Matt 4:12–25, Part 2 — Repent, For the Kingdom Is At Hand

This morning we focused on what Jesus means when he announces that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Tonight I want to focus on the first part of his proclamation: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” What is repentance, and how does it relate to the kingdom of God and the preaching of the gospel?

Let us begin with a brief review. We considered three aspects of the kingdom of God. First, we considered its redemptive-historical context. When Jesus announces the kingdom, he does so within the story of the Old Testament. Israel had been sent into exile because of her sin, but the prophets looked ahead to a day when God would restore his people, make a new covenant with them, and give them new hearts. He would take away their hearts of stone, give them hearts of flesh, and make them a holy and obedient people.

All of that is in view when Jesus announces that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Mark’s parallel account makes the connection explicit: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The promises and prophecies of the Old Testament are coming to fulfillment in Christ.

They are fulfilled in a spiritual sense, not by merely rebuilding the temple and restoring national Israel to the land. The location of Jesus’ proclamation helps us see that. He does not begin in Jerusalem, near the temple and the leadership of Israel. He begins far to the north in “Galilee of the Gentiles.” This is the same region where the risen Christ will later commission his disciples to carry the gospel to all nations. Jesus’ ministry in Galilee anticipates the worldwide mission of the church. The kingdom promised by the prophets is coming to fulfillment in Christ, and the good news will go out to Jew and Gentile alike.

This does not detach the gospel from Israel’s Scriptures. On the contrary, Jesus announces that the prophetic hope has reached its appointed time. The restoration promised by the prophets is greater than a return to a particular territory or the reconstruction of an earthly institution. God is gathering a renewed people around his Messiah, giving them the promised new heart, and extending that salvation to the nations. The geographical setting of Jesus’ announcement quietly signals the scope of the kingdom he brings.

Second, we considered the kingdom’s divine origin. It is called the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God because it comes from above. Human beings do not build, advance, or bring in this kingdom. God sovereignly accomplishes salvation.

The text gives us a beautiful image: “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light.” Imagine camping in the wilderness on a dark and cold night. You hear the coyotes howling, and everything around you feels threatening. Then the sun rises. Its light and warmth drive away the darkness and fear. You did not cause the sun to rise; you simply receive its light. In the same way, the kingdom comes by the sovereign grace of God. Jesus says, in effect, “The kingdom of heaven is here. Receive it as a gift of grace.”

That image guards us from imagining that the kingdom depends upon our ingenuity or strength. We no more produce the kingdom than a camper produces the dawn. God acts; the light appears; those who sat helplessly in darkness receive it with joy. Repentance is therefore not our contribution to God’s saving work. It is the fitting response of those upon whom the light of grace has dawned.

Third, the kingdom has a Christ-centered focus. The kingdom is not merely the abstract idea of God’s rule. When Jesus says that the kingdom is at hand, he is saying that the King is here. Christ himself is the bearer of the kingdom. All the blessings of salvation—adoption, forgiveness, redemption, and the heavenly inheritance—are bound up in his person. Wherever Christ goes, he brings the kingdom with him.

That is why, immediately after announcing the kingdom, Jesus calls his first disciples and says, “Follow me.” He does not direct them toward a kingdom separate from himself. They receive the kingdom by leaving their nets and following Christ. With that context in view, we can consider three truths about repentance: its two parts, its gospel basis, and its lifelong character.

Repentance: Its Two Parts

Repentance has two closely connected but distinct aspects: conviction of sin and turning from sin. We must distinguish them carefully because conviction of sin is an essential part of saving faith, while turning from sin is the fruit of saving faith.

Conviction of Sin

When Jesus calls people to repent, faith is implied. We know this from Mark 1:15, where his proclamation is recorded as “Repent and believe in the gospel.” Repentance, in the sense of conviction of sin, is inseparable from saving faith.

Consider what it means to trust in Christ. Faith is not simply affirming a set of doctrines. To trust Christ is to acknowledge that we need him. It is to recognize that we are guilty sinners and that apart from him we have no hope. The Heidelberg Catechism describes true faith as a “hearty trust” that the forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness, and salvation are freely given to us for the sake of Christ’s merits. That wholehearted reliance upon Christ presupposes an awareness of our need.

The doctrines are certainly true in themselves, but saving faith does not hold them at arm’s length. It does not merely say, “Christ is a Savior,” while imagining that salvation is for other people. It says, “Christ is the Savior I need.” The sinner rests the weight of his soul upon Christ because he has abandoned every claim to spiritual self-sufficiency. Conviction of sin is not an optional preparation for this trust; it is woven into the very act of looking away from ourselves to Christ.

