Smoodock's Blog

In the past, when the Lord entered into the affairs of men to judge one nation, he judged all nations. For example, when he judged Israel, he judged the surrounding nations as well. The arm of his judgment, vis-à-vis Babylon in our example, did well, but when the Lord chose to judge Babylon for going too far in punishing the less powerful nations, he judged the world again and released the Jews, and presumably the other nations that were held captive by Babylon.

I believe we often forget that, as God, Jesus entered to affairs of men by becoming man (John 1:1, 14). Essentially this was for judgment. The timeframe was the last days, the latter days, or the time of the end (Genesis 49:1; Deuteronomy 31:29; Daniel 11:35, 40; 12:4, 9). Jesus entered the affairs of men, particularly the Jewish affairs, and judgment would be the outcome. The Old Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, the Covenant of Law would come to an end (cp. Hebrews 8:13) and he would establish his New Covenant of grace for mankind (cp. Jeremiah 31:31). However, how would all this be done? It is apparent that Jesus didn’t intend to make war with either the Jews (Matthew 12:14-15) or the nations (John 18:36). From the beginning, Jesus announced that it is the meek who would inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5; Psalm 37:11). Judgment would come in the form of God coming to men meekly, as a servant. How would he be received? He was rejected (John 1:11) and had to flee for his life (Matthew 12:14-15), and due to their treatment of him, and his servants, judgment from the Lord would come upon them (Matthew 25:41-46).

Therefore, when Jesus discovered that the Jewish authorities were planning to seize and kill him (Matthew 12:14), he withdrew himself from their presence (Matthew 12:15). Mark tells us that he withdrew to the sea, vis-à-vis the Sea of Galilee (Mark 3:7

As he did so, great multitudes followed him, thus indicating the time of year was during the season of the Jewish Festivals, and men and women from the surrounding countries and provinces chose to celebrate the Holy Days in Galilee instead of Jerusalem (cp. Mark 3:8).[1] The sick and those with infirmities came to him and he healed them all, not some, but all who came to him, because he was there to judge, so **all** who came to him were healed (Matthew 12:15). However, he told them not to make himself known as their healer (Matthew 12:17). This was because, first, he was there to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, vis-à-vis the Presence of God, not as their Healer. Secondly, it was things like healing, where the power of God was displayed so openly, that stirred up the Jewish authorities against him, and their opposition affected the reception of the Gospel.

Matthew tells us that all this was done, that it might be fulfilled that was spoken by the prophet, Isaiah (Matthew 12:17). Isaiah spoke of the coming of the Servant of God upon whom the Spirit of God would dwell (Isaiah 42:1). He wouldn’t use the streets to gain the following of the people (Isaiah 42:2). Instead, his ministry or work would be more personal. He would be gentle enough not to break the reed that was already bruised, vis-à-vis the folks who were already discouraged due to their being used by powerful men for their own ends. Neither would he extinguish the smoking flax, vis-à-vis extinguish their fire or zeal altogether. Men are zealous for a good cause, but when they’ve been abused and taken advantage of for the purpose of enriching the few, they become critical and lose faith. Jesus wouldn’t do that. He would fan the fire of zeal and rekindle men’s hopes, and in doing so Jesus, through the Gospel of the Presence of God, would cause the nations to begin to return to the Lord, their God (Matthew 12:17-21).            [EB1] 

[1] Logic demands that every Jew couldn’t have celebrated the annual holidays in Jerusalem. There was no room for everyone, Consequently, other cities were designated for the celebration of the Holy Days to receive the many who couldn’t find room in Jerusalem. We can assume that Capernaum, Jesus’ hometown of residence, was one of these places or cities.