Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 4:13-16

"and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the borders 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 that sat in darkness Saw a great light, And to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, To them did light spring up." — Matthew 4:13-16 (ASV)

Note how the movements of our King are all ordered according to divine prophecy. Leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum to fulfill a passage in the book of Isaiah. There was an ancient program which settled from long ago the track of His royal journeys. He went where the foreknowledge and predestination of Jehovah had declared His way.

He went, moreover, where He was needed, even to the borders of Zabulon and Nepthalim. The great light encountered the great darkness. Those far off were visited by Him who gathers together the outcasts of Israel. Our Lord does not court those who glory in their light, but those who pine in their darkness. He comes with heavenly life, not to those who boast of their own life and energy, but to those who are under condemnation and who feel the shades of death shutting them out from light and hope.

Great light is a very suggestive figure for the Gospel, and sitting in the region and shadow of death is a very graphic description of men bowed under the power of sin and paralyzed by fear of condemnation. What a mercy that to those who appear out of the reach of the usual means, to those who dwell by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, Jesus comes with power to enlighten and give life!

If I feel myself to be an out-of-the-way sinner, Lord, come to me and cause me to know that light is sprung up even for me!

Oh, the tender mercy of our God! Where the darkness is the deepest, there the light shines the brightest. Christ selects such dark regions as Naphtali and Zebulun that He may dwell there, and shine in all His glory.