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The Gospel of Matthew sets the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in a particular historical context: Jesus began his mission only after the arrest of John the Baptist. It was time. But in moving from his home in Nazareth to Capernaum, in the ancient territory of Naphtali, Matthew also sets Jesus’ ministry in the geographic and prophetic context of the prophet Isaiah.

Zebulun and Naphtali, tribes located in northern Galilee, had been conquered by the Assyrians in the time of the prophet Isaiah. Prophecy in ancient Israel tended to be written in the first place for the readers or hearers who had experienced or were experiencing the events of which the prophet spoke. Isaiah wrote for Isaiah’s time. Yet there is no doubt that a part of the purpose of ancient Israelite prophecy was to speak of what was to come when God’s kingdom would be established.

The eschatological dimension that permeates so much of Isaiah speaks of a time when the lost tribes would be brought back to restoration. While “in the former time,” Isaiah says, God “brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,” “in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.” Galilee of the nations is not just a geographic designation; it is a prophetic hope and promise. To the first hearers, Isaiah’s prophecy spoke of the ingathering of the exiled tribes of Israel, but in the phrase “Galilee of the nations” is seen a broader prophetic hope and a universal promise that the Messiah would fulfill.

Isaiah speaks of “Galilee of the nations,” Matthew of “Galilee of the Gentiles.” Both Isaiah’s Hebrew word, goyim, and Matthew’s Greek word, ethne, were used to identify those who were not a part of the kingdom of Israel. This is why Jesus’ move to Capernaum, into Naphtali in the region of the Gentiles, is laden with meaning. Jesus’ ministry, summarized in the simple proclamation, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near,” is offering a new understanding of kingdom, available to all nations. Isaiah imagined that Zebulun and Naphtali would see a great light, but this is reimagined in Matthew’s understanding to indicate that all were now welcome in God’s kingdom.

Still, the first invitations were issued to fishermen of the former region of Naphtali. Simon and Andrew, James and John were not biblical scholars, nor were they from Jerusalem of Judea, let alone a great center of learning like Rome, Alexandria or Ephesus. They were chosen from a geographically backwater town. They were ordinary men who left their work and families when called and followed Jesus. It was from this small town and with these working men that Jesus began to form the church and to shine the great light of God’s kingdom.

Jesus’ ministry began with him travelling “throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.” In doing so, Jesus began to establish the kingdom of heaven, for these few men became many more men and women, who town by town and region by region carried with them the light of the Gospel. After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, the church recognized that the task of bringing light to the nations rested with the response of men and women to the Gospel.

God’s kingdom is not simply Isaiah’s ancient prophecy or the glorious future kingdom of heaven, but the mission of the present church. The church is ordinary men and women who hear Jesus’ call to follow, who participate in the building of God’s kingdom now. It is about recognizing the great light that shines on in every person who moves from the darkness to follow Jesus’ call.

This article appears in January 20-27 2014.

John W. Martens is an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn,where he teaches early Christianity and Judaism. He also directs the Master of Arts in Theology program at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. He was born in Vancouver, B.C. into a Mennonite family that had decided to confront modernity in an urban setting. His post-secondary education began at Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kansas, came to an abrupt stop, then started again at Vancouver Community College, where his interest in Judaism and Christianity in the earliest centuries emerged. He then studied at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, and McMaster University, with stops at University of Haifa and University of Tubingen. His writing often explores the intersection of Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman culture and belief, such as in "let the little children come to me: Children and Childhood in Early Christianity" (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009), but he is not beyond jumping into the intersection of modernity and ancient religion, as in "The End of the World: The Apocalyptic Imagination in Film and Television" (Winnipeg: J. Gordon Shillingford Press, 2003). He blogs at  www.biblejunkies.com and at www.americamagazine.org for "The Good Word." You can follow him on Twitter @biblejunkies, where he would be excited to welcome you to his random and obscure interests, which range from the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, to his dog, and 70s punk, pop and rock. When he can, he brings students to Greece, Turkey and Rome to explore the artifacts and landscape of the ancient world. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and has two sons. He is certain that the world will not end until the Vancouver Canucks have won the Stanley Cup, as evidence has emerged from the Revelation of John, 1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, and 4 Ezra which all point in this direction.