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.