My Dear People,

Sincere thanks and congratulations to everyone who donated to the CFA. We were able to reach the goal in December. 

With the wilderness ordeal behind him, the Messiah returns to the land of His upbringing in Galilee. Prompting this move is news that John the Baptist has been taken into custody by hostile authorities (4:12). This turning point propels Jesus into a new phase of activity. Jesus returns to Nazareth, in lower Galilee, staying long enough to only say His good-byes. He decided to resettle in Capernaum, a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.  

Capernaum was a place of some importance in the first century and is quite a bit larger than the tiny village of Nazareth. Capernaum thrived on its fishing industry and was close to a Roman road called the Via Maris, which served as a commercial route connecting Galilee with Syria to the north. Jesus chooses this busy town as the base of operations for his Galilean Ministry. 

Matthew interprets the move to Capernaum as a fulfilment of prophecy. As with several of the fulfillment quotations given so far in his Gospel, this one from Isaiah (Isa 8:23-9:1) is also tied to the geography of Palestine. It hearkens back to a time when the tribes of Zebulon and Naphtali occupied the lands north and west of the Sea of Galilee. In the eighth century BC, these territories were overrun by the expanding Assyrian empire, making the residents of Galilee the first Israelites in biblical history to be hauled off into exile (2 Kings 15:29). According to the imperial policies of Assyria at the time, this meant that most of the educated and influential persons of Israel were deported and made servants elsewhere in the empire, while much of the peasant population was left behind on the land. It is this painful memory from Israel’s past that stands behind the darkness and death spoken about by the prophet. 

Given this somber history, it is significant that Jesus launches His mission among the Galileans. It suggests that the first Israelites experiencing the darkness of conquest and exile will now be the first to see the light of God’s goodness in the Messiah. Because the northernmost tribes were ravaged by the judgment before others, they are given the first chance for renewal and restoration before any of the other tribes. 

But something else is significant here as well. Besides its connection with the people of Israel, the prophecy links Galilee with the Gentiles (see also 1 Macc. 5:15). The fact is that Galilee, more so than Judea (down south), was penetrated by non-Jewish people and culture. In Jesus’ day, Greek appears to have rivaled Aramaic as the language of public discourse, in two of Galilee’s most prominent cities, Tiberias and Sepphoris, which were thoroughly Hellenistic. But as far as Matthew is concerned, Jesus is about to launch a full-scale outreach to the Galilean Gentiles. However, for the time being, both He and His disciples remain focused on a mission to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” (10:6, 15-24). Nevertheless, the Lord’s ministry in the multiethnic land of Galilee foreshadows the Church’s later mission to all nations (28:19).

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand is an expression that Matthew uses to mark an important transition in the storyline. Here it introduces us to the public activity of Jesus in Galilee.  Later, the same words will shift our attention to the second phase of his ministry as it leads to Jerusalem (16:21).

The subject of the Messiah’s preaching is summarized in that one sentence: This is the same message we learned from John the Baptist (3:2), and it is the same message that Jesus will send out with his twelve apostles (10:17). It urges listeners to change the direction of their lives, to adopt a new way of thinking and acting. Repentance is the effort one makes to turn away from all that is sinful and selfish and to accept the responsibility of living by the standards of God. The nearness of the kingdom gives urgency to the call. The kingly reign of God is on the verge of arrival, and so Israel must be ready to embrace it when it comes. Here Jesus is referring to the inauguration of the kingdom rather than its final manifestation. 

Yours in Christ,  

Fr. Vincent Clemente