It was common for rabbis to accumulate disciples. All the more so was this true for Messianic preachers. This messianic fervor had been running rampant since at least the Period of the Maccabees, and had reached a fever pitch under John’s preaching. So it was that John had disciples serving under him almost as soon as he began preaching and baptizing in the Jordan River.
And every relative of Jesus who had heard of the miraculous events surrounding both His and His cousin John’s birth were sure to be wondering if either or both could be some fulfilment of the Messianic Promises. In the midst of this, we are reminded that Hebrew culture makes a virtue of nepotism. One of John’s disciples was a relative of both him and Jesus (Andrew).
Disciples were seldom full time in the sense of year-round. Something like that required monetary support. While preaching and teaching would typically include passing the hat, we can assume John had actual patrons, and we know for certain Jesus did, some wealthy. How early that support began is anyone’s guess, but it’s important to see how common it was.
While our focal passage is in Matthew’s Gospel, we can collate from the other Gospels, along with some external sources, to discover that John the Baptist wasn’t arrested while Jesus was in the wilderness. Rather, Jesus returned from the Temptations and hung around John for some days. We have no record of what the two discussed, but at some point John encourages two of his disciples to follow Jesus.
One of them is Andrew, who later introduces his brother Simon Peter. These two were cousins of Jesus, so they already knew Him, and got involved as soon as He began His own ministry. Jesus was making plans to go up to Galilee. During this process, He also picked up Philip and Nathanael. This was about the time John was arrested for preaching that Herod Antipas had sinned in marrying his half-brother’s ex-wife, Herodias, a violation of the Covenant of Moses.
Matthew tells us that John’s arrest is connected with this move to Galilee. It’s not as if Jesus was fleeing to a different jurisdiction; where John was baptizing was on the border of Perea, ruled by Herod Antipas who put him in prison, but so was Galilee. Rather, the most likely explanation on the human level was the rising tension with the Pharisees and Sadducees in Jerusalem. Jesus was ready to echo John’s message, but it’s at this time He seems to be securing support for His own work.
Jesus and His followers all went up to Nazareth. They were healthy men without luggage or anyone to slow them down, so they arrived in the area within a few days. Jesus brought the boys with Him to a wedding in Cana and performed His first miracle there. The miracle itself is an engaging story, and it’s likely His other cousin John was there in person to witness the whole thing. Next, Jesus moves His family household to Capernaum and begins preaching and performing miracles around the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Meanwhile, the disciples had mostly gone back to their homes right there in Bethsaida, just a short distance away. Jesus went back to gather them again, but now it’s full-time ministry. There was enough support from people who had heard His preaching and seen His miracles that they could afford it. He adds two more cousins: James and John.
Matthew notes that Jesus fulfills the prophecies found in Isaiah 9:1-2. We have to take a moment to capture what Isaiah was saying. The northern border region of Israel during Isaiah’s time was notorious for being quick to abandon the Covenant and embrace idolatry. It was a very Gentile kind of place, which is like saying they were no longer protected by the Covenant. Thus, they were also the first to bear the brunt of Assyria’s attack, partly for that reason. Their reputation for being a very morally dark place was well deserved, but the prophet promises they will also be the first to see the dawn of the final revelation in the Messiah.
Thus, the ministry of Jesus blossoms powerfully, with news of Him reaching the whole Roman region of Syria. All of His miracles were latent in the Covenant of Moses. When restoring shalom, it was entirely normal under the Covenant for such miracles to manifest. All of these blessings were the inheritance of the Children of the Covenant, but had been robbed from them by the Talmudic teaching of the Pharisees, and the cynical secularism of the Sadducees. The miracles were a matter of playing catch-up to what should have been theirs already.
