From: Matthew 4:12-17; 23-25

Preaching in Galilee. The First Disciples are Called

[12] Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee;
[13] and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the ter-
ritory of Zebulun and Naphtali, [14] that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah
might be fulfilled: [15] “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the
sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles — [16] the people who sat in dark-
ness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of
death light has dawned.” [17] From that time Jesus began to preach, saying,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

[23] And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching
the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among
the people. [24] So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him
all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epilep-
tics, and paralytics, and he healed them. [25] And great crowds followed him
from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the
Jordan.

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Commentary:

15-16. Here St Matthew quotes the prophecy of Isaiah 8:23 - 9:1. The territory
referred to (Zebulun, Naphtali, the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan),
was invaded by the Assyrians in the period 734-721 B.C., especially during the
reign of Tilgathpilneser III. A portion of the Jewish population was deported and
sizeable numbers of foreigners were planted in the region to colonize it. For this
reason it is referred to in the Bible henceforward as the “Galilee of the Gentiles”.

The evangelist, inspired by God, sees Jesus’ coming to Galilee as the fulfillment
of Isaiah’s prophecy. This land, devastated and abused in Isaiah’s time, will be
the first to receive the light of Christ’s life and preaching. The messianic meaning
of the prophecy is, therefore, clear.

17. See the note on Mt 3:4. This verse indicates the outstanding importance of
the first step in Jesus’ public ministry, begun by proclaiming the imminence of
the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ words echo John the Baptist’s proclamation: the se-
cond part of this verse is the same, word for word, as Matthew 3:2. This under-
lines the role played by St John the Baptist as prophet and precursor of Jesus.
Both St John and our Lord demand repentance, penance, as a prerequisite to
receiving the Kingdom of God, now beginning. God’s rule over mankind is a main
theme in Christ’s Revelation, just as it was central to the whole Old Testament.
However, in the latter, the Kingdom of God had an element of theocracy about it:
God reigned over Israel in both spiritual and temporal affairs and it was through
him that Israel subjected other nations to her rule. Little by little, Jesus will un-
fold the new-style Kingdom of God, now arrived at its fullness. He will show it to
be a Kingdom of love and holiness, thereby purifying it of the nationalistic mis-
conceptions of the people of his time.

The King invites everyone without exception to this Kingdom (cf. Mt 22:1-14).
The Banquet of the Kingdom is held on this earth and has certain entry require-
ments which must be preached by the proponents of the Kingdom: “Therefore
the eucharistic celebration is the center of the assembly of the faithful over
which the priest presides. Hence priests teach the faithful to offer the divine Vic-
tim to God the Father in the sacrifice of the Mass, and with the Victim to make
an offering of their whole lives. In the spirit of Christ the pastor, they instruct
them to submit their sins to the Church with a contrite heart in the sacrament
of Penance, so that they may be daily more and more converted to the Lord,
remembering his words: ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand”’ (Vati-
can II, “Presbyterorum Ordinis”, 5).

23. “Synagogue”: this word comes from the Greek and designates the building
where the Jews assembled for religious ceremonies on the sabbath and other
feast days. Such ceremonies were non-sacrificial in character (sacrifices could
be performed only in the temple of Jerusalem). The synagogue was also the
place where the Jews received their religious training. The word was also used
to designate local Jewish communities within and without Palestine.

24. “Epileptic” (or, in some translations, “lunatic”). This word was applied in a
very general way to those who had illnesses related to epilepsy. The disease
was popularly regarded as being dependent on the phases of the moon (Latin:
“luna”).

23-25. In these few lines, the evangelist gives us a very fine summary of the va-
rious aspects of Jesus’ work. The preaching of the gospel or “good news” of the
Kingdom, the healing of diseases, and the casting out of devils are all specific
signs of the Messiah’s presence, according to Old Testament prophecies (Is
35:5-6; 61:1; 40:9; 52:7).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Mass Readings

First reading	1 John 2:29-3:6 ©

You know that God is righteous –

then you must recognise that everyone whose life is righteous

has been begotten by him.

Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us,

by letting us be called God’s children;

and that is what we are.

Because the world refused to acknowledge him,

therefore it does not acknowledge us.

My dear people, we are already the children of God

but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed;

all we know is, that when it is revealed

we shall be like him

because we shall see him as he really is.

Surely everyone who entertains this hope

must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.

Anyone who sins at all

breaks the law,

because to sin is to break the law.

Now you know that he appeared in order to abolish sin,

and that in him there is no sin;

anyone who lives in God does not sin,

and anyone who sins

has never seen him or known him.

Psalm	Psalm 97:1,3-6

Gospel	John 1:29-34 ©

Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’