The readings for the third Sunday after the Epiphany are taken from Isaiah 9:1-4; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; and Matthew 4:12-25.
Isaiah makes mention of the Gentiles (“islands,” “peoples,” “nations”) in many, many places. Essential to Epiphany and to the revelatory work of Jesus is to remind everyone that God is the Creator and Redeemer of everyone; that Israel was to be a light to the Gentiles, not opposed to them; and that Jesus and His kingdom were for all. Matthew quotes Isaiah as Jesus begins His public ministry. Matthew records a multitude of occasions where Jesus exploded every notion that God favored the Jews and hated everyone else.
Paul confronts and condemns the corruption of Adam among the Corinthians, which made divisions and resentment between Jews and Gentiles. The remedy for conflict, competition, and division is not acceptance of who has the power to control others. The solution is what Jews stumble over and Greeks dismiss as folly. But think about it. There is no end of argument about who is higher than another by human, material standards. But poor beggars on the ground are all the same. Thus we are when God finds us and when He raises us from the ash heap by regenerating our souls in the image of Christ, whose humility is perfect and perfectly accomplished our salvation.
Matthew records Jesus’ ministry in the North, in Galilee of the Gentiles for almost the entire Gospel, until Jesus goes south to Judea and Jerusalem at the very end of His ministry and just before His suffering and death. Jesus’ proclamation is simple and essential. This word for “repent” means to have a change of mind–a change only God can make in us by regenerating our soul AND a change of mind that binds us together in one family as children of the same heavenly Father. The healing done by Jesus authenticates His teaching and proclamation as true and powerful, accomplishing what it describes!