Matthew 4:12-25 (New King James Version) states:

12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. 13And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 15"The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: 16The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned." 17From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 21Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. 23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. 24Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. 25Great multitudes followed Him--from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

We therefore have a series of events that have taken place in this time:

• John The Baptist prepares the coming of Jesus.
• John The Baptist Baptizes the paving of the way for the Messiah.
• Jesus goes into the wilderness.
• John The Baptist is arrested for exposing the King's sins for marrying his brother's wife and other sins.
• Jesus leaves the wilderness.
• Jesus goes out into the ministry.

A brief background based on Luke's version

If you look at the Luke 4:14-31 version of this story, one would realize that Jesus went into Galilee and began to teach in the synagogues throughout this region. Here, the scriptures state that Jesus began teaching the people as the beginning of going into the ministry was implemented. It was at this time that Jesus went back to the hometown of Nazareth and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath. On one Sabbath day, Jesus decided to stand up and read from the scrolls the prophetic words of Isaiah 61:1-2. After reading the scriptures, Jesus gave the scroll back to the church attendant and sat down while telling the congregation that "Today, this scripture (Isaiah 61) is fulfilled in your hearing". The people within the congregation marveled at those words that Jesus spoke. However, Jesus went further and spoke in verses 23-27 where he mentioned that 'a prophet is not welcomed in his hometown" and mentioned about Elijah and the three-and-a-half year famine. There the congregation of the synagogue got angry and kicked him out of the city and took him to the edge of a hill from where they were going to push Jesus off to kill him. Verse 30 stated that Jesus passed through the crowd and went away from them and later on we find Jesus dwelling in Capernaum.

Jesus started out in controversy and would remain there until this day. When one decides to go out into the ministry, there will be some controversy that will come forth and rise itself in your midst. We see Jesus overcome the controversy and progress onward and forward to the calling He was to fulfill on Earth.

Life in Capernaum

In Mark 4:13, we now see Jesus residing in Capernaum. We also see that in verses 15 and 16 that this was also a fulfilling of scripture spoken in Isaiah 9:1-2 that foretold of Jesus living in Capernaum. It was at this time (verse 17) that Jesus began to move in a multi-faceted realm of different actions. We saw him teach in Luke 4 and we now see him begin to preach in Matthew 4. It was during this preaching that Jesus began to tell the Galileans to "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." In fact, this was the same exact message that John the Baptist preached in the wilderness of Judea in Matthew 3:2. It is here that Jesus establishes the kingdom and his rule. Of course there were many who were very disappointed because they expected a king to be of a royality and wealthy ststus and not like the child born in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes. Also, the Israelites expected a king that would overthrow the Roman captivity. Instead they received a king not of a earthly kingdom, but of the heavenly kingdom.

Even though Jesus cared about people and the lives they lead and ministered to those in need of finances, healing, etc., Jesus came to establish God's principles on earth to where the kingdom of God would spread throughout the earth. When one begins their public ministry, one will also begin to establish kingdom principles and priorities not only on earth in the lives of others, etc., but also in the life of the minister and the ministry. The basic building blocks and foundational truths of Christian principles are established. Also the anointing and power that came forth from both going beyond the river and conquering the wilderness begins to flow out and the lessons learned begin to flow out to teach, preach, and reach out to others. The main crux of Jesus' message was to turn away from your self-centeredness and the controlling of your own circumstances and turn towards the direction of Christ and submitting yourself under the control of Jesus Christ.

Please Click here for part three of this article.