David Hathaway

Jesus’ first message is “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand” – repentance and the Kingdom! Repent – because the Kingdom of God is coming! Jesus calls the first of His disciples – now miracles yet – and they follow Him. And He goes all about Galilee, teaching, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, healing all manner of sickness and disease among the people! 4:23!  He’s preaching in a country overrun by foreign empires for hundreds of years – they’re used to being ruled by the Greeks, they’re used to being ruled by the Romans – but Jesus is preaching a totally different kind of kingdom! Seeing the multitudes, Jesus goes up the mountain and begins to teach them, Chs 5,6 &7. He’s on that mountain a long time! It’s not until Ch 8 that He comes down – still followed by great multitudes, and from here on, Matthew records a whole series of miracles, including the miracle of the sinking ship in 8:23 where Jesus calms the storm and the disciples marvel, “What kind of a man is this that even the winds and the