“Follow ME”
Matthew 4:12-25
DISMISS GROVE KIDZ
MGCC – welcome to, The Gospel of Matthew, ‘The King and His Kingdom,’ week #7.
NOW – this morning we are going to unpack, chapter 4 verses 12-25, in a conversation that I am calling, “Follow ME”
Show Video “Follow”
OKAY – let’s do this, the Gospel of Matthew week seven, “Follow ME.” AND LISTEN – before we dive into our text,
IT’S - important to point out that, there is about a one year time gap between the temptation of Jesus (which we talked about last week, “The Battle Is On!”) and Matthew 4:12.
AND – believe me when I tell you, that a lot has happened in that one year gap (much of which is recorded by John in his Gospel). IN THIS - gap we see…
• The ministry of JTB (and that powerful statement that he made as Jesus ministry was becoming more and more prominent, and some of his followers were a little bothered by it… “He must become greater and I must become less)
in this gap we see...
• Jesus’ first miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee
• Jesus’ overturning tables and clearing out the Temple during the Passover Feast
• Jesus’ early Judean ministry of healing, teaching and baptism.
• Jesus’ powerful encounter with Nicodemus in John chapter about being born again (being born of water and the Spirit) in order to enter the kingdom, and about how God so loved…
• JTB being arrested.
QUESTION – do you remember why he was arrested?
BECAUSE – he called out the sexual sin that King Herod was committing with his brother’s wife.
YEAH – not only did he not condone it, but he had the courage to condemn it. AND LISTEN – it is always dangerous to take a public stand against immorality.
IN FACT – JTB’s stand would lead to his arrest and ultimately to his death, as those committing the evil ‘tried’ to silence his voice. BUT LISTEN – God’s voice cannot be silenced and in the end He will always have the final say.
AMEN?!
YEAH – a lot had gone down in that 1 year gap between the temptation of Jesus and Matthew 4:12.
OKAY – now, to our text…
12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee.
AND LISTEN – we know from John’s Gospel that when Jesus withdrew to Galilee, He chose to go through Samaria.
QUESTION – why was this a surprising route for a Jewish rabbi to take?
BECAUSE – the Jewish people, especially the religious leaders in Judea… considered the Samaritan people: less than, half-breads and unclean.
IN FACT – most Jews who traveled from Judea to Samaria would actually go east and cross the Jordan to avoid the area all together so that they would not become ‘unclean.’
BUT SCRIPTURE SAYS – that Jesus ‘had to go’ through Samaria to… a) meet a woman at a well,
and b) to make a statement about the nature of the Kingdom that He is establishing. THAT – it is for all people, even this woman at the well who was married 5 times, and was now living with a guy who not even give her his last name.
AND – Jesus tells her…
• About living water, About never thirsting again
• About how God is searching for those who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
• That He is the Messiah!
12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee.
NOW – when Jesus first returned to Galilee He spent some time in His hometown of Nazareth.
Luke chapter 4 records Jesus (full of the Spirit) walking into the synagogue in His hometown, a scroll from the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, Jesus found the place where it was written…
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” - Luke 4:18,19
THEN – Jesus rolled up the scroll and handed it back to the attendant and sat down.
AND EVERY EYE - in the synagogue was on Him and then Jesus said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
AND – the people were like, “but hey isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
Jesus did some more teaching, and when He started talking about God reaching out to Gentiles, the people became so furious that they drove Him out of town and tried to throw Him over a cliff.
But He walked right through the crowd and went on His way
- Luke 4:30
13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—
NOW - Capernaum
• A busy beach town with a population of ~ 2000 people, 50% of which were gentiles
• Had a thriving fishing and agriculture business
• Located on an international trade route that ran all the way south into Egypt and all the way north into Syria and Mesopotamia.
• It was the hometown of Peter, Andrew, James and John
• And where Matthew had set up his tax business
• It was a good distance away from the religious and political leaders in Judea, who were not only opposed to the truth, but would stop at nothing to shut truth down.
• Yeah Capernaum, a perfect place to set up His ministry headquarters.
13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—
14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
NOTE – this is the 5th time so far in his Gospel that Matthew has connected what was happening in the life of Jesus to the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
AND HERE – is that prophecy that Jesus is fulfilling in His move to Capernaum (from Isaiah 9:1,2)…
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.”
AND – in Isaiah 9:6,7… Isaiah says that this light would be called: Wonder Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace and that He would reign justice and righteousness on David’s throne forever.
The people living where?
• In the land of Zebulon and Naphtali (2 of Jacobs sons)
• The people living in darkness, The people living in the land of the shadow of death.
QUESTION…
Why would those words ‘living in darkness’ describe the people living in Galilee? For several reasons, YOU SEE…
• That area was the first to turn from God and worship idols and false gods after King Solomon died.
