Light into Darkness (Matthew 4:12-22)

Here’s my sermon delivered on February 6, 2022 in our Matthew series. You can catch the video and audio here. You can also subscribe to the podcast here.

If there’s been any word that describes our world today - and over the past couple of years, it’s probably darkness. It’s as if a cloud has hovered over us - obscuring any glimpse of the sun. It’s felt like 2 a.m. most of the time - with very few stars in sight. 

Now when the Bible speaks of darkness, in this figurative, spiritual sense, it’s talking about a couple of things. Ignorance - lack of knowledge - first of all. About all things, really, but especially God. And secondly, evil. Blindness. Rejecting that knowledge - again, of all reality, but mainly knowledge of God.  And living in rebellion toward Him. Ignorance and evil. We’ve seen that everywhere, haven’t we? All the confusion. Misinformation. And so much wickedness everywhere we turn. So little knowledge of God and His works. So much rejection of Him and His ways. It’s been so dark.   

Now this is also the world described here in this passage. God’s people haven’t heard from Him in hundreds of years. And they’d gradually grown cold to what He’d already said. And then Jesus shows up, preaching and working up in Galilee.  

Verse 12 here in Matthew 4 says that Jesus hears of John being arrested, and He withdraws up there, in northern Israel. Now it’s possible the Lord does this to pray for and grieve over His friend, but the verse doesn’t really say that. Matthew clearly has bigger things in mind.

Jesus here is kicking off his ministry. And He doesn’t start things where everyone thought He would - in Jerusalem. He heads to the north, to the places known for darkness. Where there was Gentile influence. Where people spoke in strange accents. To the hills. To the sticks. And He begins to preach the gospel and call His disciples, says verses 12 and 13, in “Galilee.” He sets up His base of operations in the old northern tribal lands of “Zebulun” and “Naphtali.” He makes “Capernaum” his home. And verses 14 through 16 say that this fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 9.

There’s this theme of fulfillment throughout the book of Matthew. We’ve seen it several times already. What does it remind us of? God knows what He’s doing. He’s still writing His story. He keeps His promises. He’ll have the last word. He hadn’t abandoned them. And He won’t leave us. 

Jesus comes into a dark world. Into the darkest places. As verse 16 puts it, “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.” The Light of the World takes on darkness here in Matthew 4. And His light is still shining today.

Now there are a couple of things I want you to see as we walk through the rest of this passage today. First, the light comes preaching the kingdom. Second, the light comes calling His disciples. Now as we dig into each, and seek to apply them to our lives, we’re going to see that each of those realities challenges us, first of all. Just as much as they did them way back then. And they also include us. In the mission of challenging those around us today. Let’s dig in. 

The Light Comes Preaching

First, the light comes preaching the kingdom. We see this in verse 17. It reads, “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” There’s this transition that takes place here that we see in those first three words - “from that time.” The ministry of Jesus on earth here really gets going. And it starts with him preaching - something we’ll see throughout this book. But you’ll notice, if you look back to Matthew 3:2, what He says sounds exactly like what John was saying. 

But it’s not just that John’s handing off the baton, the torch, to Jesus. Like if I tagged Pastor Jeff, and he kept on preaching - the same sermon, theme, everything. Jesus is the theme. John is preparing the way. Jesus is the Way. The One John preached about is here. The King himself. And when the Lord preaches these words, there’s even deeper meaning and even greater authority. 

But Jesus does also come with a call to repentance. The Light comes, exposing the darkness. That’s what light does, right? It cuts through that ignorance. You’re in a cave. You can’t see your hand in front of your face. The light allows you to see things how they really are. The light also makes clear what is evil. Your dorm room may look really clean in the dark. But flip on a light. Flip on a black light. And then you can see all the dirt. The Light comes, exposing the darkness. 

