When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was ny the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali– to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles– 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 Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Matthew 4: 12-17
To put these words in context, these verses take place just after Jesus was baptised and spent forty days being tested in the wildereness and just before He called the first disciples. This was the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, the first step in him becoming the great light to those in darkness, to those living in the shadow of death. Do you notice the pattern of His ministry? First He was baptised, then he was tempted, and finally His ministry began. He has baptised, a symbolic gesture that represents His belief in God; then He was tempted, a time when Satan tried unsuccessfully to knock him off course. Finally, He begins His ministry, which is His reaction to the kingdom of God. We can expect to follow a similar pattern when we embark on our own ministry.
Does it surprise you to hear that your life is a ministry? It took me a long time to be able to accept that fact. Jesus went immediately from baptism to temptation to ministry, but your ministry may not have been quite that quick or straight forward– I know my path was long and quite crooked. However, I think we will all follow a similar pattern. We accept Jesus into our heart, making some outward gesture to cement our belief. Then, Satan does everything in His power to knock us off course. Finally, we step into our ministry, which is our reaction to the kingdom of God He blessed us with. Jesus is the Light, with a capital L, but we are called to be little lights that direct others to Jesus. It seems we are all in a period of fasting and darkness, as Satan tries to disrupt our course, but stay strong. When we come out of forty days in the wilderness, God will use us in ministry to spread His kingdom here on earth.
Lord, the world seems scary and out of control right now. We feel like we are “living in the land of the shadow of death.” But help us to remember that you sent Jesus to be the Light of the World, to shine and dispel the darkness. Be with us during these forty days in the wilderness, and help us come away with a new appreciation of the pattern of Jesus’ ministry. Help us to spread His light to those around us, and embrace the ministry you hve given to each of us. Amen.
