January 28 - Christ’s Galilean Ministry Fulfills Prophecy - Devotional

GracetoYou.org ^ | 2008 | John MacArthur, Grace Community Church

[metmom]

“This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet” (Matthew 4:14).

Centuries before the Incarnation, the prophet Isaiah foretold this great truth: “‘The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, and those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a Light dawned’” (from Isa. 9:1–2).

And eight hundred years later—just as prophesied—the despised, unbelieving Galileans glimpsed the Messiah and, ahead of many of the Jews in Jerusalem, saw the dawning of God’s new covenant.

The Jews in Galilee were less sophisticated and traditional than those in Judea. The Jewish historian Josephus noted that the Galileans “were fond of innovations and by nature disposed to change, and they delighted in seditions.” They even had a regional accent distinct from the Judeans (cf. Matt. 26:73). Jesus likely chose His apostles from Galilee because they too would have been less bound to Jewish tradition and more open to the gospel.

Jesus’ going to Galilee to really begin His ministry shows that salvation was for sinners everywhere, with no distinctions or restrictions. It fulfilled Old Testament truth, which God revealed through the Jews (cf. Rom. 3:1–2). However, it was not an accommodation to the proud, exclusive Judaism prevalent in Jesus’ day. It was no accident that “the Light of the world” (John 8:12) first proclaimed Himself and His message in Galilee.

Ask Yourself

As we’ll continue to see, Jesus often went to the least expected, the least admired, the least in the pecking order to administer His grace and reveal His identity. What is your level of concern and compassion for those in the greatest need of the gospel? Pray for a heart that beats like Jesus’ heart did—and does.

From Daily Readings from the Life of Christ, Vol. 1, John MacArthur. Copyright © 2008. Used by permission of Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL 60610, www.moodypublishers.com.

[metmom]

Studying God’s Word ping

[Apple Pan Dowdy]

I’ve been reading your GracetoYou posts for sometime now and enjoy then. Please add me to your ping list.

[SaveFerris]

Nice

[metmom]

Sure.

Welcome aboard.

[Zionist Conspirator]

And we know this because the "new testament," which is part of the Bible, says so.

It's a good thing the "new testament" was given to Israel at Sinai and not written and added later.[/sarcasm]

[Elsie]

 And we know this because the "new testament," which is part of the Bible, says so.

Correct; though a minor part.

But I've always wondered why Jeremiah wasn't part of the new one...

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord.

 

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.

 

—Jeremiah 31:31-34.