Matthew 4:12 Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, He departed into Galilee;
13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and settled into Capernaum, which is on the sea coast in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim
14 so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
15 "The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles,
16 the people who sat in darkness saw great Light, and to those who sat in the region and shadow of death, Light has sprung up.
17 From that time Jesus began to proclaim with authority, and to say, "Have a new mind: for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."
18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers.
19 And He says to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."
20 And they quickly left their nets and followed Him.
21 And going on from there, He saw other two brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, repairing their nets, and He called them.
22 And they immediately left the ship and their father and followed Him.
23 And Jesus went around all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom and healing all sickness and all disease among the people.

Notice the fulfillment of the prophecy by Isaiah. There are so many prophecies that have been fulfilled that it is statistically impossible that Jesus would not be God and the promised Christ. Just the inner urging of the Holy Spirit should be enough to make us believe, but God has also provided many infallible proofs. One is fulfilled prophecy. Another is the creation and the natural laws (sometimes called the Laws of Science). It is scientifically impossible that the Universe and the Earth and life on Earth could have possibly popped into existence. Evolution is impossible, violating various scientific laws. And, there are many evidences of Christ, His life on Earth, His resurrection, and all the history in the Bible. In addition, He manifest Himself to us in many ways: in private prayer and meditation, through the Bible making certain passages come alive to us at the right time, through our brothers and sisters in Christ when they speak by the Holy Spirit, and many other ways as well.

He is the Light and He comes to a people who are captured in darkness. These were those who were not so fortunate to be of the chosen race, so they dwelt in even greater darkness, yet Light shined on them. This means so much to all who are lost in sin. It doesn't matter what the sin, Jesus can pick us up out of the miry clay. His Light is great enough to take away all of our darkness.

All of this took place after He had been tempted by the devil and after He had fasted. Prayer and fasting start God moving. And, while the times of temptation may be a real downer to us, they are followed by power and authority in Christ if we are faithful and overcome the temptation with God's Love/Obedience. From that time Jesus began to proclaim with authority. Preaching is actually not just a show. It is a proclamation with authority. Authority only comes from submission. When we submit to Christ, when we submit to the authority that He set in the church and in the home, we receive authority. The only way to proclaim with authority is to be in submission to Him to the point where He can proclaim His Words through you. We are to speak as of the oracles (the very mouthpiece) of God. Many other Scriptures tell us that we are only to do His Works and only say His Works and we are to do this only by His Power, His Holy Spirit, His Grace in us doing it through us.

I am struck by the obedience of those Jesus called. They didn't hesitate. They knew Who He was. They discerned that. They immediately followed Him. May we learn to discern His Voice as He leads us and to respond in submission to Him in that way.

Then, Jesus continued to proclaim with authority and He had authority over all sickness. This is the destiny of the church, the destiny of the people who are called out of the world and into the Kingdom. We are walking well below our calling. Authority is gained by submission. Submission will bring us into a place where we also will have authority over all sickness and sin.