Matthew 4:12-17 English Standard Version

Jesus Begins His Ministry

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.”

John the Baptist identified Jesus as the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Jesus could have begun His ministry right then, picking up where John left off. He did not. He left to wander the desert to be tested by Satan. He didn’t need to go there but He showed us how to answer Satan and defeat that enemy with scripture. He went there.

When John was arrested that ministry was finished and Jesus could have begun His ministry anywhere, but He did not. Prophecies that identified Christ needed to be fulfilled, not just a few but all of them. Even if those prophecies were not well known, they had to be fulfilled. In order to distinguish Himself from the others that were proclaiming themselves, Jesus left none of the prophecies undone, even the least known.

While the other gospels cover some of the better known prophecies, Matthew was the only one to cover the one concerning Zebulun and Naphtali. The fact that the other gospels did not cover this prophecy makes us wonder what other prophecies were not covered concerning the identity of Christ?

I said watch this, so now I will show you.

Did you need to know all those fulfilled prophecies to accept Jesus as the Christ?

I am certain you did not.

Now think about all those religious leaders who were well versed in all the scriptures. Why didn’t they recognize Jesus as the Christ?

I have a feeling that the answer to that question is loaded with excuses.

My answer is simple and doesn’t require a lot of pondering to understand.

It wasn’t in God’s will.

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Bible search results for happiness

Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

Lamentations 3:17 my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is;

These are the search results for happiness. The bible does not say very much about happiness. A search for just the word happy doesn’t reveal all that much, but here is one example.

Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year to be happy with his wife whom he has taken.”

That  miscellaneous law allowed a man to be happy but it was not the law that made him happy. We cannot legislate happiness.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Declaration of Independence

This declaration does not guarantee happiness but only recognizes the individual rights to pursue it. The chase is on. What makes you happy?

Please do not answer that question. I don’t want to know. I am not a constitutionalist. Neither am I a moralist. Nor am I a legalist.

What once seemed to make me happy no longer pleases me. Those things were sinful and sin was never satisfied and sought to entrap me in an endless search for the trill that does not last and needs to to be fed constantly. This is what sin does, in it there is no lasting satisfaction.

Romans 14:22 (KJV) Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. (ESV) The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.

Faith is the key to true happiness.