The New Dawn for Humanity: Easter Sunday 2025 - Matthew 4:12-17

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In Matthew chapter four, starting in verse 12, we read: "Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali."

Matthew explains that this happened to fulfill the words of the prophet Isaiah: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, and those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a light dawned."

From that moment, Jesus began his ministry, preaching, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." In doing so, Jesus launched God's new beginning for the entire universe. This light, spoken of by Isaiah and highlighted by Matthew, signifies the start of a new dawn for the Gentiles in Galilee and, indeed, for anyone willing to see.

Think about watching a sunrise. There's that moment, right before the sun actually crests the horizon, where the light begins to creep up, changing the sky. It's that in-between time when you're not sure if it's still night or truly morning. That’s a picture of Jesus's life—the light dawning, something changing. And when He rises from the grave? The sun fully appears. A new day truly dawns.

That is what we celebrate on Easter: the dawning of light in a world sitting in darkness, consumed by chaos and death. For many, this light isn't visible yet, which is why God places His light within us, so we can reveal it to the world.

God's New Beginning

I call the resurrection "God's new beginning" because it mirrors the creation story in Genesis. The world began as dark and chaotic. Sin led humanity back into a similar state. Just as God appeared in light to bring order to the formless void in the beginning, Jesus comes bringing God's light to make all things new.

Even now, amidst the chaos, darkness, and sin we still experience, we can encounter this divine light. We have been made a new creation in Christ Jesus. What we experience now are the "first fruits," like a keyhole glance or a deposit guaranteeing the fullness of the life to come.

The story doesn't end with us sprouting wings and floating off to heaven. Instead, the Bible tells us Jesus will return, leading the kingdom of heaven to earth, destroying sin and darkness forever, and making the earth brand new. Heaven and earth will be reunited for all eternity. Today, we celebrate the beginning of that reality, a reality that is still unfolding but whose end is certain. Revelation doesn't conclude with a question mark but with a triumphant proclamation of Jesus's authority and power over everything—a power we can access right now through faith.

The Power of Faith

Hebrews 11:1 tells us, "Now faith is the confidence in things hoped for, the assurance of things not seen." This doesn't mean merely clinging to a future event we haven't witnessed yet, nor does it mean trying our hardest to be "good little Christians" to earn our way in. It means that even when we don't see the whole picture, even when we don't feel it—because life isn't always fun, hopeful, or joyful—we hold onto the present reality of our risen King.

Our King has risen from the grave and is seated at the right hand of God, reigning right now over the entire universe. Through faith in this truth, we can experience a measure of His power, authority, peace, joy, and purpose today, anticipating the day they will be fully revealed.

This is why Jesus valued faith so highly. Faith is the means by which we access His unlimited power and glory now. The Christian life involves dying to ourselves daily, through faith, so we can live in the beginnings of this new life right here, right now.

As Paul writes in Romans 6:8-11: "Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.2 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."

It sounds counterintuitive—dying. None of us naturally desires death. Yet, Jesus calls us to step into a life of faith where we die to our old selves. We die to the life centered on "me"—my power, my decisions, my money, my experiences, my desires. We relinquish all of that, trusting that living sacrificially for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is the true path. That is what Easter signifies. It's not just about looking forward to "one day when...". No, it's about celebrating the new light, the new dawn that is now.

The True Dawn vs. The World's Dawn

The world promotes its own version of a new dawn: the Enlightenment, which began roughly 200 years ago. History books often mark this as humanity's great awakening, the era of reason and knowledge that shaped our modern world. Yet, here we are, two centuries later, and arguably, we're no better off, perhaps even worse. Why? Because the Enlightenment, for all its focus on reason, missed something crucial. It missed the reality that there's more to life than what we can physically see, touch, and experience. It also overlooked the fact that its core values—like natural rights and individual worth—were actually rooted in the teachings of King Jesus.

The world tried to adopt the values of the Kingdom but remove the King, take the life out of them. What we affirm today, remembering our risen Savior, is that the true hope for the world remains King Jesus. It won't be a politician, a new philosophy, or simply trying harder to follow Enlightenment ideals. True, transforming life comes only through Jesus, and it's available right now.

The Pattern of Salvation: Exodus and Jesus

Remember the Israelites leaving Egypt? God had just defeated Egypt by striking down their firstborn, freeing His people. But then, standing at the edge of the Red Sea, they saw Pharaoh's army approaching. They were terrified, and understandably so.

In Exodus chapter 14, God tells them, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the salvation [Yeshua] of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today." Did you catch that? "Yeshua" – the Hebrew word for salvation, the very name of Jesus. God was showing them His power on earth, demonstrating what salvation truly means.

And what did it mean? It wasn't just about crushing Pharaoh in that single moment or defeating one evil king. It was a foreshadowing. Egypt wasn't the ultimate problem, nor was Babylon later, nor Rome. The real forces ruling the world, the true enemies, were sin and death themselves.

So, if Jesus represents a new and better Exodus, why would His story simply be about getting us a ticket to a faraway place? The original Exodus involved God breaking into earthly existence, freeing His people on earth, crushing a wicked king on earth, performing miracles on earth. Why would God do all that on earth if the ultimate goal was just to whisk us away somewhere else forever?

It doesn't fit. The grand story concludes not in a distant heaven, but with a transformed people on a new earth, a new creation free from sin and death, living in unity with God and all creation, forever declaring, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty!".