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Gospel Reading for January 05, 2026 – Matthew 4: 12-17, 23-25
FOREVER UNITED
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.
From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people. His fame spread to all of Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, and he cured them. And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.
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John had been arrested and probably, Jesus took it as a sign that he had to start his ministry, fulfilling a prophecy of Isaiah to go to Galilee of the Gentiles. Galilee was called “Galilee of the Gentiles” because its northern location made it a crossroads of foreign peoples, leading to significant non-Jewish (Gentile) populations, cultures, and influences, or where Jewish and non-Jewish communities mingled.
What does this say to us? Christianity was never meant to stay in Israel. It was always meant to be proclaimed to the whole world. And, rightly so because heaven is for everyone created by God. We are meant to go back to our creator after returning to dust (Ecclesiastes 12: 7).
When the Father decided that his Son become man, it is like the rainbow after the great flood during Noah’s time, which was a divine symbol of God’s covenant and promise that he would never again destroy the earth with such a flood, making it a sign of hope, peace and divine mercy. In Jesus, the covenant is even more solid, because in him, God and man became FOREVER UNITED. No one can come between God and ourselves unless we ourselves choose to be disunited with him!
Thank you Father, for sending us your Son and letting him be one of us, because by this, our salvation became possible!
