Jesus Begins His Ministry

Encountering Jesus – the Gospel of Matthew

Allen Snapp

Grace Community Church

April 19, 2026

Jesus Begins His Ministry

If you have your Bible turn to Matt. 4. Jesus has been baptized by John and tempted in the wilderness by the devil and we pick up in verse 12.

¹² Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. ¹³ And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

¹⁵ “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— ¹⁶ 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.”

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Let’s pray.

When Janice and I were considering where the Lord was leading us to plant a church it came down to a densely populated area in Columbus, Ohio and the less densely populated city of Corning NY. After prayer we felt the Lord was calling us to plant in Corning and I remember telling someone at our sending church and he pleasantly surprised me when he said, “I’m familiar with Corning – I’ve been there. Corning is centrally located.” I said, “really?” He said, “yes, it’s right in the middle of nowhere.”

Matthew records the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and he also chooses to begin his ministry in the middle of nowhere. To help us get a visual I think a map of the region will be helpful.

Show map

Jesus, of course, was born in Bethlehem and then moved with his family up to Nazareth. At a certain point he traveled south about 70 miles to be baptized by John in what’s known as “Bethany beyond the Jordan” – not to be confused with the Bethany near Jerusalem. When John is arrested that’s Jesus’ sign to begin his ministry. But instead of heading to the highly populated, influential area of Jerusalem, he “withdraws” to Galilee.

He heads way up north to the region of Galilee but not to Nazareth but even further north to Capernaum on the sea of Galilee and there Jesus sets up headquarters for his brand new ministry. He withdraws and launches at the same time! This area is right on the border of Gentile nations and in fact part of this region was called Galilee of the Gentiles. This is where a lot of wars and fighting came from. The Jews who lived in this region then lived under constant threat of violence and war. Not unlike today. Lebanon and Hezbollah are on their northwest border and Syria is on their northeast border.

We all live in such safety and security we don’t know and can’t imagine what it’s like to live under the shadow of constant threat and fear for our lives but that’s what the northern border of Israel knew so when Isaiah prophesied that those living in great darkness and under the shadow of death would see a great light, he was seeing the ministry of Jesus shining the light and love of God on these people. Jesus shone that light in three powerful and strategic ways. To make it easier to remember I’m going to alliterate with 3 M’s. Jesus came armed with a:

1. Message
2. Method
3. Ministry

1. Message: repent for the Kingdom of heaven has drawn near

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

This is the same message John preached. The Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand. Talk about light shining in a dark place! Jesus proclaimed that God was drawing near. All the goodness and rightness of God’s kingdom was right here – close enough to touch. Therefore, repent! Turn around. Do a 180.

Repentance is a good word and it’s good news for those who are heading in the wrong direction. If you don’t like the direction you’re life is going, don’t speed up, turn around! Sin always leads us in the opposite direction of God. Sin leads to deception, God leads to truth. Sin leads to darkness, God brings light. Sin results in death, God is the author of life.

Jesus’ message was “the kingdom of heaven is right here – you can be a part of it! You can be a citizen of it! Just turn around! Just repent!” I think some people reduce repentance to being a terrible feeling of guilt and sadness and sometimes that’s what repentance looks like but true repentance isn’t always sad and heavy. One of the clearest examples of true repentance is when Zaccheus repented over his stealing and extorting and promised to return any money he had stolen with interest. Zaccheus wasn’t sad and guilty, just the opposite, he was like a little kid he was so excited about repenting and following Jesus! Repentance can be joyful – we were going in the wrong direction but Jesus has drawn near with forgiveness for our past sins and power to live differently.

Listen, if the kingdom of darkness has a foothold in your life, you know it’s not leading to joy. It’s leading to misery. Guilt. It’s damaging relationships. It’s damaging your soul. Jesus says, “turn around!” Do a 180 and run to Jesus. You don’t need to pay for those sins, Jesus died to do that. Just bring them to Jesus, confess them, and believe that Jesus can give you the power to live in a different direction.

2. Method – Jesus chose men to follow him and change the world

¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”^[b] 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ 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. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus walks the coastline of the Sea of Galilee and finds four men who are fishing. These four men will become one third of his Apostles, ordinary men who will change the course of history, who will “turn the world upside down”. These four were Galileans – looked at as lower class, uneducated men. They weren’t chosen for their qualifications, they were chosen for their lack of qualifications. Jesus would empower them for the ministry he was calling them to: Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

In some ways we aren’t like the original Apostles. We don’t have the same level of authority and power Jesus gave to them. We won’t be adding books to the Bible as five of the twelve did. But Jesus’ method for reaching the lost includes you and me. If we are Christians it’s because at some point in our life we heard Jesus call us to follow him. And he wants to make us fishers of men (people) too.

It’s interesting that in the Old Testament the imagery of casting nets and hooks to catch fish is most often used in a negative way to symbolize judgment. An example is the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah:

¹⁶ “But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks. ¹⁷ My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes. Jer. 16:16-17

The Lord sending fishers of men in that case is to exact judgment. But Jesus changed a negative metaphor into a positive one. Instead of drawing men to judgment we draw men in to be saved from judgment through the gospel.

The Lord sends us with a message: Jesus didn’t come to condemn us or judge us, he came to save us from condemnation and judgment by bearing our judgment and condemnation on the cross.

3. Ministry – teaching and touching hurting people right where they live

²³ 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. ²⁴ 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, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. ²⁵ And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Jesus taught ordinary people what the kingdom of heaven drawing near meant for them. We see that in the Sermon on the Mount. But honestly, just telling people the kingdom of heaven is drawing near isn’t enough. What does that even mean? What does that mean for my life? Will I be destroyed? Judged? Cast out? Rejected? What will happen to my family? That message needs to be filled out and Jesus does that.

But he helps them feel the impact and the heart of the kingdom by touching them right where they hurt. Many times it says that Jesus saw the crowds and was moved with compassion. His heart felt their pain and he wanted to do something about it. And Jesus could. So he did. Healing every disease and every affliction among the people…they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, paralytics, and he healed them.

As Jesus begins his ministry, at first no one really knows who he is, but as they see his power and feel his compassion they start bringing the hurting to him. Every disease. Every Affliction. All the sick. Various pains. Those oppressed by demons or seizures and paralytics. And those in north eastern Syria, those in Galilee, those on the western side of the Sea of Galilee, and those even far away in Judea and Jerusalem and beyond the Jordan. Little by little, day by day, his fame is spreading and crowds are growing.

Maybe someone here is hurting right now. Maybe you’re hurting physically, maybe you’re hurting emotionally – your heart hurts. Or maybe you’re experiencing mental torment. I believe there is a suffering of the mind that can be worse than physical pain. You can bring it to Jesus.