Bible Study on Matthew 4, verses 18 to 25, preaching the gospel of the kingdom

 

Matthew 4:18 ¶  And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 19  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20  And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. 21  And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. 22  And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

 

This metaphor Jesus uses about catching men like fish is particularly interesting in light of the following verse;

 

Habakkuk 1:14  And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

 

Sermons have been made about how a Christian, when called by God, should leave everything of this world, including his family, if necessary, if they are opposed to God’s calling and just immediately follow Christ. We must be careful, though, in applying the lives of the Apostles to our own lives.

 

We are Gentile Christians, non-Jews, for the most part and we are called to minister to our families and to not shirk our responsibilities to them. Notice what Paul says about familial duty.

 

1Timothy 5:8  But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel…16  If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.

 

We will be given marching orders within the framework of our current life. No, God does not need saved card dealers in Vegas or saved prostitutes so you may be called to make some changes but I don’t see anywhere that Christ or Paul or anyone else tells you to walk way from your life’s responsibilities, but only to repent and turn from your sin.

 

However, a call to service to God prompted by the urging of the Holy Spirit is best effected immediately. God will deal with your situation if that is indeed His will. I can’t tell you how many times I have felt compelled and drawn to studying and writing on the Bible to give what I have learned to others around the world on my written or my video blogs or books self-published.

 

Notice how straightway and immediately are shown to be synonymous in this passage.

 

Matthew 4:23 ¶  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. 24  And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. 25  And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

 

Here we have classifications of sick persons; the possessed, the mentally ill, and the physically ill including those with the palsy, a form of paralysis (we’ll see in Matthew 9 and in Mark 2 instances of this.) Jesus healed any of those categories of distress.

 

Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom and this is further elaborated in other places, just what this entails. In fact, the gospels are typically about the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Heaven specifically. Remember that this kingdom at this time was within the believer.

 

Luke 17:20 ¶  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

 

So, at this time this is not a reference to a physical kingdom with castles, fortified cities, and armies but a spiritual kingdom within the heart and mind of every believer who trusts in Christ, the Messiah of all men and women, not just the Jews.

 

John 18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.