Simon Bowkett's Podcast

Matthew 4:12-14 - The Biblical Theology of the Tactical Withdrawal

August 20, 2022 Simon Bowkett
Simon Bowkett's Podcast
Matthew 4:12-14 - The Biblical Theology of the Tactical Withdrawal
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Twenty-seven minutes from https://twitter.com/WelshRev at https://www.facebook.com/TyrBugail for https://www.facebook.com/Grace.Wales.online , https://welshrev.blogspot.com/and https://yGRWP.com

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         •        Introduction

We are taking the opportunity through August to step out of a logical progression through a particular Bible book to look at issues sparked by things that are happening in our world, to refresh our thinking and to spark our spiritual lives in less usual ways.

And today we are looking at a short but crucial passage of Scripture that deals with the Biblical theology of a Tactical Withdrawal.

What am I talking about?

Well …

You may have heard on the news that in the last week Russia has begun withdrawing troops across a key river to escape a Ukrainian counter-offensive.

They have, though, left behind 20,000 of their own troops on the West Bank of the river Dnipro, where those abandoned troops will be unable to defend their position.

This really serves to highlight the need to fully understand what truly constitutes a tactical withdrawal.

A tactical withdrawal or retreating defensive action is the type of military operation that generally entails retreating forces drawing back while maintaining contact with the enemy. 

A withdrawal may be undertaken 

·       as part of a general retreat, 

·       to consolidate forces, 

·       to occupy ground that is more easily defended, 

·       to force the enemy to overextend to secure a decisive victory, or 

·       to lead the enemy into an ambush. 

It is considered a relatively risky operation, requiring discipline to keep from turning into a disorganized rout or at the very least doing severe damage to the military's morale.

It’s not a rout.

o   A rout is a disorganised run away, abandoning the point and purpose of the operation.

o   A tactical withdrawal is a tactic that changes position without changing the point and the purpose of being there.

Whatever is going on beside the West Bank of the Dnipro … it doesn’t entirely sound like that!

But Jesus is the victor … the battle is won … there is no chance of going backwards, always forwards following Jesus, right?

Really?

Then how are you going to follow Jesus like that because He sometimes goes backwards, doesn’t He?

Let’s look at our passage of Scripture for today …

Matthew 4:12-17

 

“12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfil 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.”

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

WHAT?!

“When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee.”

Let’s try to unpack quite what is going on there, then …

         •        The nature of the threat, v. 12

The nature of the threat that gives rise to this Tactical Withdrawal is straightforward here … it won’t detain us long

        •          An intelligence report is received … ‘When Jesus heard …’

        •          About a key strategic asset (in this case, John the Baptiser)

        •          There’d been a major ‘set back’ (Herod had ordered prison for John)

John had been leading the charge for God’s Kingdom up until this point.

The main man (so far) had now been taken prisoner and the incoming leader … the even bigger asset … 

§  was already allied to John, 

§  had been identified publicly by John as His far greater successor, and 

§  was therefore going to be under even greater threat if He stayed in that area.

And His mission could be compromised if He was also captured.

It was time for a decisive tactical response.

         •        The tactical response, vv. 13-14


            •          Withdrawal to Galilee

You may have a translation that you are familiar with which simply says that Jesus ‘went’ to Galilee.

The New English Translation says that and I’m afraid it won’t quite do.

Even the translational notes explaining their choice of words in the translation says this about the Greek verb here:

ἀναχωρέω

1) to go back, return 2) to withdraw 2a) so as to leave a room 2b) of those who through fear seek some other place, or shun sight

Clearly Jesus perceives the threat to His mission illustrated by the imprisonment of John and in response to that threat He turns back, retreats or withdraws.

But (to use the appropriate military terms) this is NOT a rout. 

It is a tactical withdrawal.


            •          The primary purpose

The major difference between a disorganised rout and a planned Tactical Withdrawal is that the latter serves a clear and useful purpose that gives an advantage.

It is progress not abandonment of purpose, not a defeat.

Vv. 13 & 17 apply … the first says why He did what he did and the second verse says how He set about it.


            •           The Why? V. 13

v. 14 

“Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfil what was said through the prophet Isaiah:”

A Tactical Withdrawal is initiated by and takes place in response to a command to do so.

It is done under authority … expressed by the appropriate authority.

There is WARRANT for it.

What Jesus does here is rational and orderly, it makes sense to but it is done because the Bible says so!

Just as the Lord had repeatedly shown His Biblical ‘rough work’ in the margin while dealing with the temptations He faced from the devil in vv. 1-11, He now bases His tactical withdrawal to Galilee on the same authoritative Word of God.

Why did Jesus opt for this this Tactical Withdrawal?

It was to fulfil Scripture.

God DELIGHTS in the fulfilment of His Word.

