Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Synoptic Gospels 1: Messenger of the Covenant (1)
Pray Psalm 47.1-4.
Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples!
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
For the LORD Most High is awesome;
He is a great King over all the earth.
He will subdue the peoples under us,
And the nations under our feet.
He will choose our inheritance for us,
The excellence of Jacob whom He loves.
Selah
Sing Psalm 47.1-4.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
O clap your hands, you peoples all, with joy to God your songs intone!
Shout out to Him, and on Him call, He is the mighty, sovereign One!
High is the LORD, O, fear His Name! He rules, a King o’er all the earth.
Nations and peoples He has tamed, the heritage of His holy worth.
Read Mark 1.14, 15; Matthew 4.12-17; Luke 4.14, 15; meditate on Matthew 4.12-17.
Preparation
1. What was the subject of Jesus’ preaching?
2. Where did He proclaim this message?
Meditation
Jesus did nothing without redemptive purpose. All His movements were planned and executed with a view to fulfilling all the Word of God. Jesus remained in the wilderness, having defeated and bound the devil (vv. 1-11), until He heard the report that John had been imprisoned. The first messenger of Malachi 3.1 had finished his work; now the second Messenger could begin His.
We might wonder, “Why didn’t He go to Jerusalem? Why did He return to a place that had a bad reputation?” (cf. Jn. 1.45, 46)
Matthew had explained that He was to be regarded as a “Nazarene”—with all the implications attached to that (Matt. 2.22, 23). Further, the Old Testament had specifically prophesied that the light of God’s salvation would shine in the darkest of places, where Israel shares borders with pagan Gentile peoples. Third, by recalling verbatim this prophecy from Isaiah 9.1, 2, Matthew also signaled the greater and all-conquering mission of Jesus, referred to in Isaiah 9.3-7—to proclaim and establish the Kingdom of God.
By including this detail—about His returning to Galilee of the Gentiles—and quoting from Isaiah’s prophecy, Matthew tells us volumes about the work Jesus came to do. It was a work of Light in the darkness, of victory in a great warfare, of exaltation to a Kingdom that would never end. And it all began in the most unlikely of places—Galilee of the Gentiles, where the Messenger of the Kingdom was “magnified beyond the border of Israel” (Mal. 1.5), a portent of glorious things to come.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162.
Because this is true:
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3.16, 17). Then each Word of Scripture should be pondered and learned from.
John the Baptist, as forerunner to Jesus, brought a message preparatory in nature.
“John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching
a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Mk. 1.4).
Then his work was finished.
“Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel…follow Me…” (Mk. 1.14, 15, 17).
Jesus read of Himself:
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD” (Lk. 4.18, 19; Is. 61.1-3).
Their messages were nuanced in a different way. John the Baptist put people in a frame of mind needing a remedy for their sins. So, they repented. Then they were ready for the next step.
Jesus came with that next step. Follow Me into the Kingdom of God: Do the work of ministry. Be sanctified continuously, glorify Me, honor Me, take up your cross daily and follow Me. Fulfill the word of God for you by taking up the work that needs to be done. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father” (Jn. 14.12).
John the Baptist—whom Jesus praised (Matt. 11.11)—had to be removed from the picture because allegiance to him could not interfere with the new message that Jesus was preaching. His message was too important to be gobbled up in personal issues and sentimental followers (see 1 Cor. 3.4-11).
As an aside, in kindness to the new pastor in town, the previous pastor, if he has not moved away, and if he is still living, should out of deference to the new, leave that church and go elsewhere. Authority must be established, for there is much hard work ahead for the new shepherd. Also, the church erred when it took away the mandate that no associate pastor could ever succeed the current pastor. So much strife, heartache, and sinful behaviors have come from dropping that standard.
There is much to be learned from all Wisdom—the Word, Who is Jesus Christ, and His Word, the Scriptures. Look and learn, the Scriptures cry out. We dare not look, and pass on, uninformed.
Jesus, as Herald of the Kingdom, taught the whole Gospel, not just repentance with salvation, with a long, arduous wait until He returns.
No, His message is this:
(Part 1) “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2.8, 9).
(Part 2) “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before- hand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2.10).
“Jesus did nothing without redemptive purpose. All His movements were planned and executed with a view to fulfilling all the Word of God.” Our lives could play out in much the same way if, through the Word, we are thoroughly equipped for every good work. And then we did them.
Reflection
1. What does it mean for you to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness?
2. Is there a difference between the Gospel of the Kingdom and the Gospel of salvation? Explain.
3. What opportunities for good works are ahead for you today? Are you ready for these? Have you prepared?
Rightly then does the Lord urge the people to repentance when he says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” so that through this confession of sins they may be made worthy to approach the kingdom of heaven. For no one can receive the grace of the heavenly God unless one has been cleansed of every stain of sin by the confession of repentance, through the gift of the saving baptism of our Lord and Savior. Chromatius (fl. 400), Tractate on Matthew 15.3
Pray Psalm 47.5-9.
Rejoice and give praise and thanks to our exalted King and Savior, the Messenger of God’s covenant, Jesus Christ. Call on Him to embolden and empower you for this day’s work.
Sing Psalm 47.5-9.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
God has ascended with a shout, the LORD with sound of trumpet bold!
Sing praise to Him, let praise ring out; let praise throughout the world be told!
God is the King of all the earth; sing praise to Him with glorious psalms!
He rules the nations by His worth, and on His throne receives their alms.
Princes of peoples gather all to Abraham and to our God.
Exalt the LORD, and on Him call. The earth is His, so praise our God!
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: We continue reading excerpts from the book, Revived! in our Read Moore column. Why not listen in? Do you ever wonder about what God’s will for you is? Patrick—echoing Paul—makes it clear, as you can see in last week’s Crosfigell. Our current ReVision series, “Pray for Your Church”, teaches us how to pray for the ministries of our church, beginning with worship. And new in our bookstore, our book, The Ongoing Work of Christ shows us how the book of Acts provides a template and footprint for all who take up the work of building Jesus’ Church.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
