12 John had been put in prison. When Jesus heard about this, he returned to Galilee. 13 Jesus left Nazareth and went to live in the city of Capernaum. It was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 In that way, what the prophet Isaiah had said came true. He had said,
15 “Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali!
Galilee, where Gentiles live!
Land along the Mediterranean Sea! Territory east of the Jordan River!
16 The people who are now living in darkness
have seen a great light.
They are now living in a very dark land.
But a light has shined on them.”
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach. “Turn away from your sins!” he said. “The kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Read Matthew 4:12-17 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
I am fascinated by the places where Matthew and the other gospels point out prophecies that Jesus’ life fulfilled. Matthew seems to place a greater emphasis on the prophecies that Jesus fulfills than some of the other gospel writers do, but that doesn’t mean that he is the only writer that focused in on this.
However, in this passage, Matthew brings our attention onto a prophecy that I am a little surprised that other writers excluded. In transitioning and opening the next portions of Jesus’ life and ministry, Matthew tells us, “Jesus left Nazareth and went to live in the city of Capernaum. It was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. In that way, what the prophet Isaiah had said came true.” (v. 13-14)
What fascinates and amazes me the most is not that Jesus knew all these prophecies, or even that He was able to fulfill all the Old Testament prophecies, but instead that the religious experts didn’t fully grasp the extent of the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. Of all the people living at that time, the religious leaders would have been the most knowledgeable regarding the prophecies of the Messiah.
Perhaps God closed their eyes or minds to some of these prophecies, or perhaps He didn’t have to. Maybe centuries of Rabbis had slowly discounted some of the areas in the Old Testament in favor of focusing on others. Perhaps over time, playing favorites with scripture had caused them to forget much of what was written in the less popular parts.
Or maybe, there were religious leaders who did pay attention and who did understand, but as time went on, they grew to be more suspicious of what Jesus was doing. Perhaps they felt that Jesus was just a man who was trying to become the Messiah.
Only when we get to heaven can we really find out for sure. Until then, while it is fun to imagine what happened, it is best to keep our imagination in check.
But what this does tell us about Jesus and God is that He is a God who pays attention to the details. Whether God directed Jesus to move His ministry there, or whether Jesus chose that area for other reasons, everything that was predicted to happen, and everything that Jesus chose to do was all very detailed and deliberate.
This helps us trust God, because if He was that detailed back then and if we claim the promise that God does not change, we can know that He is paying attention to the details in our lives today, and He is putting the pieces in place to lead us into a saving relationship with Jesus.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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