§  Nowhere does it say in the Bible that He delights in planting churches … though no doubt He does.

§  Nowhere in Scripture does it say that He delights in the apparent success of big churches in populous places … though no doubt He does.

§  But it is very clear in Scripture that He delights in obedience, and a life of faithful obedience to His Word.

In Isaiah 66 we read:

“‘These are the ones I look on with favour:

    those who are humble and contrite in spirit,

    and who tremble at my word.”

Isaiah 66:2

There’s the ‘Why?’ of this Tactical Withdrawal.

It was to fulfil the Word of God about the incoming of His Kingdom as prophesied through Isaiah six centuries and more before.

Biblical mission decisions are led by the Bible, not management theory or sociological research.

Those may be helpful, of course, but Biblical mission is undertaken ’to fulfil what was said through the prophet …’

How was that incoming of God’s Kingdom achieved in practice by this tactical withdrawal?


            •           The How? V. 17

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

Unable to move around preaching freely where he had been, Jesus moved to an area where He could move around freely and be relatively unhindered as He proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God and call a growing spiritual army into citizenship in that Kingdom.

HOW did He achieve that?

He PREACHED that the Kingdom of God was NEAR

He PREACHED that it was appropriate therefore to REPENT of all a person’s acts and intentions of rebellion against the coming King.

A radical change of allegiance and life-purpose was what He called for … and He called for it by preaching the incoming of the Kingdom of the King, Who was already on His way.


            •          The nature of its fulfilment

So, the way the primary purpose of this Tactical Withdrawal was fulfilled was that the people who heard the message of the Kingdom of God, attested by the works and signs of that Kingdom, began to heed the message and turn to follow Christ the King … becoming the people of God’s incoming Kingdom.

There it is … let’s look at that beneficial outcome, and then pack it a bit more in vv. 15 ff. right through Matthew and on into the New Testament era through the Acts and off into the Epistles and the era of the Church … the Kingdom of God inaugurated on earth.

         •        The beneficial outcome, vv. 15 ff.

V. 15 points out the way this is all heading from the predictions of the prophet Isaiah:

 

““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.”

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

That’s Isaiah 9:1-2, which is all about God bringing relief to a wayward, distressed, hungry and wandering people being brought together again under God.

And then immediately Jesus calls His first disciples …

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.”


            •          Scripture fulfilled

Now, in the first instance, God delights to keep His Word and what we have here in vv. 12b-13 is a description of what took place followed by the conscious highlighting of this purpose, that this was (v. 14) “to fulfil what was said through the prophet Isaiah …”

The prophet Isaiah, though, was saying that the time of wandering, hunger, distress etc. which was what they reaped for following false gods 

Here’s the background to it in Isaiah 8:

“When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. 21 Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.”

And then comes the account of Messianic deliverance from all of that which Matthew cites from Isaiah 9 JUST as Jesus make this tactical withdrawal into Galilee preaching the Kingdom of God to the people living in ‘Galilee of the Gentiles, by the Way of the Sea …’

And Christ’s tactical withdrawal after the death of John therefore brings about (according to our verses) what Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 9:

“The people walking in darkness

    have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of deep darkness

    a light has dawned.”

THAT  is the significance of Jesus’s withdrawal to and subsequent ministry in GALILEE!


            •          The preaching of the Kingdom of God

So how did this light come to dawn in darkest Galilee, to which Jesus beat His Tactical Withdrawal?

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

Well, let’s face it, that was all very well then, but you just can’t go talking to people like that these days now, can you?

Let me stop you there.

This is first century Galilee.

And it had a history … which I am about to oversimplify, but you’ll get the idea!

Isaiah wrote about the fall of Israel to Assyria. 

The Assyrians' attack on the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, in the northern part of Israel, came in two waves. 

The first "distress" resulted in the deportation of some Israelites. 

The second oppression was much heavier, resulting in the deportation of virtually everyone. 

Then, the Assyrians imported Gentile peoples to the area of Zebulon and Naphtali, the area of Galilee. 

Their descendants—the Samaritans—heavily populated Galilee in Christ's day.

Isaiah prophesied that Galilee would witness a major part of the blessings of the Messiah (Isaiah 9:1-2). 

Since foreigners dominated it for centuries, the region was called "Galilee of the Gentiles." 

The prophet also mentions "the way of the sea," the name of a major international highway running through this region. 

Assyrian soldiers used this route when they invaded the northern Kingdom of Israel. 

Isaiah predicts that from Galilee the Messiah would arise and wipe away the gloom brought on by Gentile control.

That’s what we’re dealing with here.

And to THOSE people … described in Isaiah 8 as going after spirits and mediums and engaging in all sorts of occult inspired religious practice … Jesus ‘withdraws’!

