Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, Jan. 22 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was Matthew 4:12-23. It’s time for Jesus’ ministry to begin; the turning point being the imprisonment of his cousin, John the Baptist. The time is right. Jesus moved from Nazareth to Capernaum. If we walked that distance today, it would take between eight and nine hours. Can you imagine the move Jesus must have had? Nazareth is nowhere near Galilee and the landscapes are so different.  When I lived with my young family in Bethlehem, we would often vacation in the north. It was cooler there and such a relief from the desert Bethlehem is in. One such time we visited friends working at a hospital in Nazareth. I’ll never forget how the car climbed and climbed and climbed some more to get to where they lived, in the hospital compound, at the very top of a high hill. And it didn’t look anything like Galilee.  Throughout Matthew’s gospel, actions were to fulfill what was spoken by the prophets....

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Sunday, Jan. 26. The text is Matthew 4:12-23.   Today’s gospel starts out with bad news. Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, has been arrested. Hearing this, Jesus “withdrew to Galilee” (v. 12). This opening verse is not simply a way to mark time, but it signals that John’s arrest is a dangerous situation for Jesus, and he must choose how to respond. For now, Jesus pulls away to carry out his ministry of proclamation in and around Galilee (Audrey West, workingpreacher.org). Throughout Matthew, we see this or similar statements, “…so that what had been spoken through the prophet…might be fulfilled” (v. 14). Normally these words refer to a time when such and such will happen. However, rather than the time being fulfilled in today’s gospel, the place is being fulfilled—Galilee of the Gentiles. God means to embrace everyone, Jew or Gentile. How shocking! God did what God said he would do. God’s Messiah had been promis...

Here are a few thoughts on the first part of Sunday's gospel. Please let me know your take on the gospel reading. This was sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.   Gospel: Matthew 4:12-23 12Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. 13He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:  15“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,   on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—  16the people who sat in darkness   have seen a great light,  and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death   light has dawned.” 17From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”   18As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 19And he said to...