Real Life Ministries Newport
**JAN 18** Discipleship Reveals the Father (Matthew 4:12-25)
  • Graves Into Gardens
  • Here I Am To Worship
  • King of Kings
  • Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

  • Sermon

    Key Passage

    Matthew 4:12–25 NIV
    When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 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.” From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 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. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. 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, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 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. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

    Vision Mission Process

    Today, we are looking at Jesus’ call of a handful of men to be His disciples
    This is a significant moment in our journey of understanding Jesus and His ministry
    This is also a massive concept for our role as the church today.
    Jesus never called these guys to be Christians. He never called them to start a new religion. He didn’t give them a manual or a theological textbook.
    He said, “Follow Me”
    This is the call and the model that we stand as a church.
    This church is a church that is built with Jesus Christ as its cornerstone.
    And we are all called to follow Jesus as His disciples
    God loved the world so much that He sent His only begotten Son into the world so the world would see salvation.
    But it was not simply for the sake of salvation. It was so that we would know God, relationally.
    We exist as a church to reach the world for Jesus one person at a time.
    We don’t want to introduce the world to teachings or theologies about Jesus.
    We want the world to meet Jesus. Relationally
    We live this out by creating Biblical disciples in relational environments.
    This isn’t a church growth strategy.
    This was Jesus model.
    He dwelt among us so we would know Him.
    We live relationally among one another so we can grow to know God in maturity, but show God’s love to one another.

    Introduction

    The last two weeks were a snapshot of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.
    Matthew does a great job of showing us how the birth of Jesus aligned with OT prophecy.
    Matthew takes great care to teach that Jesus is not some haphazard Messiah.
    Rather, Jesus is the prophesied Messiah.
    This is a continuation of God’s work for centuries. Not the arrival of something new. It is the fulfillment and continuation of God’s work.
    Abraham’s promise- God would bless the whole world through his seed
    David’s promise- An eternal throne and and eternal kingdom
    God’s promise of salvation of his people.
    Numerous specific prophecies as well.
    Matthew’s introduction connects Jesus’ birth and his arrival with massive importance.
    This is the arrival of THE MESSIAH!
    Heaven celebrated. God’s sovereignty is seen throughout creation.
    Now, over the last two weeks, we see the arrival of Jesus’ ministry.
    Jesus’ baptism and Jesus temptation in the wilderness give us the readers a revelation of who this baby that was born in Bethlehem is.
    He is the King of Kings. He is God in the flesh .
    He has been approved by God at baptism
    He has shown His humanity and His Sovereignty in the desert.
    No shortcuts.
    Today, we see him begin to engage the world.
    It is time for the King to begin building His Kingdom