John 6 helps us understand this through the images of eating and drinking. Jesus speaks of coming to him to be fed and believing in him so that we will never thirst. Hunger and thirst imply need. A person who believes that he is spiritually well-fed, without sin and without need, will not come to Christ for grace. Saving faith says, “I am hungry. I am thirsty. I have nothing in myself. Christ alone can give me life.”

This is why conviction of sin is an essential element of faith. If someone claims to believe but does not acknowledge his sin, his belief may amount to no more than doctrinal assent. He may think Christianity is true or useful for other people. Saving faith is personal: Christ is my only hope. I cling to him because he alone can keep me from sinking beneath the weight of my sin.

Paul develops a similar picture in Romans 4. After establishing that Jews and Gentiles alike are sinners and that God justifies by faith, Paul presents Abraham as an example of the nature of faith. Abraham was old, Sarah was barren, and their bodies were unable to produce the promised child. In that particular sense, they were as good as dead. Paul uses their physical inability as a picture of the sinner’s spiritual helplessness.

Abraham nevertheless believed that God could do what he had promised. He considered his own body as good as dead, looked away from himself, and trusted the power and promise of God. In Romans 4:5, Paul describes saving faith as believing in the God “who justifies the ungodly.” Later in the chapter, it is faith in the God who gives life to the dead. God looks upon an ungodly person and declares him righteous, not because that person is righteous in himself, but because the righteousness of Christ is counted as his.

The point is not that Abraham denied the facts. Faith did not require him to pretend that his body and Sarah’s womb were full of natural power. He faced the reality of their deadness and, in the face of it, trusted the God who raises the dead. Christian faith works in the same way. It does not minimize our guilt, excuse it, or rename it. It considers our true condition and then rests in a divine promise that is more powerful than our helplessness.

Abraham had to recognize his inability. Like the hungry and thirsty person of John 6, he looked away from himself to God’s promise. Saving faith therefore includes an awareness of our sinfulness, deadness, and complete lack of spiritual resources. Conviction of sin leads us to Christ to receive the grace and life found only in him.

Turning from Sin

The second part of repentance is turning from sin. This turning is not itself part of the faith by which we are justified; it is the fruit of faith. If our turning from sin were the ground of our acceptance with God, then we would ultimately be saved by our works. Scripture teaches instead that we are saved by grace through faith, apart from works.

Nevertheless, true conviction and true faith necessarily produce the fruit of turning from sin. John the Baptist expresses this distinction in Matthew 3:8: “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Repentance, in the sense of conviction of sin, is followed by fruit: a changed life in which the believer turns away from sin and toward obedience.

We are not saved by turning from sin, just as we are not saved by good works. We are saved unto good works. Ephesians 2:8–10 teaches both truths. We are saved by grace through faith, not as a result of works; yet we are created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God prepared for us to walk in. We do not turn from sin in order to obtain forgiveness and salvation. God first blesses us with salvation, and as a result we begin to turn from sin.

Keeping this order clear protects both grace and holiness. If we make our obedience the basis of acceptance, we undermine the freeness of the gospel and direct the conscience back toward its own performance. If we deny that faith bears fruit, we empty salvation of its transforming power. Scripture allows neither error. The grace that justifies the ungodly also creates them anew for a life of obedience.

Peter makes this point strikingly in Acts 3. Speaking to the people at the temple, he recalls the promise made to Abraham: “In your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” That offspring is ultimately Christ. Peter then says that God raised up his servant and sent him first to Israel, “to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness” (Acts 3:26). Turning from wickedness is not a payment we make in order to earn the blessing. The turning is itself part of Christ’s blessing.

That is a wonderful truth to apply to our own lives. We certainly see failures and continuing sins in ourselves. Yet believers also see signs, however imperfect, that the Lord is enabling them to turn from sin. Wherever that is happening, we should recognize it as a blessing of the covenant. The Lord is graciously turning us from our wickedness.

Perhaps you can identify areas in which desires that once ruled you no longer possess the same power, or sins you once excused now grieve you and drive you to prayer. Such changes do not give you a ground for boasting. They give you reason to thank God. The ability to turn, even amid weakness and struggle, is evidence of Christ bestowing the blessing promised through Abraham.

Repentance, then, has two parts. Conviction of sin is essential to saving faith and cannot be separated from it. Turning from sin is the necessary result of that faith. The second aspect continues throughout the Christian life, as we will see in the final point.

Repentance: Its Gospel Basis

The basis of repentance is found in one small but important word in Matthew 4:17: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The word for supplies the reason for the command. Jesus does not say, “Repent so that you may make yourself fit to enter the kingdom.” He announces that the kingdom is already present and offered as a gift of grace. Therefore, repent.