Through His words, through His works, Jesus is going to expose sin for what it is. And in response, He calls them - and us - to repent. Now “repentance” is one of those churchy words that’s so easily misunderstood. And that enables our sinful hearts to ignore it, to try to dodge what Christ says here. I recently heard Beth Moore define it this way: 

“Repentance is not just words. Not even sincere, tearful words. It’s a change of mind that results in a transformed attitude that reflects the mind of Christ Jesus (Phil. 2) resulting in the fruit of the Spirit.” (Beth Moore)  

Something happens on the inside. Conviction. In our minds. In our hearts. That leads to change on the outside. Confession. Yes. But even more than that. Change. Instead of crawling back into the darkness - and trying to fight against the truth, and attempting to justify our sin - we own our darkness. And we head into the light.

One of my wife’s favorite family movies is The Blind Side. It may be because she fits Sandra Bullock’s character to a T. A family takes in a homeless, traumatized boy who ends up being an NFL lineman and Super Bowl champion - Michael Oher. There’s this scene in the movie where Leigh Ann, played by Sandra, is driving with her husband, when she sees Michael walking along the road, in the cold and the rain. Well, the couple says hello and initially ends up driving on, but Leigh Ann realizes what they’ve done, and she tells her husband, played by Tim McGraw, to turn around. She gets out. They pick him up. They take him in. And things are never the same. That’s what repentance looks like. Turning around. Away from the dark. Turning to the light. And not going back.

If we’re honest, we know we all have darkness within us. It’s just a matter of whether or not we own it and fight it. Jen Wilkin puts it this way: “There are two ways to escape feelings of guilt about your sin. One is to repent. The other is to repeat the sin over and over again until you no longer feel remorse.” 

Have you thought about this? Maybe it’s loving for Jesus to tell us to do this. We don’t typically see it that way in our culture. We don’t like people telling us we’re ignorant. Certainly not that we’re evil. But Jesus showing us our darkness - and calling us out of it - even through others - that’s a pretty loving thing. We’d do well to listen.

And Jesus says here, that’s the only way to get where we really want to go. Why does He say to repent? Again, “For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We all want a world of light and love. Where there’s no more tears and sadness. Or injustice and pain. That place is His Kingdom. And He’s the King. Jesus says it’s not so far away. And the only way to go there finally and fully, and the only way to see it begin to come in and around us - is through repentance.

I know many of you here have been to the City Museum in St. Louis. It has this labyrinth of tunnels that will keep your kids busy for hours. But it’s not the most fun for a middle-aged, slightly overweight man. When our kids were little, and we took them there, I attempted at times to jump in and join them. But there were times I thought I’d get stuck and have to get extracted by emergency personnel. 

But imagine one of those tunnels leads into the Kingdom Jesus talks about. You’ve got one shot to go in. And your body is just barely going to fit. But to get in, you have to lower yourself. You have to get really small. And you sure can’t take any backpacks or diaper bags through with you. That’s what repentance is like. We have to get low. We have to humble ourselves. And we have to leave our sin behind. 

The Light Comes Calling

Second, the Light comes calling His disciples. There in the north country, there’s this large lake, the Sea of Galilee. There’s a massive fishing industry up in that region. Jesus walks along that shore and calls out to some brothers, in verses 18 and 19, “Simon and Andrew,” while they’re throwing out their nets, and says, “Follow me.” 

And verse 20 says they immediately obey. They leave their nets and follow Jesus. Now contrary to what you may have heard, we do think these brothers and Jesus have a preexisting relationship. We get this from John 1, verses 35 through 51. So we don’t have to think of them throwing down their tools and following after a stranger. But that doesn’t minimize at all what they’re doing. Turning away from all they’ve known and following after Jesus. 

Verses 21 and 22 describe Jesus meeting another set of brothers, “James” and “John.” They’re there with their dad. And they’re mending their nets. And Jesus calls out to them, likely with the same words. And verse 22 says they leave their boat and their father and follow after Christ. Mark adds that the men also leave behind servants. So if you’ve heard that Christ’s disciples were either dumb or poor, that’s likely not the case. These four men hear Christ’s words and join His team. 