    Main Topic

    Matthew 4:12 NIV
    When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee.
    We will go into more detail on this when we get to Matthew 11 & Matthew 14.
    Matthew 14:3–5 NIV
    Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.
    This chronologically fits here, but Matthew waits until chapter 14 to tell us this fact
    We had our diagram up here a few weeks ago to show this family dynamic in the Herodian Dynasty.
    Herod Antipas was having relations with Herod Philip’s wife. Herod Philip was Herod Antipas’ step-brother.
    The gross part of this was that Herodias, the lady they were fighting over, was both of Antipas’ and Philip’s step-brother, Herod Archelaus's daughter.
    Yeah, we’ll leave that right here.
    John was critical of Herod Antipas for this, and rightfully so.
    Herod Antipas threw John in prison because of this.
    Remember, the Herod’s were granted authority to reign however they wanted by Julius Caesar.
    Herod could throw anyone in prison for any reason, as long as it didn’t interfere with the Roman Empire.
    Matthew 4:12–13 NIV
    When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—
    This passage has some importance here.
    JTB was sent to prepare the way for Jesus.
    Now that JTB was thrown into prison, he was no longer able to prepare the way for Jesus.
    Therefore, his job was complete.
    Now, we see Jesus make the move to begin His ministry.
    He left his family home in Nazareth, and went to Capernaum which was by the Sea of Galilee.
    As a point of reference, anything in the desert that is bigger than a puddle is considered a lake. If it is bigger than that, it is a sea.
    The Sea of Galilee is roughly the size of upper and lower Priest Lake.
    Priest Lake is much deeper and a different shape, but you can see that it is a fairly good sized body of water for that region.
    So yeah, Jesus began his ministry by getting a place to live in a town on the Sea of Galilee.
    Matthew 4:14–16 NIV
    to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 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.”
    This is important. Matthew is pointing to this very moment in history through the OT prophets
    He says, “Jesus moved to Capernaum”
    But then he points to the significance of that.
    Isaiah 9 identifies that the Messiah would come from this area.
    But greater than that, Jesus move to Capernaum ushered in the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.
    Matthew didn’t have to include the second part of Isaiah’s prophecy in this passage, but he does.
    He could have said, “This fulfills the prophecy that the Messiah would come from this area”
    But Matthew goes on to say, “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.”
    This isn’t about geography. This is about a light dawning on humanity.
    This is a statement that pulls us all they way back to the creation of the world
    In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the earth.
    It was good!
    Then sin entered the world two chapters later
    It wasn’t good anymore
    Mankind was separated from a Holy God who had created them for relationship with Him.
    Now, because of sin, the relationship we were designed to have was hindered.
    A holy God and unholy people. There is a divide!
    For years, God made a way for people to deal with their sin issues through the sacrificial system
    A pure spotless lamb would die in their place as a sacrifice for sin
    A lamb had to be killed regularly for the sin of the people
    Then JTB announced that the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world was coming to the scene
    For centuries, people had lived in darkness and without hope.
    There was no full way of restoring the broken relationship with God.
    But now, after all of this darkness, hopelessness and separation a light is seen.
    A light has dawned!
    The prophecy in Isaiah goes on later to give clarity to this light.
    Isaiah 9:6–7 NIV
    For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
    The light of the world has come.
    The one who would fulfill the throne of David
    Hope, where there was once no hope.
    I want you to know this light is the same today as it was then.
    There are those who are in darkness, in sin, in separation and in hopelessness in this life
    The Gospel of Jesus is a light of truth, hope and purpose.
    He is the light. He also makes us the light.
    We are to be hope!
    If you are a disciple of Jesus, you have the mandate to be this light in the world
    We must be people of hope!
    I also want you to know that there is hope, if you have not embraced the hope of Jesus.
    Matthew 4:17 NIV
    From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
    This is the exact sermon JTB preached when he would baptize people in the Jordan River.
    Jesus didn’t undo John’s ministry or message. He affirmed it by teaching the same sermon John taught.
    The Kingdom of Heaven is approaching. It is coming near.
    There is a preparation that God was calling to His people. That preparation was found in the word, “Repent”.
    We will break this down further as we continue.
    Matthew 4:18–19 NIV
    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. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
    Matthew announces that a light had dawned on God’s creation.
    The first thing that Jesus does is call Peter and Andrew as disciples.
    You have heard me say this more frequently than you’ve heard me say anything else from this stage.
    Biblical Discipleship
    Following Jesus
    Changed by Jesus
    Obedient to Jesus by making more disciples
    This is how we define a disciple. I’m going to be brief here because I want to tackle this from a different angle today.
    A disciple is someone who leaves their nets (metaphorically) and follows Jesus
    What did the nets represent to Peter and Andrew?
    Security, future, control, fun, comfort
    They gave that up to follow Jesus
    As they followed Jesus, they went further and further from their nets and closer to Jesus
    They began to change
    I call this the Matthew 4-28 Principle
    Matthew 4 is the call to discipleship
    Matthew 28 is Jesus commission to these disciples to release them to become fishers of men
    Go make disciples of every nation.
    We cannot simply leave our nets, then go make disciples
    There is a journey of maturity we encounter as we follow Jesus
    It is a journey that matures us and changes us into His likeness.
    Another word for this is sanctification.
    As we mature, we invite others to be disciples of Jesus alongside of us
    Jesus was fishing for men when he told them that after following Him they too would be fishers of men.
    This is the journey.
    Attached to this is the light of the world. and our mission as a church.
    Here is how I want to approach this today.
    I want to ask the question of “Why?”
    I usually ask the question “Why?” from our perspective when we talk about discipleship.
    It is how we mature, it is how we change, it is how we grow to know Jesus more.
    It is how the truth of God and His word pass down from generation to generation.
    It is vital to us as human beings.
    But why was this God’s plan?