But what a strategic retreat … as the definition of a military ‘tactical withdrawal’ said earlier:

“A tactical withdrawal or retreating defensive action is a type of military operation, generally meaning that retreating forces draw back while maintaining contact with the enemy.” 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withdrawal_(military)

It is purposeful, you see, not an abandonment of the aims and objectives of the overall mission, but serving them better than a retreat in disarray.

Structure, organisation, discipline and order are maintained:

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

Jesus preached: the verb is κηρύσσω

1) to be a herald, to officiate as a herald 1a) to proclaim after the manner of a herald 1b) always with the suggestion of formality, gravity and an authority which must be listened to and obeyed 2) to publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done 3) used of the public proclamation of the gospel and matters pertaining to it, made by John the Baptist, by Jesus, by the apostles and other Christian teachers.

He preached that people should repent: μετανοέω is the verb there:

1) to change one's mind, i.e., to repent 2) to change one's mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins.

And He stressed the point, the purpose and the immediacy of the call to repent: ἤγγικεν γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν

God’s rule is coming about … is coming in.

THAT’S why you need to repent!

God’s Kingship, His reign and His rule are coming back … get on side right away … beware of the wrath of the King at rebellious subjects!

That’s what Jesus did at Capernaum.

And He did it in a place that was well chosen … you could say purposeful.

He brought His retreat along a route to a very good place to ‘fall back’ on:

Capernaum.

Capernaum was a town located on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, about 680 ft (207 m) below sea level. 

It existed since Hasmonean times and was a major trade and economic centre in the North Galilean region.

A LOT of trade and transport went through the place.

LOTS of people would be contacted going through there.

The population in the first century is estimated to be around 1,500. Very strategically, Capernaum became the hub of operations for Jesus’ Galilean ministry (Matt 4:13; Mark 2:1). 

In modern times the site of the first century synagogue and what is thought to be Peter’s house have been discovered there.

And THAT is where Jesus chose to start His public dissemination of the message of salvation coming to ALL peoples through the incoming Kingdom of God.


            •          The inauguration of the Kingdom of God

The Kingdom heralded by John will now be inaugurated by Jesus, not nipped in the bud as had happened with John’s ministry.

The signs the Kingdom of God start to be seen … in two basic dimensions, the people and the power of God’s Kingdom start to be manifested.


            •           The people of the Kingdom

So, immediately we’re told:

Vv. 18-22: “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.

 

21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.”

There are going to be many, many more.

But there is the dynamic and radical start to it as Jesus rocks up to a pair of lads running a family business in the Galilean fishing industry … lads with a big commitment to a family business in what we KNOW was a thriving industry there are that time … says authoritatively to follow Him and they leave their significant responsibilities there on the beach to go and follow Him.

That language of following is the language of discipleship in first century Jewish culture.

The people of God’s incoming Kingdom are now starting (in Galilee) to follow King Jesus.


            •           The power of the Kingdom

And immediately, moving on from there as we’ve begun to see the citizens of God’s Kingdom responding to His call, we’re told:

Vv. 23-24:

“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralysed; and he healed them.”

These are exactly the signs of the Messiah also prophesied in Isaiah … attesting both by the evidence of pewful direct Divine intervention AND by the fulfilment of Scripture that Christ was the God the King come to inaugurate His Kingdom on earth.

         •        Conclusion

Humanly speaking … and being human, speaking humanly is what we do … the future of the Kingdom of God on earth DEPENDED on that first tactical withdrawal.

In fact, Jesus withdrew from where John had been baptising by the Jordan, where there was a big high profile prophetic ministry announcing the coming of the Kingdom already going on, where the authorities were already aware of trouble brewing but where there was at least a good sized crowd to get up and preach to and the soft underbelly of John’s disciples to take over and make a start with.

But, no, that wasn’t going to be God’s way of doing it.

Tactical withdrawal was.

And what that did was to prepare the way for the growth of the Kingdom of God in people’s hearts by shifting the activity away from the centres of power in the South of the geo-political enemies of the Gospel.

And it assembled and equipped a spiritual army of people away from the opponents of the Way of Christ.

We go through things that look to us like defeats in trying to save and follow the Lord.

They can HURT.

We fall victim to a ‘victory now’ view of what the Christian life is and it really ISN’T always like that on this earth at all.

There are trials and troubles … the Lord said there would be … and retreats from particular areas of conflict are not failures of God or of faith.

Jesus knows very well the nature and experience of true Tactical Withdrawal in the furtherance of God’s call and Kingdom … and in following Him FAITHFULLY we are going to know them too.

I have NO idea who this sermon was particularly for today.

For all of us it should influence our thinking.

But if it was especially for you then I hope it serves you especially well.

God bless you.