Sermon: Isaiah 9:1–4 • Matthew 4:12–23 • The Conversion of St Paul
Epiphany: A Season of Revelation
We have journeyed through the longing and joy of the seasons of Advent and Christmas, and now stand in the Season of Epiphany — a season not of waiting or birth, but of revelation and reflection.
This is the moment, in the Church calendar, when the adult Christ steps into clearer view.
In today’s readings we learn how, sign by sign, he gradually reveals himself to be the light Isaiah promised.
Reveals himself to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah.
Many of us will have learnt when we were younger about Christian’s belief in Jesus being the Messiah, but the time of Epiphany is a good time for us to reflect on it again.
The Prophecy of Isaiah 9: Light Rising in Darkness
The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah wrote of a world surrounded in shadows; when he spoke of the coming of the Messiah, he said;
“The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.” Isaiah 9:1–4
Why Galilee Matters: Zebulun, Naphtali, and God’s Unexpected Plan
He named two territories in Northern Israel where this light would first dawn — Zebulun and Naphtali — borderlands that had known invasion, humiliation, and despair.
These places were often overlooked by the religious elite of Jerusalem, and also the first to fall when empires marched into ancient Israel.
Yet Isaiah declared these very lands would see the promised light dawning there.
By the first century, this same general region was known as Galilee, though the political and ethnic boundaries had changed significantly.
So Isaiah was saying something quite astonishing for Jewish people of the day, he was saying;
The Messiah’s light will dawn not in the splendour of Jerusalem’s Temple, but in the margins.
In the shadows. In Galilee of all places.
How Matthew 4 Fulfils Isaiah’s Promise
Then St Matthew tells us that after Jesus was baptised in the Jordan, and after John the Baptist was imprisoned, Jesus left Nazareth and made His home in Galilee — the very same region Isaiah had spoken about.
Matthew wants us to fully appreciate the connection, so he quotes Isaiah directly:
“The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.” Matthew 4:12–23
He is declaring Jesus to be the promised Messiah, and that Isaiah’s light did begin to shine in Galilee through Him— but this was something many in Jerusalem struggled to accept.
They hadn’t expected Isaiah’s light to dawn in a place so far from the Temple, in a region shaped by centuries of invasion and mixed cultures.
Galilee in the Time of Jesus: Culture, Hardship, and Hope
Galilee was rural, hardworking, and culturally mixed. (Map and History of Galilee in the time of Jesus)
Whilst Judea and Jerusalem were urban, scholarly, temple‑centred, and politically influential.
But although Galilee lacked the prestige of Jerusalem, it was still far from insignificant in God’s plans.
And Galilee was ready for this.
The region had endured centuries of hardship — from the invasions that crushed Zebulun and Naphtali – to the poverty, sickness, and heavy taxation of Jesus’s own day, under Roman rule.
Whilst it retained a thriving economy in agriculture, fishing, and trade, many still lived from hand to mouth.
The hardship endured by the vulnerable made them more prone to blindness, leprosy, paralysis, fevers, and the various injuries that came with hard rural labour.
Jesus as the Light in Galilee: Healing, Teaching, and Restoration
Jesus had been raised in Galilee. He spoke the everyday language of the people. He respected the outcasts and met people at the point of their direst need.
And the ‘darkness’ still lingering in the shadows was another of the reasons why Jesus was so well received.
Because he didn’t just preach hope — He represented it.
He shone light into places that had forgotten what light even looked like.
In Galilee, through Jesus, the blind saw, the lame walked, lepers were restored, and the oppressed were set free.
So Isaiah’s prophecy was no longer a distant dream.
Through Jesus’ ministry, it was unfolding in real time, in real villages, among real people.
The Calling of the First Disciples in Galilee
Then the light did not just shine — it began to move.
Like one beggar telling another where to find bread.
It travelled by word of mouth from village to village.
But the first people to carry that light wider were not temple priests or scholars. They were humble fishermen.
Jesus walked along the shore of the Sea of Galilee and called Peter and his brother Andrew. Then James and John — all ordinary men doing ordinary work. Matthew 4:12–23
Men who probably knew more about the turning of tides than the teaching of theology.
But when the Light of the World spoke, something must have awakened within them.
Because they dropped their nets, left their boats, and stepped into a future they could not possibly have imagined.
And the light spread quietly through them into the surrounding villages.
But let us not underestimate this.
When Jesus called His disciples, He was not merely gathering followers;
He was starting a holy movement.
How the Light Spread: From Galilee to the World
The light that had dawned in Galilee now travelled in human lives.
It travelled on roads, entered homes, healed wounds, and proclaimed the good news — through ordinary people who had became a part of God’s story.
And with hindsight today, we can better understand how Isaiah’s prophecy came together:
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At Jesus’ baptism, the light was revealed.
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In the darkness of Galilee, the light dawned.
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When the disciples were called, the light spread.
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And through these divinely guided steps, a Church was formed.
The Conversion of St Paul: Another Unexpected Encounter With Light
Today, the Church remembers St Paul’s conversion — another moment when divine light broke unexpectedly into a human life.
Saul lived in darkness — not the darkness of poverty, but the darkness of absolute certainty.
He believed he was honouring God even as he hounded God’s people.
On the road to Damascus, a blinding light stopped him, and a voice shattered his assumptions:
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Acts 9 : The Conversion of St Paul
Then the same Jesus who called fishermen, now from the heavens above, called a Pharisee into the ministry.
And an enemy of the church became its greatest missionary.
What Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee Means for Us Today
The movement that began with Isaiah’s vision and took hold in Galilee is more than history — it’s the pattern of God’s work in every age.
Today, God still draws near in surprising places.
Jesus still calls ordinary people into work they never expected.
And the same radiance that shone in Galilee still moves throughout the world with Christ’s invitation: “Follow me.”
As we follow Him, we become part of His Church — growing, spreading, and shining until the world finally sees what Isaiah saw long ago:
a great, unstoppable light – whose name is Jesus.
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