Word Live: Location, Location, Location
Imagine Jesus knocks on your door. He has come to stay. What will you do together? Where will you take him? What will you talk about?
Bible passage
Matthew 4:12–17
Jesus begins to preach
12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali – 14 to fulfil what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
15 ‘Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles –
16 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.’
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Explore
For the scrupulous, religious elite in Jerusalem, the tribal lands of Zebulun and Naphtali, in northern Israel, were no ‘des-res’. They were areas to avoid. This region (which included Galilee) was a spiritual backwater, diluted by the pagan practices of the Gentiles.
Historically, the northern tribes had lived, literally, in the ‘shadow of death’ as wave after wave of foreign armies had invaded, slaughtered and deported the people. Isaiah 8:19 – 9:1 provides their backstory: these tribes had turned away from God and had been humbled through testing and judgement. Surely they did not deserve to be the first to see the ‘great light’, aka God’s promised Messiah King (Isaiah 9:1–7)!
It is a sign of God’s undeserved kindness that the Messiah should choose to live (vs 12,13) among people with a troubled past, who had failed and forsaken God, who had known the violence of war and the pain of exile. What a powerful message of hope: God’s servant-king becomes their neighbour and offers them a second chance (v 17)!
And, if we feel we have failed or forsaken God, let’s heed Jesus’ words (v 17) and turn back to him completely.
Author
Penny Boshoff
Respond
How might we bring the light of Jesus to people in our communities who feel they are failures? How might we be neighbours to those who are despised or marginalised?
Deeper Bible study
Try to imagine the context of occupied Galilee in which Jesus lived and preached.
The return of Jesus to Galilee on hearing the news of the imprisonment of John the Baptist was not a retreat to an area of safety.1 Isaiah refers to this region as ‘Galilee of the Gentiles’ and describes its people as ‘living in darkness’ and in ‘the shadow of death’ (vs 15,16). This is consistent with this Gospel’s concern with mission among the nations, a theme reflected both in the account of the Magi from the east in 2:1–12 and, at its conclusion, in the risen Jesus sending his disciples to ‘all nations’.2 However, the association of the Gentile infiltration of Galilee with ‘darkness’ and ‘death’ must also refer to the impact of Roman colonisation of the area and the disturbing social and economic changes which this had brought about. As a boy, Jesus would have witnessed the rebuilding of the city of Sepphoris within sight of his native Nazareth and his family must have experienced the impact of this new urban culture. Roman building projects throughout Galilee ‘put extra pressure on the traditional way of life of peasant landowners in the villages’, undermining the traditions based on the values of God’s covenant with Israel and driving many villagers into servitude and poverty.3
Jesus now moves to Capernaum and begins a ministry with the same theme as that of the imprisoned John the Baptist (compare verse 17 with 3:2). His teaching is accompanied by signs that the kingdom of heaven has broken into the present, in the form of healing, deliverance and hope for the poor and oppressed.4 Matthew describes the advent of Jesus as the appearance of ‘a great light’ dispelling the darkness of the ‘shadow of death’ (v 16).5
How do you think Jesus was affected by hearing the news that ‘John had been put in prison’ (v 12)?
1 See Mark 6:14–29 2Matt 28:16–20 3 S Freyne, Jesus, A Jewish Galilean, T&T Clark, 2004, p45–46 4 See Matt 11:4–6 5 See John 1:5
Author
David Smith
