January 28th, 2023

This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, and it starts the look at the first sermon of Jesus according to the perspective of this gospel account, what is known as the Sermon on the Mount [Matthew 5:1-12]. Last Sunday’s text gave an extensive introduction to that sermon, and it may be helpful to go over that again. (It also was the text for last Sunday, the text between the temptation of Jesus, that what was covered in the previous weeks with this writing, and that which is this week.)

Here is Matthew 4:12-25, in a somewhat-literal translation (and it only contains one historical present; can you spot it?):

Now hearing that John was delivered up, he [Jesus] withdrew into the Galilee. And having left the Nazareth, coming, he settled into Capernaum, the ‘beside-the-sea’, in districts of Zebulon and Naphthali, in order that might be fulfilled the spoken through Isaiah, the prophet, saying: ‘Land of Zebulon and land of Naphthali, way of sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations, the people, the ones sitting in darkness, saw a great light, and to the ones sitting in a region and shadow of death, light sprang up to them.
From then, the Jesus began to proclaim and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has come near.’

Now walking beside the sea of the Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, the one called Peter, and Andrew, the brother of him, throwing a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he says to them, ‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Now, they, immediately, leaving the nets, followed him. And going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James, the one of Zebedee and John, the brother of him, in the boat with Zebedee, the father of them, mending the nets of them, and he called them. Now, they, immediately, leaving the boat and the father of them, followed him.

And he went around the whole Galilee, teaching in the synagogues of them and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing all disease and all weakness in the people. And went the report of him into all the Syria, and they brought to him all the ill, having various diseases and suffering torments, demon-possessed and lunatics and paralytics, and he healed them. And followed him, many crowds, from the Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and beyond the Jordan.

There is obviously a lot within the above text. And there are some small hints within that text that not all the information has equal weight. Something important is ahead of Jesus. A couple of times the above paragraphs begin with ‘Now’. And the last paragraph begins with ‘And’.

There is a lot with that second, very short paragraph. That paragraph starts with a very rare beginning, ‘From then….’ Within this short paragraph is the only time that the name Jesus is mentioned within this section, when it comes to the most reliable manuscripts. The message that Jesus gives within this paragraph is not unique; it is the same one as John the Baptizer (see Matthew 3:2). But this is the message that Jesus BEGAN to speak. He will be speaking a lot more in just a few verses. And the very next time the phrase, ‘From then’ is used, there will be some important, additional information (see Matthew 16:21).
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Perhaps you found the only historical present within the above text, in the following paragraph. Jesus SAYS to Simon and Andrew to follow him. And that is what a man does. But things are significantly different when it comes to Jesus. That will be seen as we continue with the text.