THE LIGHT

DAWNS
Who is the Light in this context?

Jesus Christ

And what does it mean to dawn ?

Dawn means the beginning of a phenomenon or period of

time, especially one considered favorable.
AT THE RIGHT POINT:

Matt. 4:12
Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee.
(Matthew 4:12, ESV)

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and
Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and
Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,
the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.3 And he went into all the
region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.4 As it is
written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every
mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places
shall become level ways, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'" 7 He said therefore to
the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from
the wrath to come?8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves,
'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children
for Abraham.9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not
bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."10 And the crowds asked him, "What then shall
we do?"11 And he answered them, "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and
whoever has food is to do likewise."12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him,
"Teacher, what shall we do?"13 And he said to them, "Collect no more than you are authorized to
might be the Christ,16 John answered them all, saying, "I baptize you with water, but he who is
mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and fire.17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and
to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."18 So with many
other exhortations he preached good news to the people.19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been
reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done,20
added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison. (Luke 3:1-20, ESV)

John had been arrested. John was imprisoned for his bold rebuke of Herod Antipas.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, (Mark 1:14, ESV)
and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the
gospel." (Mark 1:15, ESV)

3 For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother
Philip's wife,4 because John had been saying to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her." (Matthew
14:3, ESV)

Matt. 4:13
And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and
Naphtali, (Matthew 4:13, ESV)

leaving Nazareth. Some time elapsed between vv. 12; 13. Jesus’ stay in Nazareth ended abruptly when
“Galilee” comes from a Hebrew word, galil, which means “a circle,” and Galilee is, believe it
or not, a circle. It is an area that circles the sea known as the Sea of Galilee.
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the
synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah
was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,18 "The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He
has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at
liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 20 And he rolled
up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the
synagogue were fixed on him.21 And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been
fulfilled in your hearing."22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that
were coming from his mouth. And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"23 And he said to them,
"Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, '"Physician, heal yourself." What we have heard
you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'"24 And he said, "Truly, I say to you,
no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in
Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a
great famine came over all the land,26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to
Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.27 And there were many lepers in
Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the
Syrian."28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.29 And
they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which
their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.30 But passing through their
midst, he went away. (Luke 4:16-30, ESV)
 Capernaum. He settled in this important town on the trade route at the north end of the Sea of
Galilee. Capernaum was the home of Peter and Andrew (Matt. 4:18)

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his
brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. (Matthew 4:18, ESV)

, James and John (v. 21)

And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in
the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. (Matthew 4:21, ESV)
AT THE RIGHT PLACE

14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15

"The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond
the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles- (Matthew 4:14-15, ESV)

Galilee of the Gentiles. This name was used even in Isaiah’s time
because Galilee lay on the route through which all Gentiles passed in and
out of Israel. In Jesus’ time, the region of Galilee had become an
important center of Roman occupation. The prophecy cited by Matthew is
from Isa. 9:1–2. See Isa. 42:6–7.

1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former
time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of
Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea,
the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.2 The people who
walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of
deep darkness, on them has light shone. (Isaiah 9:1-2, ESV)

6 "I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by
the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a
light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out
the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.
16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and
shadow of death, on them a light has dawned." 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:16-17, ESV)

Well the worship of Molech had been introduced and established on the Mount of Olives, by Ahaz. A brazen
statue of Molech was erected, and at the feet of Molech this brazen statue was a fire into which the
babies were thrown on the Mount of Olives. Idols and superstitions were everywhere. In fact, Ahaz had
even shut the temple doors and left the whole thing to rot and decay.
Now this is Isaiah's time. This was the dark time in the history of Israel.
WITH THE RIGHT PROCLAMATION:

From that time Jesus began to preach. This marks the beginning of his public ministry. Notice that his
message was an exact echo of what John the Baptist preached. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand.
See note on 3:2. The opening word of this first sermon sets the tone for Jesus’ entire earthly ministry

(cf. Luke 5:32).

I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32, ESV)

Two elements to Christ’s message:

The first thing is to repent.
The second thing is the reason to repent.

When the light dawned and Jesus came and men awoke from the stupor of darkness and they began to ask,
"What is the meaning of the light, what does it mean that He's here, what is the significance?" And
Jesus essentially said, "The darkness is upon you because the darkness is within you, and the darkness
within you can be expelled if you repent." What does it mean to repent? It means you're a sinner and
turn from it. It means to change your life. It means to be converted, to turn around, to become a part
of God's kingdom. Metanoe, it means “a total change.” It's more than sorrow; it's to change your life
- change your purpose, change your opinion, change your direction. It's an inner change of the heart
leading to an outer change of life. In fact, there's a better word, “converted,” “be converted,”
This is ever the message of the gospel, to repent. We talked about the fact when first looking at this
that you cannot come to Jesus Christ apart from repentance. In 2 Timothy 2:25 it says that we are to
instruct false teachers and do so if God, or so that God perhaps “will give them repentance to the
acknowledging of the truth...that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are
taken captive by him at his will." In other words, repentance is on the path to acknowledging the truth.

Peter preached it on the Day of Pentecost - the very first sermon ever preached in the era of the
church – “repent and be baptized.”

Jesus preached. The word is kruss. It means “to proclaim.”

Elements that describe the nature of Christ’s Preaching:

1.He Preached with certainty

2.He preached with Authority

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,29 for he was
teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. (Matthew 7:28, ESV)
3.He preached with a Divine commission, not His own philosophy but His source was God.
WITH THE RIGHT PARTNERS:

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).

and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all
nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (Luke 24:47, ESV)
THANK YOU