    I want to briefly walk this out:
    Calling disciples wasn’t just a cultural thing. It was God’s plan.
    John 17:6–7 NIV
    “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.
    God sent Jesus to be the sacrifice of sin. But God also sent Jesus to make disciples.
    Why discipleship? Why would this be what God sent Jesus to do?
    We asked the question a few weeks ago, “Couldn’t Jesus have died along with all of the other children in Bethlehem and still been a sacrifice for our sin? He was still sinless and the Son of God.”
    God was using Jesus in the flesh to not only be a sacrifice of sin, but also to reveal the Father to humanity.
    This is the heart of God that I want us to go home with.
    When God created the humanity, He created us special.
    We were made in His image.
    We are unique in all of creation. The purpose of this creation is to have humanity in the image of God live here in perfect relationship with the rest of creation and perfect relationship with the creator.
    It was with deep love, detail, joy and purpose that God created us here.
    We weren’t simply created to know about God
    We were created to know God and remain in close, intimate relationship with Him
    This is our calling as human beings.
    When God is His infinite goodness and wisdom became flesh, He gave us discipleship as the means to reveal His nature and restore Eden for a time to humanity.
    Let’s walk through the elements of discipleship again
    He calls us to follow Him.
    We have all chosen a different path and different leadership in our lives
    This doesn’t change God’s plan for us and His purpose in creation.
    We recognize His authority. The authority that has been there since the beginning.
    We don’t make Jesus our Lord. He is the Lord. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.
    We are changed
    This is where we often miss the point of discipleship
    Discipleship is not a strategy.
    Discipleship is not an academic tool for learning
    Discipleship is not a means of behavior modification.
    As we follow Jesus, we are following the holy God.
    As we are changed by following Jesus, this change is not about us. It is about Him
    It is the revelation of His nature in our lives
    As we live in close relationship with one another, we live the change that Jesus has done in our hearts
    This isn’t about “Look how great I am and the changes I’ve made”
    No, this isn’t change by me. This is change by God and discipleship is the means for God to reveal His heart, nature and love to humanity.
    This is God being seen in my life.
    This is also God being seen through my life to others.
    It is why He must receive the glory for all that He has done in my life and the lives of others.
    Do I do this perfectly? No.
    I’m growing.
    Paul said, “Follow me as I’m following Christ.” I would add to the end of that, “Don’t follow me where I’m not following Christ.”
    This is the point of this passage in John 17:6-7
    Jesus said, “I revealed the Father to the disciples”
    Discipleship is the plan, the vehicle, the good/best way of revealing the nature of God to humanity.
    We see the heart of God, the change of God and the nature of God through the change He puts in our lives.
    We are not making disciples of us. We are making disciples of Jesus
    Discipleship is where God is seen through the life change of His followers.
    We could teach classes that educate us about the nature of God and all of the Bible verses about theology of stuff.
    But, God wants us to know Him. To be changed by Him.
    Is it any wonder why the church is called the Body of Christ
    As God is changing us and aligning us, piece by piece, the fuller nature of God is revealed through a collection of disciples that are seeing God and being changed by His Holy Spirit.
    And lastly...
    Make disciples
    There are others who need to see the nature of God in this world as well.
    They will see it through us!
    Not through my sinful self. But rather through the parts of my life that the power of God has changed into His likeness.
    John 17:20–21 NIV
    “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
    Do you see how Jesus says, “May they also be in us”?
    This is deeply relational language that is seen through the lens of discipleship.
    This isn’t a strategy. This is the nature of God being revealed through sinful people in surrender to a holy God.
    Discipleship is how God reveals Himself and makes His love known to us.
    Matthew 4:21–22 NIV
    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, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
    Jesus calls his next two disciples.
    He is at four now!
    What I want you to see is that these guys didn’t need to wait and discuss their options
    They knew immediately what this call to discipleship meant
    They knew because they gave up everything to follow Jesus.
    And they did it immediately.
    We know that Andrew was one of JTB’s disciples in southern Israel
    He had heard John preaching the sermon, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”
    Then he likely saw JTB identify Jesus as “The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”
    Then he saw Jesus baptized and saw the Holy Spirit descend on Him like a dove and heard the voice from Heaven say “This is my son whom I love. With Him I am well pleased”
    When JTB was thrown into prison, Andrew likely came home and told all of the fellas about this Jesus guy.
    Then when he saw Jesus preaching the exact same message as JTB, he knew that the Messiah was here. This was the guy! This was the King!
    So when Jesus called, they dropped everything and went.
    We have seen some extraordinary examples of commitment
    These disciples were certain of the one who was calling them
    Oftentimes, we feel that God is calling us to do things or go places based on “Open Door Theology”
    Well the door is open, therefore, God must be saying to go that direction.
    Sometimes this is true. Sometimes it is not.
    Satan can open doors too.
    How many of you walked through an open door in life only to find out it was a wreck and we needed to repent.
    Sin is always an open door.
    We must know the Word and know God’s voice
    This means we spend time with Him.
    God will never call us to anything that will affirm us
    God’s callings are never about us. It will always be a call to humble ourselves for His purposes.
    We need wisdom, but God promises wisdom
    James 1:5 NIV
    If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
    Matthew 4:23–25 NIV
    Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 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. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
    Large crowds started following Jesus
    Jesus had two types of followers.
    He had His disciples and He had the crowds
    Disciples were seeking after the HEART OF GOD
    The crowd was seeking after the POWER OF GOD
    One sought God to change them
    One sought God to change their circumstances
    What kind of followers are we?
    I’m not saying that God will not move or change circumstances in our lives.
    But you will only see the power of God in your life when you humble yourself to the heart of God.

