I Will Make You Fishers of Men
Matthew 4:12-25
Harry Stoliker
November 18, 2007 EBC
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We finished the first division of Matthew's gospel last week. It has been called
"An Introduction to the Messiah." It told us about His birth, His forerunner, His
baptism and His testing in the wilderness. We will circle back to cover the story
of His birth soon. Today we begin the second division of Matthew. It has been called:
"The Galilean Ministry: Messiah Revealed in Word and Deed." This division will take
us out to at least Chap. 16. After that, we'll go into division three, called: "From
Galilee to Jerusalem: Messiah and His Disciples Prepare for Confrontation." That
will go through Chap. 20. Division four is called: "Jerusalem: Messiah in Confrontation"
– which brings us through Chap. 25. Division five is called: "Messiah Rejected,
Crucified and Vindicated." (Chap26-28:15). Then we circle back to Galilee in division
six, where the resurrected Jesus gives the Great Commission. We could call that
"The King, Risen and Reigning, Proclaimed to the World."
I know the morning ladies BS works hard each week on outlining the Book of James,
so they enjoy getting an outline! This one is for the whole Book of Matthew! Here
is the outline for our section of Chapter 4 …
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V.12-17
Jesus Turns the Light On in Galilee.
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V.18-22
Jesus Calls Men to Fish for Souls.
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V.23-25
Jesus Shows His Power in Word and Deed.
Main Point of the Message: "Jesus issues a call to his disciples to have as a lifetime
passion, the searching for and capturing of men's eternal souls for the Kingdom
of God." Mt. 4:15
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V.12-17
Jesus Turns the Light On in Galilee
- John the Baptist is removed from the scene by imprisonment. That was a signal for
Jesus to assume center stage in the proclamation of the Kingdom. The plan of God
is always on schedule! It was politically expedient for Jesus to remove himself
from the Pharisee's center of power. John had had a confrontation and conflict with
Herod Antipas. Antipas saw the baptizing movement as a potential source of sedition
(France). The players in the plan of redemption take their place and move of the
stage when their work is complete, as God designed.
- Matthew's theme: FULFILLMENT. It comes out again as he tells us that even the place
where Jesus was to begin his public ministry was prophesied and then fulfilled.
(V.14) He will then quote the 5th of 10 fulfillment quotations from the
OT. (Hagner).
- We must not miss the deliberate marker in V.15 "Galilee of the Gentiles." Jesus
Galilean Ministry, as it is called, hints at the future calling of all nations into
the kingdom (John Legg). We've had other hints of the inclusion of the Gentiles
in Matthew already. In the genealogy of Chapter 1, there are names of Gentiles.
In Chapter 2 the Magi were Gentiles. And in Chapter 3:9 the theme of the
'sons of Abraham' comes up. The Abrahamic promise was multinational.
- V.16 also has deep significance. It speaks of salvation coming to people who live
in spiritual darkness. People who are living in bondage to Satan and in fear of
death will find the light of the gospel of salvation. They will find new hope in
their hopelessness through Messiah's preaching of the Kingdom. "… 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 …" This is a 'turning-point phrase' that Matthew uses again in
16:21. Jesus preached repentance as John did, with an incredible urgency, for the
Kingdom of heaven was near. It was inaugurated by the One who was preaching right
there before them.
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V.18-22
Jesus Calls Men to Fish for Souls
- What we need to see first is that Jesus was preaching the nearness of the kingdom
in V.17. Now that is going to be played out as the Messiah King begins to put his
demands upon people. The Kingship of Messiah is a dominant theme in Matthew.
- Another fascinating observation is that these two sets of fisherman-brothers just
don't seem like a "world-changing task force" (France). It might make more sense
when we get to the parable of the mustard seed in Chap. 13 and understand that the
Kingdom of God had an insignificant beginning, but will grow to dominate the entire
universe.
- Another colorful feature here is that Jesus isn't your typical Jewish rabbi in the
way he gets disciples. Normally, the disciples were the ones to take the initiative
in becoming a rabbi's pupils. But here we see that Jesus takes the initiative in
calling these two sets of brothers. In addition, this Rabbi is not calling them
just to become students and learners, but "do-ers"". Jesus calls these men to himself
not with an invitation but with the demand of a prophet. We can see a parallel in
the way Elijah called Elisha in 1 Kings 19:19-20 "So he departed from there and
found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front
of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon
him. 20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah …"
- We cannot miss the connection that Jesus makes between "Come, follow me" and "I
will make you fishers of men". For the second to take place the first must precede
it. They had to "Come and follow" before they would ever be successful at 'man-fishing'.
This is as true for us as it was for them. You will never catch the souls of men
unless you are truly following Christ.
What does it mean to follow Christ? Simply, it means to go where he goes. The next
important question is: Where did he go? The answer is that he traveled the Calvary
Road to Calvary. He went to the Cross. Could he possibly be asking these two sets
of brothers to go to the Cross with him? Could he possibly be telling us that if
we are going to be fishers of men that we have got to die with him?
