The Third Sunday after the Epiphany | 25 January 2026 | Matthew 4.12-23 | Richard O. Johnson |

¹² Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. ¹³ And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

¹⁵ “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
    the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶ the people dwelling in darkness
    have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
    on them a light has dawned.”

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

¹⁸ While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.²² Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

²³ And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. ²⁴ So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. ²⁵ And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. (Matthew 4.12-25 ESV)

Some years ago, there was a preacher who decided to shoot for the Guinness Book of Records acknowledgement for the longest sermon ever delivered. He got members of his congregation to sign up for shifts to sit and listen to this masterpiece. He did win the award with a sermon that lasted forty-two hours and thirty minutes. I understand that somewhere around hour forty, somebody in the congregation shouted out, “Preacher, get to the point!”

I suppose that’s one of the biggest criticisms of sermons, whether they last forty hours or five minutes—that the preacher sometimes never does get to the point. But Jesus began his ministry with a sermon that was very brief but also very much to the point. We heard the story this morning: “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” That was his sermon—just nine words. No funny introductions, no three points, no heart-touching stories or suggested life applications; just “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Now I suppose if a modern preacher were to offer that sermon, it would make people a bit uncomfortable. It’s not that the sermon is too short; rather it is that the sermon says more than we really want to hear. The difficulty lies in the word “repent.” It is an uncomfortable word in a comfortable church; a word we always use when we’re making jokes about hellfire and damnation preachers.

But it is also the first word that Jesus speaks publicly, according to Matthew. For that reason, it is a word that will not go away, a word that nags and follows us insistently, a word that will not let us escape. So, I’d like to talk this morning about repentance—what it means, why it’s important, what we do with it.

Come to your senses

Let’s first look at the word itself. The Greek word here is metanoia, and it means to change the way you feel about something. J. B. Phillips’ translation I think says it very well: “Change your hearts and your minds.” “Repent” is really a very positive word. It does not mean primarily to be sorry for something, or to ask forgiveness, though that certainly may be part of it. But to repent is very simply to change one’s attitude, to look at the things in a new way, to live life in a new way. Frederick Buechner, following Luther, defines it as “coming to one’s senses.” It suggests that one has been confused about things, but suddenly one sees things clearly and comes to a new understanding.

It’s important to see, too, that repentance almost always involves some change in action. It isn’t just a change of thinking. The evangelist Dwight L. Moody used a good analogy. Suppose, he said, you are taking the train to Boston. You go to the station, buy your ticket; you learn that the train leaves from Track 2, so you board the train and sit down. Then someone you know comes by, says “Hello” and asks where you’re going. “Boston,” you say. But he says, “You’re on the wrong train. This train goes to Albany.” “Impossible,” you reply. “I asked the ticket agent, and he said this train goes to Boston.” But your friend says, “No, I’m positive this one goes to Albany. I take it every week. The train to Boston is on Track 5. Now, says Moody, suppose your friend convinces you that you’re in fact on the wrong train. That’s not yet repentance. You’ve changed your mind, but so long as you sit there on that train, that’s all you’ve changed. Repentance is when you get up and change trains! To repent, you see, means more than just changing your thinking; you’ve got to take some action as a result, make some change in your life.

The entire life of believers

The biggest problem we have with Jesus’ admonition to repent is that we don’t see the need for it in our lives. Somebody leading an immoral life—he needs to repent, but not me. I’m a Christian, after all. I’ve already repented!

But you see, that’s not how it works. Christians are always needing to repent. Most Lutherans have at least heard of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, but few of them can cite the very first of the 95: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” The entire life of believers. Repentance is not just the beginning of the Christian life, it is the entire thing. What did he mean?

He meant very simply that when we follow Christ, we are continually needing to change our hearts and minds. We are continually needing what some parents of teenagers call “an attitude adjustment.” We Christians need, day by day, to come to our senses.

Take the disciples as an example. We heard this morning the call of Andrew and Simon, James and John. They left their nets and followed Jesus. One minute their hearts and minds were on their fishing, the next minute on Jesus. But that was not the end of it. As we follow their stories, we see them often misunderstanding, stumbling, failing. Sometimes you just want to shake them and say “Come to your senses—don’t you get it?” Sometimes, of course, there were flashes of insight, and sometimes they were just incredibly mistaken. That’s how it is with us. Sometimes, I suppose, Jesus wants to shake us and say, “Come to your senses!” We, like the disciples, often just don’t get it.

Paul’s letters to the Corinthians show the same thing. Nearly every paragraph shows that these dear Corinthian Christians still had a lot of changing, a lot of repenting to do. Today’s passage talks about divisions in the church, petty arguments and jealousies. “Is Christ divided?” Paul demands. Of course not! Christ is one, and they must be one—and that means they must stop their quarreling, change their attitudes, repent!

To grow in grace each day

And that’s really the point. To repent means to change, and to change means to grow. Christians of all people must understand that they are to grow, to keep growing, to keep changing. There’s a great line in that wonderful baptismal hymn we often sing: “Grant us to grow in grace each day/by holy baptism that we may/eternal life inherit.”

What is the nature of the change to which we are called? Very simply, it is to grow into the likeness of Christ. It is to stop looking at things with our own eyes, our own attitudes, our own prejudices—and begin looking at things with the eyes of Christ, from the perspective of Christ. The reality of our human condition is that we just don’t wake up one morning and find ourselves Christlike! Becoming Christlike takes a whole lot of grace and usually a whole lot of time—all our lives, in fact. And it happens day by day. Yesterday I was doing so well, following Christ so closely; today I’m back again in my own perspective, seeing things my way, not his. With me it’s three steps forward, two steps back. Sometimes four steps back.

How is it with you? I suspect it is much the same. We are always needing to repent, to change. During the next several weeks, we will be hearing each Sunday from the Sermon on the Mount—another of Jesus’ sermons, a bit longer than nine words! It is a text that reminds us, time after time, that we have fallen short of what Christ calls us to be. And yet as we hear these words, as we struggle to live our calling, perhaps the most important thing to remember is that Jesus’ call to repentance is followed by these words: “The Kingdom of heaven has come near.” His point is that God is with us, in our struggles and our attempts to repent. He reminds us that Christ, who asks us to change, also comes to us and helps us change. And so, his call to repent is not burdensome, but it is a call of grace. “The Lord is my light and my salvation”—and he lightens the path before me and guides me with his hand. I will be changing, to be sure, and not always in ways that are comfortable; but the changes are brought about by the skilled and loving hands of the master sculptor, molding me ever more closely to his vision of what I can be.

So, hear the words, not as threat, not even as command, but as promise: “Repent—change!—for the Kingdom of God has drawn near.”

Pastor Richard O. Johnson

Webster, NY

roj@nccn.net