Journeys Through the Word
Verse(s) considered:
Matthew 4:11-17
(11) Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
(12) Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee.
(13) And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,
(14) so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
(15) “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
(16) 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.”
(17) From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Thoughts along the road:
It probably took some time to recover not just from the temptations but, also, from 40 days of fasting. That time in the desert had probably made Him weak and a bit frail. He took the time to recover. He allowed angels to minister to Him. When we experience hard or difficult times we need time to rest, recoup and get our bodies back into shape for daily living.
When he heard the news that his cousin John had been arrested, he knew it was time to begin setting the stage for his ministry years.
Jesus always seemed to take all the time necessary to do the things His Father wanted Him to do. He never seemed to be rushed into anything. I think this speaks in great volume to our overly busy lifestyles.
He rests, works and waits until the appropriate time. Then he picks up the conversation, if you will, right where John left off with exactly the same words that John used. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Where to go from here:
We seem to be forever ruled by the tyranny of the urgent. The thing that needs to be done right now. I think that we need to spend more time resting and waiting on God before we act in certain areas.
In Psalm 46:10, we are urged to “Be still, and know that I am God”. Pause, even if only briefly, to remember that we have a God that is in charge of all that goes on in us and around us. Jesus promised that He would never “leave us nor forsake us”. He says that if we are burdened to take those burdens to Him. No burden is too large or too small to take to Jesus. He knows how to handle them. When He was faced with a massive challenge, He took the time to wait on the Father for just the right time and just the right way to begin the task.
We should learn from His example and “cast all our anxieties on Him for he cares for us”. (1 Peter 5:7)
Journeys Through The Word 