Early Ministry
“Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”Immediately they 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 the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
And 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. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.” (Matthew 4:12–25 ESV)
Some have concluded that because of a Hellenistic presence in Galilee, that Jesus’ ministry must have been thoroughly Hellenized and that he may even have been a Cynic. There is a point that Jesus would have had contact with Greeks and may even have spoken Greek. But the content of the Gospels reveals a very Jewish ministry. Any Greek influence would be through the ways Hellenism affected Judaism (even the word ‘synagogue’ is Greek so we know there was influence.
If we are to identify false messages, we need to be able to recognize the true Christian message. For Jesus, the primary content of the message was the kingdom of God. When Matthew speaks of the kingdom of heaven, he is not speaking of the afterlife but of the kingdom of God using heaven as a name of God because of Jewish sensitivities. The kingdom of God is about the arrival of God’s reign. Heaven is a part of it, the church is a part of it, but it really is just about where God’s rule is present. Notice that as Jesus proclaims the arrival of God’s kingdom, he also performs healings and other miracles. These are not “attention-getters” but demonstrations of the loss of Satan’s power and the arrival of God’s rule. It is unfortunate and concerning that the concept of the kingdom of God plays so little role in Christian preaching today.
