Monday after Epiphany
I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, "You are my son. Today I have become your father. Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.
Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Give sincere homage to the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish on the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.
Now when Jesus heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sat in darkness saw a great light; to those who sat in the region and shadow of death, to them light has dawned."4:16 Isaiah 9:1-2
From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, "Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."
Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them. Great multitudes from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.
What strikes me most about this passage is how Jesus begins his public ministry not in the religious center of Jerusalem, but in Galilee—a region looked down upon by the religious elite, a place where Jews and Gentiles lived side by side. Matthew tells us this fulfills Isaiah's prophecy about light coming to "the people who sat in darkness."
There's something deeply consoling about this geography of grace. Jesus doesn't wait for us to get our spiritual act together or find ourselves in the perfect religious setting. He comes to the ordinary places, the mixed-up places, the regions others might dismiss. Capernaum wasn't glamorous—it was a fishing town by the lake, a place where people worked with their hands and worried about making ends meet.
When Jesus proclaims "Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," the word "repent" in Greek means to turn around, to change direction. It's not primarily about feeling guilty, but about recognizing that God's reign has drawn near and responding to that reality. The kingdom isn't something far off that we have to earn our way into—it's right here, breaking into our Monday mornings and grocery store runs.
What I find beautiful is how Jesus immediately backs up his words with healing. He doesn't just preach about God's love; he demonstrates it by touching the sick, the tormented, the paralyzed. The crowds that follow him aren't drawn by impressive theology but by this tangible experience of mercy.
We live in our own kind of Galilee—places that might seem unremarkable or even troubled. Yet this is precisely where Jesus chooses to shine his light.
Where do you see darkness in your own life that might be ready for Christ's light? How might you be called to turn around today and notice God's kingdom breaking in?