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Think Different

In verse 17 of our reading from Matthew 4, Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’ (NIV). Jesus Himself is the main manifestation of the kingdom of heaven. And He is near. The appropriate response from everyone in the vicinity is to repent. 


Repent comes from a Greek word – metanoeo – which means, "think differently after," "after a change of mind"; to repent (literally, "think differently afterwards") [HELPS Word-studies at BibleHub.com] {Wikipedia includes this definition of the noun form: ‘a transformative change of heart; especially: a spiritual conversion’}. Older readers might remember one of the iconic advertising campaigns of our era, produced by Apple – ‘think different’. Apple was calling on everyone to repent – to think differently about how their habits and routines were suboptimal, how the status quo could be disrupted, and how their personal lives could be better. 


In a similar way, Jesus, arriving on the scene, is calling everyone within earshot to think differently. Think differently after encountering Jesus. There are a few ways that most people can immediately think differently after encountering Jesus. 

We can think differently about ourselves. On one end of the spectrum, we’re not the center of the universe. Our selfish egos look pretty silly beside the grandeur of God in the Flesh. At the other extreme, neither are we worthless, shameful, disgraceful creatures – after all, God created us and Jesus is pursuing us, right now! 

We can think differently about our sin. Sins manifest in all shapes and sizes. For those who have domesticated their conduct, they might be difficult for observers to notice in that they are hidden in the thoughts, concealed in the attitude, and blocked by behavioral compliance; think of such things are pride and selfishness and greed and bitterness and lust. For others, some of their sins are exposed to plain sight in the form of such things as cruelty, abuse, fraud, and filthiness (not physical but verbal and behavioral). The temptation and tendency for most people is to downsize their sins – to underplay them. We discount the negative influences and consequences of our evil attitudes and iniquitous intentions. We downplay the significance of our own misconduct (often by contrasting it to gross wickedness by infamous ne’er-do-wells). But sin is significant. Among other things, it jeopardizes fellowship with God, it disqualifies us from heaven. 

And we can think differently about God. God isn’t even on the radar for some people. God is but a caricature for others, from the disinterested clock-maker (who winds up time and then lets it unwind without any observation or intervention) to the finger-wagging, demanding, dissatisfied father. In reality, He is a loving, caring Creator who has dreamed up amazing eternity for each of us.

We repent. And in our repentance we see that we are precious, loved creations of God, that our sins have calamitous consequences in terms of divine relationship and residency, and that God is love. 

That amazing eternity God has dreamed up for us? For Peter and Andrew, and James and John, in our reading today, it included refining and redirecting their vocational pursuits for Kingdom purposes. They’d be fishing people. For us, today, it will likely include the same thing: those passions and skills we’ve deployed in employment (or for those of us still in school, in education) can be refined and redirected to Kingdom purposes. 

How? Verse 19. Jesus said, “Come follow Me.” 

That is both the most astounding invitation we could ever imagine receiving, coming as it does from the only perfect Person who ever lived, and the most authoritative command we’ll ever receive, coming as it does from ‘the Almighty One’.