Teaching and Healing

12-17 When Jesus got word that John had been arrested, he returned to Galilee. He moved from his hometown, Nazareth, to the lakeside village Capernaum, nestled at the base of the Zebulun and Naphtali hills. This move completed Isaiah’s revelation:

Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
    road to the sea, over Jordan,
    Galilee, crossroads for the nations.
People sitting out their lives in the dark
    saw a huge light;
Sitting in that dark, dark country of death,
    they watched the sun come up.

This Isaiah-prophesied revelation came to life in Galilee the moment Jesus started preaching. He picked up where John left off: “Change your life. God’s kingdom is here.”

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Jesus Begins to Preach

12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison,(A) he withdrew to Galilee.(B) 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum,(C) which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill(D) what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
    the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
    Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
    a light has dawned.”[a](E)

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven(F) has come near.”

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 4:16 Isaiah 9:1,2

23-25 From there he went all over Galilee. He used synagogues for meeting places and taught people the truth of God. God’s kingdom was his theme—that beginning right now they were under God’s government, a good government! He also healed people of their diseases and of the bad effects of their bad lives. Word got around the entire Roman province of Syria. People brought anybody with a sickness, whether mental, emotional, or physical. Jesus healed them, one and all. More and more people came, the momentum gathering. Besides those from Galilee, crowds came from the “Ten Towns” across the lake, others up from Jerusalem and Judea, still others from across the Jordan.

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Jesus Heals the Sick

23 Jesus went throughout Galilee,(A) teaching in their synagogues,(B) proclaiming the good news(C) of the kingdom,(D) and healing every disease and sickness among the people.(E) 24 News about him spread all over Syria,(F) and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed,(G) those having seizures,(H) and the paralyzed;(I) and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,[a] Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.(J)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 4:25 That is, the Ten Cities