Hello Everyone,
If you were to preach through Matthew 4:12-25, what would be your three main points? These main points would be determined by the central ideas of this passage. The needs of your congregation would shape your imperative themes, which is the particular response from them that you expect to achieve from your message. Please read the following summary of Matthew 4:12-25, which provides these answers for you.
Block 1 Narrative: Predestination-Calling-Regeneration (4:12-25) – Literary Evidence for the Theme - Immediately after His presentation to Israel and forty-day temptation, Jesus begins His public ministry in Galilee as recorded in 4:12-25. The central idea of the first narrative section (Matt 4:12-25) condenses the themes of predestination, calling, and regeneration in the kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 4:12-25 is popularly divided into three subsections. These subsections follow the thematic scheme of predestination—calling—regeneration. Specifically, God predestined the coming of the kingdom of Heaven through the preaching of the Gospel (4:12-17); He calls disciples into the kingdom through the Gospel (4:18-22); and He redeems those who accept the Gospel (4:23-25).
Each of the five narrative sections preceding their respective discourses records one Old Testament citation as a fulfillment of the theme of this section of material. In addition, the narrative section of Matthew 4:12-25 prepares the reader for the Great Commission in that Jesus begins preaching the Gospel (4:12-17), calling His first disciples (4:18-22), and going forth to demonstrate how to minister the Gospel to the poor (4:23-25). All three aspects of this public ministry prepare the disciples to fulfill the Great Commission.
The central idea of the first narrative section follows the thematic scheme of the Beatitude in Matthew 5:3. In the midst of sin and darkness, Jesus demonstrates to His disciples how to preach the Gospel to the poor in spirit. In other words, Matthew has woven the motif of the poor in spirit (Matt 5:3) into 4:12-25 as the key virtue for becoming members in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew places one quotation formula within the first narrative section (Matt 4:15-16, Is 9:1-2) to reveal that the Old Testament Scriptures predicted the preaching of the Gospel in Galilee. This Old Testament citation testifies of the fulfillment of Scripture concerning the predestined plan of the proclamation of the Gospel. Therefore, the light that shone upon the land of Zebulum and Naphtali must be interpreted as the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. This quotation serves as a key to the thematic scheme of the literary structure of the Gospel as each section of Matthew’s Gospel gives one quotation formula as a fulfillment of Scripture. These quotations follow the thematic scheme of the ordo salutis within the literary structure of the Gospel of Matthew.
Here is a proposed outline:
(1) Narrative: The Kingdom of God Arrives 4:12-25
The poor in spirit are part of the kingdom of Heaven (Matt 5:3) (4:12-25)
(a) Predestination of the Gospel: Testimony of Scriptures 4:12-17
(b) The Calling of Disciples: Testimony of Jesus 4:18-22
(c) Justification of the People: Testimony of Miracles 4:23-25
The first narrative section (4:12-25) concludes with a description of man’s redemption through the preaching of the Gospel (4:23-25), a verse that reaches back to reflect the central idea of the entire first section (4:12-25). The central idea of Matthew 4:12-25 states that Jesus demonstrated to His disciples how God predestined, called, and justified the poor in spirit through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to fulfill the Great Commission. The theological framework of this section allows the preacher to develop the sermon series using either a three-sermon or one-sermon approach. The sermon series can develop three sermons around the central ideas of the three subsections; or it can have one comprehensive sermon that captures the entire theological framework of the first section in a manner that points towards the Great Commission.
Central Ideas - Here are proposed statements expressing the central idea of the first narrative section in Matthew 4:12-25 emphasizing the predestination-calling-justification of the disciples of the Kingdom of Heaven:
Exegetical Idea of the Text—Jesus demonstrated to His disciples how God predestined, called, and justified the poor in spirit through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Theological Idea of the Text—God has instituted the preaching of the Gospel to bring redemption to all of mankind as a witness that the kingdom of Heaven has come.
Homiletical Idea of the Text—Because the kingdom of Heaven has come, disciples of Jesus are called to preach the Gospel to the poor in spirit in fulfillment of the Great Commission.