that God doesn't take us straight to heaven when we come to Jesus, is that He has something for us to do for Him in this life. That involves His desire of getting through to the heart and soul of each person on the earth. The kingdom of heaven is big enough for everyone. God's immigration policy is: "Open the doors and bid them all to come in."

Jesus presents His great kingdom. To become citizens He has told us to repent, follow Him and His teachings, and to even be willing to leave our occupation. It is informative to note something else that two of the disciples were willing to leave. Verse 22 says of James and John, "And they immediately left the ship and their father and followed Him." They left the ship and their father. How many people have kept themselves from following Jesus due to some misplaced loyalty to their parents or family tradition? We must even be willing to separate from the closest of human ties if necessary to follow the Lord. I read not long ago part of the autobiography of Mahatma Ghandi. At least up to the time of the writing of his book, Ghandi did not become a Christian in spite of many contacts with evangelical believers and many invitations to do so. As far as I can tell, one of the reasons that He did not surrender an allegiance to Jesus Christ was an attachment to and a loyalty to his family traditions in India and especially to his mother. Many Jews do not come to Jesus because of such family ties. In our society we have many people who have become estranged from their families for a lot of reasons. As sorrowful as that is, at least they do not have this one great stumbling stone that has kept many from becoming followers of Jesus. Jesus said, "He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me."

To give up something and follow the direction of the Lord is the same as dying to one's self. It appears as though we lose when we first give it up; because it is something that we gave up that we once wanted. But in reality it turns out that we gain. Look at the example of Simon. Jesus said that Simon would be called Peter. Simon was a proud and boastful person, but who was too weak to carry through on his promises. But because he followed Jesus, his life was transformed. He was called Peter, which means rock. He eventually became strong and stable and reliable. He became one of the apostles, the author of two of the books of the New Testament, and a great martyr for his faith. Because of the many times and ways in which Simon failed the Lord, he became a great example of the mercy and grace of God. God is always patient and forgiving and kind to his children, and God knows how to change us into something better in spite of ourselves.

Matthew chapter 4 has been a great chapter in the life of Jesus. In it we see Him conquer the devil and other demons, darkness and death, and disease. He offers us a place in His wonderful kingdom if we repent, and He calls us to follow Him.

Starting in Matthew 5 we are going to be presented with these amazing and powerful and wonderful words of Jesus that are called the Sermon on the Mount. Many of the verses in the next three chapters are even known by unbelievers because the words are so magnificent that once heard they cannot be forgotten. Know these words of Jesus and live by them and you will be considered great by those who know you. Although, you will never be able to completely live by them. You will only be able to reach out to them like someone reaching out to grab hold of a rainbow. Jesus has given us this great and marvelous ideal of life. He speaks of happiness, the purpose of life, the purpose of the law, relationships, religion, prayer, basic human needs, worry, salvation, and false teachers. To know these words are to know Jesus Himself: what He was, what He thought, what He did. The magnificence of these words alone is proof that He was the Son of God. "Did ever any man speak as this man?"

In Matthew 5:1-12 the Bible says, "And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him; And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

· Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.

· Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

· Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

· Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

· Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

· Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

· Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

· Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for their's is the kingdom of heaven.

· Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."

Nine times Jesus uses the word "blessed", followed by an explanation. Actually the Greek word that is translated "blessed" has another meaning that is also very common and that is the word “happy”. The French translation uses the French word for “happy” in this passage instead of the word for "blessed".

Jesus gives a list of nine things that bring true happiness. Almost everyone wants to be happy. We do what we do, thinking that it will bring happiness. Why then is there so much unhappiness in the world? Our problem is that we often do the wrong things. We do things that result in unhappiness. Hebrews chapter 1 says of Jesus, "God, even your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows."

As we consider these things that Jesus said will bring true and lasting happiness, let's keep in mind that these teachings of Jesus emphasize long-term happiness as opposed to short-term happiness. Jesus emphasizes that which lasts forever as opposed to that which can last only the short duration of a lifetime.

The first key to true happiness according to Jesus is found in verse 3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Maybe Jesus mentioned this beatitude first because it is the most important. There is a correlation between true happiness and going to heaven. Jesus said in John chapter 3, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Happy are those who recognize their own poverty of spirit, and who reach out to God through Jesus. They are given eternal life and a home in heaven. Everyone should be able to see the contrast of this eternal bliss compared to the eternal torments of those who will not reach the heavenly kingdom. We can only say that definitely Jesus knew what He was talking about. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

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