Isaiah 9:1-4

But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

The people who walked in darkness

have seen a great light;

those who lived in a land of deep darkness—

on them light has shined.

You have multiplied exultation;

you have increased its joy;

they rejoice before you

as with joy at the harvest,

as people exult when dividing plunder.

For the yoke of their burden

and the bar across their shoulders,

the rod of their oppressor,

you have broken as on the day of Midian.

Matthew 4: 12-23

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,

on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the gentiles—

the people who sat in darkness

have seen a great light,

and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death

light has dawned.”

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishers. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Something that has kept coming up for me lately is the need to derive courage from God’s own strength, and the necessity of hope in both present times and times to come. The idea that hope is so much stronger than fear. So these passages—Isaiah’s prophecy and its fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ—really spoke to that for me.

So, for some context on the prophecy and its fulfillment. The lands of Zebulon and Naphtali—near the Sea of Galilee—were conquered in Isaiah’s time, which is what he’s talking about when he says that those lands were brought into contempt in the former time. The latter time was seven hundred years later. For reference, seven hundred years ago in the 1300s, the Black Death wiped out a third of Europe’s population and the Crusades were still happening alongside the rise of the Mali Empire. Gutenberg’s printing press had not been invented yet. That’s a long time to wait, from then to now.

At the beginning of our Matthew passage, Jesus is leaving the Jordan River where John baptized him, literally going beyond the Jordan. And he makes the Sea of Galilee glorious by beginning his ministry right there, calling four fishermen from the sea’s waters to usher in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Peter, Andrew, James, and John see a great light in Jesus, and they’re not afraid. They answer Jesus’s call to fish for human beings—to spread the Good News to all of God’s children.

And what is that Good News? That Jesus has broken the yoke of our burdens, the bar across our shoulders, the rod of our oppressors. That we are free from the burdens that our own sin places on our bodies and souls. There are so many burdens our culture wants to put on us. One I’ve been struggling with lately is the lie that my worth is measured by my productivity, by what I can do by my own strength—when my worth is simply that I’m a daughter of the Most High, made righteous by Jesus’s death and resurrection.

So as we wait for God to fulfill his promises—and He will fulfill them to the letter in a way we’d never expect—our job is to take courage and trust, just as the apostles did. And the Kingdom of God is near. Not just after our deaths, not just after the Second Coming. The Kingdom of God is near, and we can see it in the land of the living.

So knowing who we are, knowing that we know the Good News, knowing that we don’t have to carry the burdens of this world anymore, we can wait for God to fulfill his promises with confidence. And knowing that beautiful freedom, how could we do anything but share it with everyone else?

Hope in Waiting: Ashley Palmer

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