Matthew begins narrating his account of Jesus’ public ministry after John the Baptist was imprisoned (4:12-25). When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. Though Matthew begins with this trip, this was the second time during His ministry that Jesus went to Galilee (cp. John 3:24&4:2). Jesus traveled to Galilee on this occasion to call four fishermen to become His disciples (4:18-22), to preach the gospel of the kingdom, and to perform miracles which authenticated His preaching and demonstrated that He was in fact the Coming One, Israel’s Messiah-King (4:23-25, cp.11:1-5).
Jesus also went to Galilee at this time to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 9:1-2 (4:12-17). Jesus is the light that those in Galilee sitting in darkness saw! All of us who know Christ were once “sitting in the darkness” of our sin. But as Paul said, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). As Jesus was/is the Light of the world (John 8:12), we are to be the light of the world (Mat.5:14). Let your light shine!