God's Empire Does Not Deport Its Citizens

January 25, 2026, First Lutheran Church of Throggs Neck, Bronx, N.Y. 

If the stories told in the fourth chapter of Matthew were rewritten as a Netflix mini-series, there would be four episodes;

Episode One: Jesus in Galilee

Episode Two: Jesus Declares the Empire of God

Episode Three: Jesus Calls his Followers

Episode: Jesus Preaches and Heals

Jesus in Galilee

Before Episode One begins, a voice says “Last season on Matthew Four” which featured John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness, the birth of Jesus, the baptism of Jesus, and the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Again, four dramatic episodes.

As episode one of season two begins, Jesus receives the bad news that his cousin John the Baptist (portrayed by Jim Gaffigan) has been arrested by evil King Herod (played by Danny Trejo). This means John’s prophetic voice is silenced and no one doubts Herod will find a way to kill him. Jesus, played by Timothée Chalomet, is now the main lead in the epic of Matthew Four. Jesus withdraws to Galilee, to the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, and settles in Capernaum.

The mere mention of Zebulun, Naphtali, and Capernaum would bring back bitter memories for most people reading Matthew in the first century. “The names,” writes Warren Carter, Professor of New Testament at Phillips Seminary in Tulsa, designate tribal allocations of Canaanite land that God had sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had shown to Moses (Deuteronomy 34:1-4), and were assigned by Joshua (Joshua 19:10-16, Zebulun; 19:32-39). These covenant-evoking names frame the land as divine gift yet this land is now occupied by imperial powers.”

Matthew’s mention of these place names remind us these places were a gift from God, are again being ruled by Gentile imperialists, and the people sit in darkness. But soon they will see a great light, “and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned.” (Mt 4:16).

The darkness is a ruthless empire with Herod as its puppet, an empire that scoffs at the One God of Israel and places crushing burdens on God’s people.

But Matthew declares God’s people “will see a great light,” and Jesus has come to usher in the Empire of God.

Jesus Declares the Empire of God

“From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of God has come near.’” (Mt 4:17)

We tend not to think of God’s reign an “empire,” although the word Matthew uses – basileia – can mean empire, kingdom, of reign.

“The Gospel imitates imperial language and structures (God’s dominating power),” Warren Carter writes, “yet redefines them as the subsequent scene of Jesus’ healing and liberating power displays (Matthew 4:23-25). The Gospel envisions God’s empire/kingdom as already established in the heavens. It is now being extended among humans in Jesus’ activity (‘your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’)”

The people who accepted Jesus’ call to “repent” knew that citizenship in the Empire of God didn’t mean the Empire of Rome would stop harassing them. But they knew that repentance meant choosing God’s rule over the tyranny of the Emperor. And they knew there might be times when they would have to choose between God and the Emperor at great risk to their lives.

That risk, to varying degrees, must be taken by all of us who have become citizens in the empire of God. Some might risk ridicule when they explain their faith to colleagues, or threats when they intervene with bullies who are taunting women wearing hijabs, or menacing people thought to be gay or trans. We may not always have the courage to do it. But we will always know in our hearts that God’s justice requires it.

In recent weeks hundreds of people risked beatings and arrest to intervene when ICE agents moved in to arrest their neighbors, friends, or employees who could not offer proof of citizenship or residency. Last week after an ICE agent shot an innocent woman in the face and lied that he was afraid for his life, tens of thousands of people poured into the streets to protest. They protested the obvious lies about the tragedy that were told by the director of Homeland Security, the director of the FBI, and the President of the United States. They protested cruel and extreme policies that far exceeded promises to deport only dangerous criminals. And they protested the unprofessional, ham fisted, and often violent style of ICE agents.

Not all of these protesters were Christians. But all knew instinctively that there is no place in the Bible, the Quaran, the Torah, or Gita, that sanctions separating families, deporting arrestees to brutal prisons, or instilling fear in children and families. They are calling on our justice system to be aware of the commandments of God’s empire when unholy policies are being forged.

Those commandments are easy enough to understand.

Jesus said: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (LK 4:18-19)

“In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this is the law and the prophets.” (MT 7:12)

Jesus Calls His Followers

Jesus’ then calls two sets of brothers to be his followers (Matthew 4:18-22). They are fishermen, embedded in the imperial economy. Rome asserted control over the land and sea, their production, and the transportation and marketing of their yields with contracts and taxes. Jesus disrupts these men’s lives, calls them to a different loyalty and way of life, creates a new community, and gives them a new mission (fish for people). His summons exhibits God’s empire at work, this light shining in the darkness of Roman-ruled Galilee. (per Carter)

The men’s immediate positive response in following Jesus is stark. Readers have imagined previous and extended conversations but such “solutions” destroy the dramatic urgency of the scene. More compelling is to recall the presentation of Jesus in previous chapters. As God’s agent, he is to manifest the light of God’s saving presence and empire/reign. Such initiative and gift are appropriately welcomed with an instant response. (per Carter)

As one who vacillated a long time before deciding on full-time religious work, I am both impressed and shamed by their unhesitating response to follow Jesus. And – Respect. 

Jesus Preaches and Heals

This is the Jesus we know and love: the itinerate teacher and healer. Jesus began his ministry in Galilee by mingling with the poor and curing disease with a power that seemed to transcend the laws of nature and medical science. He made blind people see. He made lame people walk. He cured horrible skin diseases with a glance. He raised the dead.

Father James Martin, a Jesuit writer and scholar, acknowledges that “The most difficult question that the modern, rational, intelligent person can ask about the Gospels may be this: How can I believe that these things really happened? This, in essence, is the question that Jesus poses in the Gospel of Matthew to two blind men who ask Jesus, in so many words, to be healed: “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

Some Christians attempt to explain Jesus’ miracles by suggesting alternative explanations. They suggest that bread and fishes distributed among the 5000 was the acts of thousands of people sharing their food baskets. Isn’t that a miracle, too?

“To which I answer no,” says Father Martin. “This easy-to-digest interpretation reflects the unfortunate modern desire to explain away the inexplicable and to downplay miracles in the midst of a story filled with the miraculous. Almost one-third of Mark’s Gospel, for example, is devoted to Jesus’ miracles. To my mind, some of the interpretations that seek to water down the miracle stories reflect unease with God’s power and Jesus’ divinity, discomfort with the supernatural and, more basically, an inability to believe in God’s ability to do anything.”

As Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee, we will see many events that will confound us. The Creator of Universes has come to us in the form of a man. And the miracles that follow will be all the more wonderful if we believe God can do anything.

“Power and Riches and wisdom and strength and honor and blessing and glory are his. For the lamb who was slain has begun his reign. Alleluia.”

Amen.