Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25

Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested,

he withdrew to Galilee. 

He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea,

in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,

that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet 

might be fulfilled:

Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles,

the people who sit in darkness

have seen a great light,

on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death

light has arisen.

From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,

“Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

He went around all of Galilee,

teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,

and curing every disease and illness among the people. 

His fame spread to all of Syria,

and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases

and racked with pain,

those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics,

and he cured them. 

And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea,

and from beyond the Jordan followed him.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I thank you for sending your Son to inaugurate your Kingdom on earth. I am a member of that Kingdom through my Baptism, which cured me of the stain of original sin and made me your adopted child.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Epiphanic Light of Christ: Following Epiphany Sunday, the Gospels this week will focus on various epiphanies or manifestations. Today, the focus is on what Jesus manifests and reveals at the beginning of his public ministry, i.e., his announcement that the “Kingdom of the Heavens” is at hand. Matthew tells us that after his Baptism in the Jordan and Temptation in the Desert, Jesus left his hometown of Nazareth and began to live in Capernaum, a town on the Sea of Galilee. Matthew mentions the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali that formed part of the region of Galilee and recalls that Isaiah had prophesied that these lands would experience a great light. Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, was in Zebulun, and the fishing village of Capernaum, where Jesus eventually took up residence, was in Naphtali. The two regions saw a great light, the epiphanic light of Jesus Christ. This is significant because these Galilean regions were among the first to be ravaged by the Assyrian invasions from 733 to 732 B.C. (see 2 Kings 15:29). “Jesus targets Galilee as the place to begin reversing the tragedies of Israel’s history by restoring the 12 tribes in the New Covenant” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Old and New Testament, 1731). In restoring the twelve tribes, Jesus is working toward the restoration of the Kingdom of David. 

2. The Kingdom of the Heavens: When Jesus begins to preach, he takes up the message of John the Baptist and calls the people of Galilee to repent. This is an invitation to the people to change their mindset. The reason why such a change is necessary is that the Kingdom of the Heavens has drawn near. Matthew uses the expression “Kingdom of the Heavens,” while the other Gospels tend to use the expression “Kingdom of God.” The reason why Matthew uses the expression is that his Gospel emphasizes the inbreaking of the Kingdom of the Heavens here on earth. When Jesus gives a series of parables on the Kingdom, he speaks about how good and evil will be present in the Kingdom on earth and how the Kingdom will transform society like yeast in bread dough. The Kingdom of the Heavens is like a seed that will start out very small but grow to international dimensions and welcome the Gentile nations. Only at the end of time will good and evil be definitively separated.

3. The Gospel of the Kingdom: Jesus often taught on the Sabbath in the synagogues of Galilee. In those synagogues, he proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom. This was the good news that the ancient Kingdom of David would be restored. In 2 Samuel 7, God swore a covenant oath to David that his kingdom would last forever. Jesus, the royal son of David, came to fulfill that covenant oath. The Kingdom of David was not restored as a political kingdom with military power and earthly wealth. It was restored as a spiritual kingdom and liturgical empire, with earthly and heavenly dimensions. In the Gospel, we see Jesus heal every disease and sickness. These physical healings were signs (CCC, 547-550) that pointed to something greater, to the future spiritual healings in the Sacraments of the Church. The Church is the seed and beginning of the Kingdom of the Heavens inaugurated on earth by Christ (CCC, 567). “By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness, and death, Jesus performed messianic signs. Nevertheless, he did not come to abolish all evils here below, but to free men from the gravest slavery, sin, which thwarts them in their vocation as God’s sons and causes all forms of human bondage” (CCC, 549).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, help me to hear the Gospel of your Kingdom each day as I speak with you in prayer and meditate on your Word. It is a Kingdom of justice, love, mercy, purity, meekness, humility, peace, charity, and grace.

Living the Word of God: How am I working to extend the Kingdom of the Heavens in my life, my family, my workplace, and my community?