Luke 9:23-25 "And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will
lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it
profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?"
Have you and I taken these words of Jesus seriously? Could this be the reason so
many Christians are not catching many fish – i.e. the souls of men for the kingdom?
Following Christ requires basically two things: denying self and dying. What do
these two things look like in our lives?
I can't paint a complete picture of what they look like in everyone's life, because
it will differ according to your circumstances. However, there are some common traits
of a person who has taken up his cross every day to follow Jesus:
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People who are following Jesus on the Calvary Road have given their lives over to
King Jesus. That means they don't think of their lives as their own, to do what
they want with it. They don't think that their nights and weekends belong to them
to do whatever they want with them. They don't just assume that they can fill up
their entire week with all the activities and distractions that they most enjoy … TV/movies,
softball team, bowling team, trips to NYC, staying home and chilling out with friends,
studying to advance my career, projects around the house, taking the trip to the
lake to picnic or to the mountains in winter to ski, going to the local high school
basketball game or football game, concerts, seminars, business events, vacations …
The point is, when you are on the Calvary Road with Jesus, your life is not your
own. 1 Corinthians 6:19 "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.
So glorify God in your body." Your first priority and passion is: What does King
Jesus want me to give my life to? All the activities have to come through this gate
first. Your time is not your own. You energy, your future, your plans, your health,
your money, your special talents, your family, your mind and intellect, your college
career, your future occupation, - every aspect of your existence doesn't belong
to you and must be surrendered to King Jesus.
It is when we think we own these things that we show we are not on the Calvary Road.
This is what Jesus means when He says if you try to "save" your life you will end
up losing it. If you try to reserve all these areas for your own pleasure rather
than surrender them for the glory of God and the souls of men – you will end up
far from God, and possibly in hell.
-
People who are following Jesus on the Calvary Road actively take up their cross
on a daily basis. What was the driving passion in Jesus Christ for taking up the
Cross of Calvary? It was so that His Father would gain glory and be shown to be
the Majestic God that He is. If that mean that he had to become a sin offering,
he accepted it. If that meant that he had to be stripped naked before men, he accepted
it. If that meant that he had to be tortured and beaten beyond recognition, he accepted
it. If that meant that he had to be mocked and spit upon by fools who thought they
were his superiors, he humbly accepted it. He accepted whatever His Father brought
into His life and only wanted His Father to gain Glory!
This is all so hard for us in the American church! We've been nurtured on the notion
that our lives are our own to do with what we please. That idea must die if we are
going to be fishers of men for the kingdom.
- Notice also that Jesus promise to make them successful. "I will make you …" Jesus
did the equipping. We may feel like the only thing we can do for God is to live
a godly life ourselves. We can't tell anyone how to get saved, we can't open the
Bible and lead them to Christ, we can't help them grow strong in Christ, we can't
give them the counsel and help they need!! On and on the "we can't's go".
How much to we believe the words "I WILL MAKE YOU … fishers of men?"
Jesus can give you a heart of love for other people. Jesus can send just the right person across
your path. Jesus can give you the courage to open your mouth to tell them about
the Cross. Jesus can give you a "kingdom mentality" or a "kingdom heartbeat" so
that all of a sudden your greatest desire in life is to fish for the souls of men
and women! Jesus can give you everything that is needed to be a fisher of men.
- Before we move on and conclude, just notice how the 2 sets of brothers responded.
Look at V.20 "At once they left their nests and followed him." And V.22 "Immediately
they left the boat and their father and followed him." They gave up business careers,
the left their comfort zone, they left home and family, they left financial security,
all this because the call of Jesus to be fishers of men had come into their hearts
with force!
- It was an unhesitating and unconditional response to leave everything behind! This
is how they saw it, as we can see in Matthew 19:27 "Then Peter said in reply, "See,
we have left everything and followed you." My, how we so water down true discipleship
to Jesus Christ. I think we need to wrestle more seriously with what it means to
"Come, follow me!" – as Jesus demands. It would be so healthy for us to spend some
prayer time asking ourselves if there is anything that is holding us back from an
unhesitating, unconditional, complete response to Christ's call to be made into
'fishers of men!'
Would you do that this week?
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V.23-25
Jesus Shows His Power in Word and Deed
- These last 3 verses demonstrate the power of King Jesus. He preached the good news
of the Kingdom and then backed up His preaching with extraordinary healing powers.
He controls all kinds of diseases and every demon that exists. He can release anyone
he chooses from severe pain or demon possession.
- V.25 speaks of the large, large crowds that gathered around him and followed him.
It is not the same Greek word as in V.19 "Come, follow me." Here it is more along
the line of "accompany" – they accompanied Jesus for a while … because they were looking
for the miracles and not for true discipleship.
What are looking for from Jesus? To watch a side show or to be made into a fisher
of men for the rest of your life?
Let's pray,
H.