    Conclusion

    The light has dawned. Jesus did not just arrive in Galilee to fulfill a map prophecy—He came to shine light into darkness, restore hope, and make a way for broken humanity to know God again.
    The Kingdom is near, and it requires a response. Jesus’ first message was not comfort or information, but repentance—a turning from our way to God’s way.
    Jesus’ invitation is simple, but costly: “Follow Me.” He did not call people to a religion, a class, or a system—He called them to Himself.
    Discipleship always begins with leaving our nets. Security, control, comfort, identity—whatever competes with Jesus must be surrendered.
    Following Jesus leads to transformation. Discipleship is not behavior modification or knowledge accumulation—it is life change that reveals the nature of God.
    Changed people reveal the Father to the world. God’s plan to make Himself known is through disciples whose lives are being shaped by His presence.
    Disciples are not made for crowds, but for relationship. The crowds wanted Jesus’ power; the disciples pursued His heart.
    The Church exists to help people meet Jesus, not just learn about Him. We create relational environments where people can follow Jesus, be changed by Jesus, and learn to obey Jesus.
    We are not making disciples of ourselves. We are making disciples of Jesus—so that the world may see God through surrendered, transformed lives.
    The question before us is simple and personal: Are we part of the crowd… or are we following Jesus?

      • Matthew 4:12–25NIV2011

      • Matthew 4:12NIV2011

      • Matthew 14:3–5NIV2011

      • Matthew 4:12–13NIV2011

      • Matthew 4:14–16NIV2011

      • Isaiah 9:6–7NIV2011

      • Matthew 4:17NIV2011

      • Matthew 4:18–19NIV2011

      • John 17:6–7NIV2011

      • John 17:20–21NIV2011

      • Matthew 4:21–22NIV2011

      • Matthew 4:23–25NIV2011

  • I Have Decided to Follow Jesus
Real Life Selkirk
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