Jesus Begins His Ministry
Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
From that time Jesus began to preach”: This marks the beginning of His public ministry. Note that His message was an exact echo of what John the Baptist preached.
Repent: for the... Repentance is one of the main themes of the Bible, being found 110 times from Gen. 6:6 to Rev. 16:11.
Seven Original Words for "Repent"
1. Hebrew: nacham, to sigh, breathe strongly, to be sorry (Gen. 6:6; Exo. 13:17; Job 42:6; Jon. 3:10)
2. Hebrew: shuwb, to turn back (1Kgs. 8:47; Eze. 14:6)
3. Hebrew: nocham, regret (Hos. 13:14)
4. Hebrew: nichuwm, compassion (Hos. 11:8)
5. Greek: metanoeo, to change the mind for the better morally, to change the attitude toward sin (see, Luke 13:3)
6. Greek: metamellomai, to regret consequences of sin, not the cause (Mat. 27:3; 2Cor. 7:8)
7. Greek: metanoia, a real change of mind and attitude toward sin and its cause, not merely the consequences of it (Mat. 3:8, 3:11; 9:13; Luke 24:47)
kingdom of heaven... Literally, kingdom from the heavens. It is headed by Jesus Christ for the purpose of re-establishing the kingdom of God over this rebellious part of God’s realm. Only found in Matthew because it is the gospel of Jehovah’s King. It is a dispensational term and refers to Messiah’s kingdom on earth. Offered by both John and Jesus (Mat. 3:2; 4:17; 10:7). Because it was rejected, it was postponed until Christ comes to set up the kingdom (Mat. 11:12, 11:20-24; 27:22-25; Luke 19:11-27; Acts 1:6-7; 3:19-26). It is now the realm of profession (Mat. 13:11-17, 13:30, 13:38-43, 13:47-50). The parables of the kingdom apply to this age. At the end Christ will come and set up a literal earthly kingdom forever (Mat. 25:31-46; Rev. 11:15; 19:11-20:10; Zec. 14:1-21; Isa. 9:6-7; Dan. 2:44-45; 7:13-27; Luke 1:32-33). During the first 1,000 years of His eternal reign He will put down all rebellion and rid the earth of all rebels. Then God will become "all in all" as before rebellion (Rev. 20:1-10; 21:1-22:5; 1Cor. 15:24-28; Eph. 1:10). Anything said of the kingdom of heaven can also be said of the kingdom of God, because the former is only the earthly dispensational aspect of the latter. There are many things said of the kingdom of God, however, which cannot be said of the kingdom of heaven (see, Mat. 19:24).
The opening word of this first sermon sets the tone for Jesus’ entire earthly ministry (Luke 5:32). Repentance was a constant motif in all His public preaching. And in His closing charge to the apostles, He commanded them to preach repentance as well (Luke 24:47).
The message of John the Baptist is now clearly proclaimed by Jesus Christ. However, Jesus, as the Messiah, is not calling on His listeners to prepare for the coming of the kingdom but rather announces that the kingdom is here. The kingdom blessings promised in Isa. 35:5-6 to be fulfilled in a future kingdom, here become the credentials of the King at His first coming.
When John was imprisoned, Jesus began to preach. His words had a familiar ring: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near (cf. Mat. 3:2). The twofold message of John was now proclaimed by the Messiah. The work of God was rapidly moving toward the establishing of the glorious kingdom of God on earth. If one wanted to be a part of the kingdom, he must repent. Repentance was mandatory if fellowship with God was to be enjoyed.
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