Matthew 4:12–25

¹⁷From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (has come near)." ²³And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

There are a few housekeeping items to take care of before we begin the sermon:

First, you will notice that the Gospel readings for this year are mostly from the Gospel of Matthew. We are in year one of the three year lectionary cycle. So we best take a look at Matthew's gospel to better understand his message.

Matthew is divided into two main sections. Each of them begins with the words: "From that time Jesus began to..." Our text today says he "From that time Jesus began to began to preach..." Later on, in Chapter 16, it says "From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things..." Hence the two parts of this gospel are his early ministry of teaching, preaching and doing miracles, and the end of his ministry when he suffered and died.

It was also Matthew's task to show that Jesus is the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. Our text today refers to the Old Testament reading about the light that the gentiles saw. Matthew tells us that Jesus is that light.

So what we have here is the final part of Matthew's introduction, showing that Jesus is the God of the Old Testament and the beginning of Matthew's first section. From that time Jesus began to preach..." Indeed, the rest of Matthew's gospel is arranged around five sermons of Jesus. The first and most important of these is the Sermon on the Mount, which in fact, follows directly after our text of today. That means, that starting next Sunday, we will begin a mini sermon series from the Sermon on the Mount.

But now, let us begin our sermon by taking a look at our text. It says, Jesus began to preach saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The message of Jesus is repent. Turn away from your sin. Reject it, deny it. Run from it. Rid your life of it. Why? Because the kingdom of heaven has come near.

The creation had been taken captive by Satan. It was broken. Death reigned. Darkness ruled. Mankind was taken prisoner by sin.

Jesus came to take over. When Jesus came, the kingdom came. When Jesus died his kingdom was founded. Jesus was proclaimed King on the cross. Jesus came into the world to restore it. Jesus died so that his dead people would be raised to life. Jesus came so that his light would shine in the darkness. Jesus is the light that those living in darkness saw, as our Old Testament reading declares. Jesus came to take back his kingdom from Satan and sin and death. Jesus has come to restore justice. Jesus comes to make right all that is wrong. Jesus comes to take over the world and your life.

That is the message that Jesus preached. Repent, the kingdom has come near. Jesus is taking over. He is taking over your life.

But is that good news or bad news? If you are comfortable with the way your life is; if you are satisfied with yourself. Then that is bad news. If you are happy with your faith and are serving God and are a committed disciple of Jesus, then it is bad news. Because when Jesus takes over your life, everything will change. If you are satisfied with the status quo, then you don't want Jesus to take over because he will change you.

On the other hand, if you are unhappy with yourself; if you have messed up your life; if you are not a good disciple of Jesus and are a failure at following him or being a good church member, then it is good news, because Jesus is about to change all that. If you look down the road and see that the future is nothing but pain and suffering; if you see in your life the prospect of illness, weakness, old age, moving out of your home into assisted living and from assisted living into a nursing home and then you don't know where, then it is good news. If you find temptation and sin controlling your life, then it is good news. If you are addicted to drugs or alcohol; if your personality is not what you want; if your heart is filled with worry and anxiety, if anger often takes control of your thoughts and words, then it is good news.

Because Jesus is coming to take over your life and fix what is broken. Jesus is coming to establish his kingdom in you and rule as King. If you struggle with yoru humanity. Yearn to become holy as God is holy, come to terms with our being and our wayward ways from our human failings, accept yoru own humanity as wholesome and yet broken, but you are accepted by God and in his son he shows you his love. He restores your humanity, not once, not twice, but daily. He became human so the we could become deving. The HS brings healing and restoration to the community and to you.

And this takeover of your life is in three parts: past, present and future.