• It was the area where when Assyria conquered the northern kingdom, they imported many people from other nations who worshipped other gods… and over the centuries there had been a lot of intermarrying going on.
AND HEY CHECK THIS OUT…
The word that is translated as ‘living’ in the NIV
Is actually the Greek word for ‘sitting’
The people sitting in darkness have seen a great light; on those sitting in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
UNDERSTAND – people sit where they are comfortable, they sat in place where they plan on staying.
IN OTHER WORDS – the people in Galilee of the Gentiles, have become comfortable sitting in darkness.
AND B/S – that describes many people in our world today.
THEY - are sitting in darkness, THEY - are sitting in the shadow of death… AND THEY - are very comfortable sitting there.
YES – Jesus goes to a place where people are sitting in darkness, a place where people are hurt, despised and rejected and He sets up shop there. THAT – becomes His mission field.
AND UNDERSTAND MGCC – it is the needy person who are most likely to recognize their need.
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. – John 12:46
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
- Colossians 1:13
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
UNDERSTAND MGCC…
REPENTANCE – is a perquisite for entering the Kingdom and following after Him.
BUT LISTEN – here’s the deal…
WHEN JESUS SAYS - repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near, it is not a threat, it’s an invitation…
AN INVITAIOB - to a change of mind, the leads to a change of heart, that leads to a changed of life.
AGAIN – repentance is a perquisite for entering the Kingdom. AND – we see this call to repentance when Jesus at the beginning of His ministry here in Matthew 4, and we see the call to repentance… At the end of His ministry in Luke 24
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
– Luke 24:45-497
And at the birth of the church
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
– Acts 2:37,38
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
NOW – we can read that and get the impression that Jesus just stepped into these fisherman’s life out of nowhere as a total stranger, mesmerized them with His magnetic personality and called them away from their livelihood, with the result that they miraculously followed this strange, itinerant prophet.
HOWEVER – this was not the first time that these man had encounter Jesus, in fact, they had been kind of hanging out with Jesus for about a year, ever since John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Time to go ‘all in.’
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
A three phase ministry…
• Teaching – to impart information
• Proclaiming – to urge to not only hear the information, but to embrace it and walk in it
• Healing – showing compassion
24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him. – Matthew 4:12-25
Jesus said, “Come Follow Me.’ Two simple, yet life-changing words. BUT – what do they mean?
AND ARE WE – actually following Him?
To answer those questions, I want us to look at these words in reverse order, so that we can understand upfront who exactly is the “Me” that we are called to follow.
I. “ME”
UNDERSTAND - the identity of the one who is calling us to follow really does matter.
IN FACT – there are some people who may say, “follow me,” HOWEVER – to do so, would not be a very good idea.
WHILE – working on this message this week, an experience I had when following the wrong person came to mind.
• We just moved to Georgia from Florida…
• We had only been there less than a month.
• Progressive dinner
• I had no idea of how to get to anywhere (before the days of smart phones and GPS)
• Following someone, who had no idea of where we were going
• A guy named Fred
OKAY – so who is, the ‘ME’ in follow me?
WELL – the first 4 chapters of Matthew’s Gospel, that we have spent 6 weeks unpacking, provide both a stunning and powerful picture of Jesus.
In Matthew Chapter One, we see Jesus…
Described in the very verse first as…
…The Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.
– Matthew 1:1
a) The Christ
Jesus is the Christ…
The Messiah, the anointed on, the one that God had promised his people for thousands of years (since the book of Genesis) would come to set things right between God and His people once and for all time.
The son of David (the true and eternal King)
Not only of Israel but of the world
And as King Jesus has…
• The authority to speak
• The power to rule
• The desire to include
• The right to reward
b) The son of Abraham
Who is the Father of the people of Israel
YEAH – Matthew 1:1 is a theologically packed verse
LATER - in chapter one we see that Jesus is born of the virgin Mary and yet He is Immanuel God with us.
In other words…
Jesus is fully human and fully divine
23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
- Matthew 1:23
c) Jesus is Savior
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
- Matthew 1:21
NOW - The name Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means… God is salvation or Yahweh saves.
UNDERSTAND MGCC - saving people from their sins was and is the mission of Jesus. LIKE – it is why He came…
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Lk 19:10
YES - Jesus came into the world to take care of the greatest problems that mankind (that would be me and that would be you) has and will ever have sin.
A problem that separates us from God and makes us objects of His wrath.
In Matthew Chapter Two, we see that Jesus is…
d) The Ruler and Shepherd of His people
But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel. - Matthew 2:6
In Matthew Chapter Three, we see that Jesus is…
“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
– Matthew 3:17
In Matthew Chapter four, we see that Jesus is…
e) The second Adam who defeated the devil temptation, conquering sin, on His way to becoming the sinless sacrifice the we so desperately need.