They heed Christ’s call to discipleship. That’s what they become here. Followers. Learners. Pastor Jeremy Treat points out this is the dominant term applied to those who live for Jesus in the New Testament. Christian is used only three times. Believers only fifteen. Disciples is used 253 times to describe those who are His.  What’s a disciple? I love the way Jeff Vanderstelt puts it: 

“That is what discipleship is all about. It is the ongoing process of submitting all of life to Jesus, and seeing him saturate your entire life and world with his presence and power. It’s a process of daily growing in your awareness of your need for him in the everyday stuff of life. It is walking with Jesus, being filled with Jesus, and being led by Jesus in every place and in every way.” (Jeff Vanderstelt) 

Discipleship. Now it may sound like an odd term. They connect their lives to Jesus - like students did with rabbis back in that day. And they follow Him around. And they learn. But many of you are teaching assistants, submitting yourself to a professor for 4 or 5 years. Or you’ve done an apprenticeship. You’ve followed around a craftsman, learning a trade. Yes, these are the Disciples - capital D - the ones Jesus used to found His church. But we’re also called to follow and learn.

The Light comes, displaying the path. That’s what light does, right? We lost our lights last weekend - right in the middle of the big game. That light on my phone lets me see my feet and what’s in front of my steps. Those blinds that get opened show us the way out - from our ignorance, from that evil. When we become Christ’s disciples, we’re not just turning from sin. We’re turning to Him in faith. We’re leaving the road that leads to death. We’re getting on the path that leads to life. Toward Jesus. In faith.

Repentance and faith - they’re two sides of the same coin. Think of it in this way. You’re facing the wall. You turn to face the window. You can’t really look out the window without first turning away from the wall. That’s what repentance and faith look like. It’s one movement, turning from, and turning to. Here we see these brothers turning away from their sin to following the Savior. We don’t have any indication that they were more sinful than anyone else. But they put Jesus first. And follow Him completely.   

Maybe you caught this. But this involves obedience. Doing whatever Jesus asks. Today, we don’t like that word. We don’t want people telling us what to do. We resist submitting to authorities or really anyone at all. But if Jesus is our Creator - He made us and knows us. If He’s our Redeemer - He’s saved us and helps us. We know He’s not trying to use us. He’s being kind. And the reality is that we’re far less free than we think. We’re a product of our environments far more than we realize. In reality, bots on the internet are bossing you around. 

But Jesus is a gentle Master. He chooses these men. They latch themselves to His person. That’s the main thing, right? They spend time with Him. They learn from Him. But they also join with Him in His mission. Right? What else does Jesus say? Not just “follow me” in verse 19. He also says, “And I will make you fishers of men.” Before they had caught fish. Now they’re going to catch people. Now don’t hear here that such vocations are bad. Or that real Christians jump into professional ministry. This is pretty unique time in history - don’t you think? They just put Jesus above all. And becoming His disciple means making more disciples. And that’s a calling that is never going to be easy. 

There’s a word that gets quite a bit of disdain today. Maybe you’ve heard it. It’s proselytizing. You know that word? Seeking out converts. Trying to help someone find that path. What’s crazy to me is that people do this all the time and everywhere around us. There are so many causes and so many organizations where people are constantly recruiting and continually trying to convince people. To do the right thing. And that they’re wrong. 

But if you’re talking about salvation- if you’re implying someone’s on the wrong road spiritually - that’s out of bounds. At least that’s what people say. Those gathering for university clubs. Those organizing for protests. They’re seeking to make disciples. And they open themselves to ridicule and abuse. And so do those who follow after Jesus, as He invites His disciples on a trail to the cross. The Light comes preaching the kingdom. The Light comes calling His disciples.  

Preaching and Calling for the Light

Well, what do we do with this? I’ll give you two points that I’ll break down in the rest of our time. First, turn to the light and follow. Second, turn on the light and fish. 

First, turn to the light and follow. Hear this call from Jesus to repent. His Kingdom is near. Turn from your sin. Turn to Him in faith. Obey Him. Follow Him. Honor Him as King. Do what He asks. Enter His love and kindness. Find the wholeness and hope in His kingdom that you’re made for. 

