“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’. . . And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.” (Matthew 4:17, 23)
Matthew proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah by linking His ministry to the prophecy of Isaiah. Jesus has come to bring light to people living in darkness. The darkness to which Matthew referred was the darkness of sin, fear, and the bondage of the Law particularly as it was administered by the religious leaders of the Jews. These men had access to the Word of God but failed to see the light of its truth. They focused on manmade laws and rituals that kept both Gentiles and Jews in darkness and themselves as well. They ignored God’s grace and lovingkindness.
Some Christians today behave like the Jewish leaders did back in Jesus’ day. They proclaim and enforce rules upon people which cannot be obeyed by the will of any human being, rules which keep sin-cursed people from finding truth and mercy in the love of Jesus. Jesus came to bring the light and truth of God’s love. He first called for people to repent of sin, to admit they were sinners and that sin is evil. He called for people to have faith in Him and to follow Him. He demonstrated the power, love and compassion of God by backing up His words with miraculous deeds of healing and deliverance.
Jesus’ actions serve as examples for all Christians to follow. Not only must we repent of our sins, not only must we preach the truth of the gospel, we must also spread the light of God by dispelling the works of darkness with deeds of love and compassion for all. We may not perform miraculous healings as Jesus did, but we lead people to Jesus who can release all people from the bondage of sin. We do all these things by the power of the Holy Spirit alive in us.