As we saw, Christ is the King and the bearer of the kingdom. He comes with all the blessings of salvation and freely offers them to sinners. Matthew explains Jesus’ announcement in verse 23 by saying that he went throughout Galilee “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom.” Jesus was not merely proclaiming a kingdom; he was proclaiming the good news of the kingdom. His call to repentance was gospel preaching.

The healings that accompanied his preaching were the gospel enacted in visible form. A leper, unclean and excluded, was cleansed by Christ. That cleansing portrayed the forgiveness and removal of guilt. Jesus healed diseases, delivered people from demons, and bestowed the blessings of the kingdom upon individual sufferers.

These miracles were more than displays of raw power. Each one revealed something about the salvation Christ brings. Uncleanness was cleansed, bondage was broken, weakness was restored, and those suffering under the effects of the fall were made whole. The miracles did not exhaust the meaning of salvation, but they visibly declared that the King had authority to undo sin and its curse.

The healing of the paralytic in Matthew 9 makes this connection explicit. When the man was brought to him, Jesus first said, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” Only after the scribes questioned his authority did Jesus command the paralytic to rise and walk. The physical healing visibly demonstrated the authority of the Son of Man to forgive sins. It was an enacted parable of the gospel.

Jesus, the kingdom bearer, brings forgiveness and salvation to sinners. Therefore, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” means that the kingdom of grace is being offered. Adoption, forgiveness, justification, sanctification, and every other saving blessing are given freely in Christ. The gospel is the basis for the call to repentance.

We cannot truly repent apart from the gospel. Imagine someone attempting to repent without hearing that salvation is freely offered in Christ. He may determine to stop sinning, clean up his life, and become a better person. But his effort would be an attempt to secure God’s favor by works. That is not true repentance.

Gospel Repentance and Legal Repentance

The Puritans helpfully distinguished between evangelical repentance and legal repentance. The word evangelical here simply means gospel. We might therefore speak of gospel repentance in contrast with legal repentance.

Legal repentance is a self-centered attempt to make oneself acceptable to God. Gospel repentance is entirely different. It is not a work performed to earn God’s favor. It is the godly sorrow for sin that the Holy Spirit produces in those who know the grace of Christ. It is a beautiful mourning for sin, filled with love for Christ and joy in the Holy Spirit.

The distinction concerns not merely the intensity of sorrow but its source and direction. A person may feel deep anguish and still remain centered upon himself—his damaged reputation, lost comfort, or fear of punishment. Gospel repentance turns toward God. It hates sin because sin dishonors the God who has shown such grace in Christ. It mourns without despair because the sorrow itself takes place in the light of forgiveness.

Paul describes this distinction in 2 Corinthians 7:8–10. He had written a severe letter that grieved the Corinthians. Although he initially regretted causing them pain, he rejoiced when he learned that they had been “grieved into repenting.” They experienced a godly grief, and therefore suffered no ultimate loss through Paul’s correction. “Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret,” he explains, “whereas worldly grief produces death.”

Worldly grief is preoccupied with the painful consequences of sin. We sometimes see a person convicted of a serious crime break down in tears when the verdict is announced. His sorrow may arise not because he hates the evil he committed, but because he is going to prison. He mourns what has happened to him. Such self-pity is not gospel repentance.

Godly grief is different. It does not arise from an attempt to save ourselves or from shame over the collapse of our self-image. It arises in a person who has received the gospel and knows the grace of God in Christ. This sorrow is “without regret” because it leads us again to the Savior. It grieves over sin as sin, yet does so in the confidence that forgiveness and salvation are freely offered in Christ.

Calvin expresses this point beautifully in the Institutes: “A man cannot seriously engage in repentance unless he knows that he is of God. But no man is truly persuaded that he is of God until he has embraced his offered favor” (Institutes 3.3.2). A person cannot truly repent until he knows that he belongs to God. He cannot possess that assurance until he has embraced God’s offered promise by faith. In other words, true repentance rests upon faith in the gospel.

Significantly, Calvin appeals to Matthew 4:17 in support of this teaching. He understands Jesus’ proclamation to mean that the gospel is offered as a free gift; therefore, repent. The gospel does not wait at the end of repentance as a reward for those who have adequately reformed themselves. It comes first as the foundation and power of repentance.

Repentance: Its Lifelong Character

Calvin goes on to reject the idea that seekers should first sit under the terrors of the law, engage in sorrow for a prescribed period, and only afterward be offered the assurance of the gospel. That procedure misunderstands gospel repentance. It also assumes that repentance can be completed within a few days.