Repent, friend. For the first time. Hear what Jesus says, and leave that life. And then get ready for a life of repentance. Martin Luther once said these words: "Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” One thing we’ll learn is that the closer we get to the Light and the longer He shines into our lives, the more we’ll see areas of darkness, and the more we’ll see our need for change. J.I. Packer put it this way: 

“We need to realize that while God’s acceptance of each Christian believer is perfect from the start, our repentance always needs to be extended further as long as we are in this world.  Repentance means turning from as much as you know of your sin to give as much as you know of yourself to as much as you know of your God, and as our knowledge grows at these three points so our practice of repentance has to be enlarged.” (J.I. Packer)

Throughout our lives, at deeper and deeper levels, we’ll see opportunities to turn from sin and turn to Jesus in faith, and while it’ll be hard, it’ll be for our good. And it’ll bring Him glory.

Every six months or so, I try to put this chart on the screen. It’s that helpful and that important to us here in Karis. We call it the cross chart. From left to right is the timeline of our life. The top axis represents His holiness. The bottom axis displays our sinfulness. It’s easy for us to think that, the more we grow as a Christian, the less and less we’ll encounter sin. The less and less we’ll find wrong in our heart and have to turn from them in faith. But the truth is it’s the exact opposite. 

As we grow, we move on from more superficial sins - like maybe using unwholesome language - to deeper things, the matters of the heart - like selfishness or greed or lust or anger. Our tendency in our sin is to fight against that, to protect ourselves, to say that God isn’t that holy - to push that top axis down. Or say that we’re not that bad - push that bottom axis up. In this attempt to remove the discomfort. But that’s not good for us. What the Lord wants us to do is feel that gap fully - between His holiness and our sin - and have it filled up with the glory of what Jesus has done. More and more throughout our lives. Life will be filled with opportunities to repent and grow, but it’ll be for our good and for our joy. Turn to the light with me.

And with me, follow Him. Become His disciple. Obey Him. Tim Keller says that “Most people want Jesus as a consultant rather than a king.” And He’s right. Let’s see Him as Lord, and together, do everything we can, in the power of His Spirit, to bring our lives in conformity with Him. But there’s something I don’t want you to misunderstand. Go back to one of those clubs. You sign up. And you try to do everything you can to conform. Everything you can to impress - your fellow members, the leaders above you. You want to seem worthy of the cause. You labor to prove your devotion. Even rip on those who oppose you. 

But hear me. Becoming Christ’s disciple is nothing like this at all. Jesus didn’t choose these men because He thought they were great. He didn’t keep them around for that reason, either. It’s the same with us! He can smell the fishguts all over our skin. He knows the sailor language is no doubt gonna come out. No. He chose us, because He wanted us to be with Him. And He wanted us to be a part of His movement. We don’t obey because we want Him to accept us. We obey - we follow - because we know He’s accepted us. That He loves us as His own. And that makes all the difference, Karis.

Second, turn on the light and fish. Join with Jesus and call others to repent with Him. Warn those in darkness. Call them into the light of His kingdom. If you read the book of Acts, this is what the early church also proclaimed. We don’t just call people to believe. We also preach that people should repent. 

But this, of course, is controversial - even dangerous today. And it may tempt you to tune out right now. That’s because we’re used to the so-called Christians on the street corner, calling out sin, telling people to “turn or burn.” My wife’s first experience with a Christian was hearing this fellow student telling her how terrible and sinful she was. But that’s not what we’re talking about. And while everyone out there today seems to be yelling at someone - telling them they’re stupid, and they need to change, that shouldn’t be us.  

Let’s go back to that cross chart. Now imagine that you and I got that all wrong. We couldn’t handle the tension, the awkward, the heat between His holiness and our sin, so we fought against it with everything we could. Comparing ourselves with God wouldn’t work, so what do we do? We compare ourselves with others. I’m closer to God. I’m more holy than her. And then we go out telling people to repent and get ready for the kingdom. That’s not going to be pretty at all, and it’s so much of what we unfortunately see today.