And in our text today we see that Jesus is both the light of and the hope of all people
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.” – Matthew 4:16
OKAY – here’s the deal
In light of everything we know about Jesus from the first four chapters of Matthew, we should feel both the wonder and the weight of The One who gives this invitation, this command, to four fishermen to follow Him in verse 19.
YES - This is Jesus!
The savior, the Messiah, the Christ, the one promise to come in the kingly line of David and from Abraham, the father of Israel. Jesus was fully human and fully divine,
The One to whom wise men from the nations bowed down,
The One whose birth and life are the culmination of generations of prophecy and anticipation.
He is the Savior King and Righteous Judge of the world, perfectly filled with God’s Spirit and loved by God the Father. He is the only man who has conquered sin, and the True Son that Israel could never be.
He is indeed the light of the world and the hope for all people. The Ruler and Shepherd of all mankind.
The author of one of my commentaries wrote;
There is only one conclusion to draw when we hear the invitation ‘follow me’: Jesus is worthy of far more than church attendance and casual association.
We have such a dangerous tendency to reduce Jesus to a poor puny savior who's just begging for you and me to accept Him into our lives.
As if Jesus needs be accepted by us! Jesus doesn't need our acceptance; He is infinitely worthy of all glory in the whole universe He doesn't need us at all. We need Him.
We dare not patronize Jesus, for He is worthy of total abandonment and supreme adoration. We're talking about the Savior King of the Universe and Righteous Judge of all nations, God in the Flesh saying follow me. That thought alone is mind boggling.
There is no potential casual response to Jesus. It's either turn and run, or bow and worship.
II. “Follow”
Now according to my social media accounts…
- I am following 293 people on Twitter, and 77 people are following me
- I am following 153 people on Instagram, and 198 people are following me
No idea who most of those people are…
- Obama 131M
- Justin Bieber 114M
- Katty Perry 108M
- Cristiano Ronaldo 409M
- Kylie Jenner 315M
UNDERSTAND - I am convinced that Jesus’ idea of what it means to, follow Him, is much different than the idea that many who claim Him today have.
I MEAN – the way that many follow Jesus today, is really not that different than how they follow… Katy Perry, Justin Bieber or Cristiano Ronaldo.
NOW – when we read the Gospels we see that Jesus talks a lot about what it means to follow Him…
I am only going to read two passages both from Luke…
Then he said to the crowd, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 25 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world, and you lose or forfeit your very self. – Luke 9:23-25
AND – just a little further down the road in Luke 14 beginning at verse 14 we read…
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:
NOW - here’s what you’ll find in the New Testament (in the Gospels) THAT - Jesus from time to time will try to find out who’s traveling with Him and who’s following after Him.
There’s a distinction that gets made. Where there’s a large group of people traveling with Him and He wants to know, “Who’s following Me and who’s just traveling with Me?”
AND - to be clear, the travelers were welcome, right?
MAYBE - some of you are travelers. You’re learning more about Jesus. You’re getting to know Him. And that’s great. You can keep traveling. You can keep traveling with Jesus, learning a little bit more about Him. BUT - the time comes where He’ll challenge you to not just travel but to follow after.
And so that’s what happens.
This is one of those moments (where we have this large crowd of followers and travelers …
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.
And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple… any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple… - Luke 14:25-27
WELL - that will thin the crowd out, right?
I MEAN - that’s one way to figure out who’s traveling with you and who’s following after you. If you want to come after me, you’ve got to hate your family.
AGAIN - it doesn’t seem like a great membership recruitment approach.
IF - the local gym wants to get new members that’s not the type of language they want to use.
INSTEAD – they put up billboards and you send out ads and you make it clear to people all the ways this is going to benefit them. They try to sell you on it.
Jesus isn’t doing that.
SO WHY - does He use this language of hating your family? WELL - obviously to take that literally would contradict the other core teachings of Jesus and of Scripture.
One translation translates that as “you must love me more than,” which is probably a more accurate way to understand the point Jesus is making.
He is first and everyone and everything else is a very distant second.
BUT YOU KNOWN - I don’t want to take away from His statement.
IN FACT - I think to understand it, we have to understand that in that first century world, a decision to follow Jesus would have been considered oftentimes, by the family, as a complete turning away from them.
I was reading this week about in South Asia, where persecution of Christians is common.
That, the church planters…the pastors there, have decided that one of the ways they’re going to help people understand what they are really getting into by following Christ, is by asking them a series of questions, so that they know what they’re signing up for.
It’s only fair, right?
AND SO - they’ve come up with a series of questions that they ask new members…or perspective members…before they surrender to Christ and become a part of the church.
And here are the questions that are asked:
• Are you willing to leave your home and lose the blessing of your family?