Repentance is not a preliminary exercise that we finish before entering the Christian life. As Calvin says, “In every Christian man [repentance] lasts as long as life.” The whole Christian life is a life of repentance.

It is therefore a mistake to imagine that conversion divides our story into a sinful past and a virtually sinless present. Conversion begins a new life, but that life includes an ongoing battle against the remnants of sin. As our knowledge of God deepens, we often perceive sins and motives that we previously overlooked. Growth in grace produces not less repentance, but a repentance that is deeper, more honest, and more firmly grounded in Christ.

The pattern of Christian worship reflects this truth. We hear God’s law exposing our sin, confess our sins, and come again to the cross to receive the assurance of pardon. We do not repeat this pattern because Christ’s work is insufficient, but because we continually need to turn from sin and rest afresh in the once-for-all work of Christ. The gospel remains the ground of our repentance every day of our lives.

Leaving the Old Life

This lifelong character of repentance appears in the call of the first disciples. Jesus announces, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and then calls Simon Peter and Andrew: “Follow me.” Their response marks the beginning of a lifelong journey with Christ. “Immediately they left their nets and followed him” (Matt. 4:20). James and John likewise leave their boat and their father and follow Jesus.

Their departure signifies a decisive break with their old life. They leave their nets, their boat, their livelihood, and even the familiar relationships that defined their former way of life. We may hope that Zebedee himself later came to Christ, but at this moment the text emphasizes the cost and decisiveness of the call. These men leave everything behind to begin a new life as followers of Christ.

Not every disciple is called to abandon the same occupation or relationships in the same outward manner. The point is that Christ now possesses the highest claim. No livelihood, family expectation, habit, or loyalty may stand above obedience to him. Repentance is not merely feeling differently about the old life; it is setting out after Christ on a genuinely new path.

The same idea appears later when Peter says to Jesus, “See, we have left everything and followed you” (Matt. 19:27). Repentance includes a genuine break with the rule of sin. Yet this decisive beginning does not mean that the disciples have already arrived at maturity. To follow Jesus is to enter a lifelong process in which he teaches, corrects, and transforms them.

Learning to Follow Christ

The call of the disciples can seem abrupt when read by itself. Jesus walks up to several fishermen, says, “Follow me,” and they immediately leave everything. Why would they follow what appears to be a complete stranger?

The narrative context provides an answer. The calling of the disciples in verses 18–22 is framed by two summaries of Jesus’ public ministry. Verse 17 records him preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Verse 23 says that he went throughout Galilee, teaching, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and affliction. Although the text does not explicitly recount a prior encounter, this placement suggests that Peter, Andrew, James, and John had heard Jesus preach and may have witnessed his miracles. They knew that he claimed to bear the kingdom of God, and his miracles confirmed his divine authority. He was not simply a random man calling to them from the shore.

Even so, their understanding was limited. They knew enough to recognize Jesus’ authority and commit themselves to him, but they still had much to learn. They did not yet grasp that the Messiah must suffer and die. Peter would later resist Jesus’ teaching about the cross and have to be sharply rebuked.

This is the ordinary process of discipleship. People sometimes come to Christ from deeply confused or destructive backgrounds. Their conversion may be genuine: they love the Lord and sincerely desire to follow him. Yet they may still hold strange ideas or continue practices that must be corrected. The church should not demand mature understanding at the first moment of faith. We receive them as disciples and patiently teach them what it means to follow Christ.

The real danger is not limited knowledge at the beginning, but a refusal to listen to Christ’s continuing instruction. The first disciples were committed to Jesus and therefore remained under his teaching. They would learn more fully what discipleship required.

That is precisely what happens next in Matthew’s Gospel. The Sermon on the Mount is addressed specifically to disciples. The crowds remain in the background, but Matthew 5:1–2 says that Jesus’ disciples came to him and he began to teach them. They have taken the first step of leaving everything to follow Christ; now Jesus teaches them what lifelong repentance looks like.

The Sermon on the Mount will call them to hunger and thirst for righteousness. It will expose their sin, direct them to trust God’s grace, and show them how to live as citizens of the kingdom. They will never be able to say that they have arrived. Throughout their lives they must return to what God requires, acknowledge their sin, trust in Christ, and respond to his grace by turning from sin.

This is the Christian life: not reforming ourselves to earn the kingdom, but receiving the kingdom in Christ and therefore repenting. The King has come with forgiveness, righteousness, and life. Because the kingdom of heaven is at hand, sinners may turn to Christ in faith and follow him for the rest of their lives.