But imagine, on the other hand, if we really did understand this. That God is so, so holy. And we are so sinful. We expect that tomorrow, we’ll find new sins in our hearts. And we’ll need to turn from them again in faith. That’ll actually be our experience the rest of our lives. And as we do, we’ll learn just how sweet the cross of Jesus is. Go out and call people to repent understanding that! There will be a humility, a desire to love. Something from the heart that flows out in compassionate words. There will be truth and grace. That’s how we have to carry these words here of Jesus.

Here’s a question for you. What might things look like in America if Christians were known for repentance ourselves? If we were the humblest people around? Ray Ortlund says, “When the world sees more repentance in the church, the church will see more repentance in America.” Church, we have to call people to not just believe in Jesus but to repent of their sin. But we have to do it through tears. Over our sin. And also over theirs. We can’t love people well by just smiling and nodding. But we won’t get anywhere shaking our heads and wagging our fingers, either. 

But we do have to point to this Kingdom we all want. And that means we have to turn on the light. And that definitely turns up the awkward. And brings on rejection and suffering. But that was the path of our Lord, and it’ll always be the path of His disciples. 

As we go and make more disciples. That’s what Jesus calls us into, as well. To join Him, fishing for men. I love the way Doug Logan puts it:

“A follower of Jesus is someone who is marked by missional living whose whole posture, behavior, and thinking is transformed by the gospel and the Great Commission being lived out in a lost and dying world. We must make Jesus the focal point of every decision, move, and life thought.” (Doug Logan)

This is what we have to be all about - making disciples. And making disciples that make more disciples. Multiplication. Pointing to the King. Guiding others to His Kingdom. Inviting others to this life of discipleship.

People often ask us here in Karis: what’s your disciple-making strategy? Here’s my answer. Our missional communities. Those are groups of disciples coming together to grow as disciples and make more disciples for Jesus. We come together, life on life, life in community. To help each other follow after Jesus. And then we commit also to live life on mission together. We seek out a group mission together. Here’s the lake where we’re all going to fish. Maybe it’s refugees in town. Or youth, like my group. 

And then we help each other fish the ponds that are right by where we live - our neighbors, our coworkers, our friends. We remind each other that we’re not just put here to sleep in the light. And just follow Jesus around together. We’re following Him on His mission. We’re carrying the light for Him. And there’s no such thing as fishermen that sit on the banks and play candy crush on their phone. This is what Jesus calls us to, Karis. To turn to the light and follow. And to turn on the light and fish.

Light for the Nations  

God makes us disciples of Jesus who go and make disciples for Him. Bearers of light. And, as we do, we’ll make disciples of all nations. Again, this is where Matthew is going. We find the “Great Commission” at the very end of the book. But we see this even here at the beginning. Jesus goes to what verse 15 calls “Galilee of the Gentiles.” And that’s where He wants to take us, as well. Where the nations are. Where the darkness is. Jesus again, isn’t just the light. Elsewhere in Isaiah, the prophet calls Him a “light for the nations” (Isa. 49:6). And soon here in Matthew, Jesus is going to call us the light of the world. 

To go into the darkness and make disciples. Again, what’s darkness? Ignorance. Evil. We can’t avoid either. Heck, that’s been us. It is us. Plus, we’re Gentiles, ourselves. We can’t hide out in the light. He sends us into the dark.

The light has come. And one day, they’ll be no need for the sun. God’s purposes will be done. The great story will be finished. Or really get started! Jesus comes saying here “the kingdom is at hand.” We know one day, it will come in full. From that time, until that day, we’ll follow after Him. We’ll carry His light. It may seem dark, but bright days are coming. 

Even now, He’ll use us to thread light through our worlds as we preach the kingdom and gather His disciples, too. Though a cloud may hang over us and too much of the time make its way into our souls, we can’t let it overtake us. Let’s crawl toward His light. And beg Him to help us see.

God’s not finished yet. The darkness will not win. And we get to be a part of His game plan. How awesome is that? Let’s pray, Karis.