• Are you willing to lose your job?
• Are you willing to forgive those who persecute you and share the love of Christ with them?
• Are you willing to give an offering for the Lord?
• Are you willing to be beaten rather than deny your faith?
• Are you willing to go to prison?
• Are you willing to die for Jesus?
THOSE - are their questions. So you still want to sign up?
They just want to be fair. They want to be honest and say, “Look, this is what it could cost you.”
AND LISTEN - as Christians, as followers of Jesus, we need to understand that following Jesus… though we may never be put in a situation like this, it will still will cost you something.
QUESTION – what has following Jesus cost you?
Okay I want to say 3 things, 3 awesome and transforming things that Jesus said about what it means to follow Him…
Are you ready? Sweet…
a) Following Jesus is An Open Invitation – ‘anyone’
“If anyone would come after me
UNDERSTAND – ‘anyone’ is a significant word because it makes it clear just who Jesus is inviting…
He is inviting anyone and everyone, it’s an inclusive invitation. JESUS doesn’t begin with a list of prequalification’s… anyone means that we are all invited to be His followers..
• Sexual past – anyone
• Alcoholic – anyone
• Addict – anyone
• Anger and pride issues - anyone
• Recently divorced – anyone
• Fearful and insecure - anyone
• Hypocrite - anyone
• Republican? Democrat? - anyone
• Yankee fan? NY Giant fan? Well… okay… yeah, anyone
b) Following Jesus is A Passionate Pursuit – ‘come after Me’
NOW – the term ‘come after’ was a phrase commonly used in the context of a Romantic relationship.
WHEN - Jesus says ‘come after’ – He’s describing a passionate pursuit of someone you love.
SO the best way to understand what Jesus is wanting from us as His followers is to compare it to how we would pursue someone with whom we wanted to have a romantic relationship… YEAH – I get that.
In the fall of 1996… I went after, I pursued with great passion someone I wanted to have a romantic relationship with…
And in a little over 3 months she was my wife!
c) Following Jesus is A Total Surrender – ‘dying to and denying yourself’
JESUS SAYS – that we can’t come after Him, without dying to and denying ourselves.
NOW - that’s a tough thing to do in our American Culture.
Or in the American Church where many say, “Now hold on preacher man, I didn’t sign on for this self-denial thing. I signed up for the make it about and make it better for me plan.
Check out this quote from Bo Chancy
(I’m Going To Light Myself On Fire)…
Following Jesus is an all-or-nothing deal.
There is no such thing as partial surrender. In order to follow Him, we must completely lay down our lives. We do not get to pick and choose what we hold onto and what we give up.
Total surrender is the only option.
Take a moment to examine your life.
Who is in charge? Who is calling the shots? Who is the director of your life? Is it you? Or Jesus?
It can’t be both. If you answer both you and Jesus, then total surrender has not occurred. Jesus will not stand for it. He will not share His throne. Call Him selfish if you like, but that’s just the way it is. Jesus desires you, and He is not willing to share you with anyone, including yourself.
Total surrender is an outlandish extreme that justifiably produces discomfort in most. We may believe or accept the concept on a cognitive level, but in our hearts, most of us are holding onto hope that there will be a little “wiggle room” on the deal.
We may desire the appearance of surrender, but we clearly know who is in control. This is not one of those fuzzy, hard to interpret theological ideals. It is clear cut. Total surrender and nothing less is required. Nowhere in Scripture do we see Jesus backing off of this. ..
Jesus wants all of you. He wants your hopes, dreams, goals, plans, agendas, lifestyles, families, relationships, jobs, service, hobbies, gifts, talents, money, abilities, passions, the list goes on… He purchased you, and the price was significant.
Jesus is not negotiating this deal with you. His final offer is on the table. – Bo Chancy
Dying to yourself may mean…
Why Is Following Jesus Worth It?
AND LISTEN – if it wasn’t worth it we’d every reason to stay off the field and remain in the stands.
No One Is Who He Is
And just who is Jesus, Jesus is God…
• HE - is the Alpha and the Omega…
• the beginning and the end.
• He is the mighty God
• He is Creator of all that we see
• He is all-powerful, all-knowing – and always there
• HE always has been and He always will be
• He is the Kings of King & Lord of Lords..
• Jesus is huge… holy… mighty… He is God
No One Has Done What He Has Done
Jesus has cleaned up our past (He paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay)…
And He has guaranteed our future…
No Can Do What Jesus Can Do
And what can Jesus do? He can do anything! Nothing is too hard or impossible for our God…
• Can deliver what he promised
• Bring peace to any conflict
• Conquer any problem
• Calm any storm
• Defeat any enemy
•
No Mission Can Accomplish What His Can
Redirected the forevers of lost people, and bring full and abundant life to the broken of this world.
