Matthew 4:12–16
He did not withdraw through cowardice, but by what he did he teaches us to withdraw from persecutors. He withdraws from Judea to the nations, showing that he stands away from the Jews not only when they insult God himself, but also when they sin against the holy prophets.
Christ our Lord is a great light, and so is the brightness of the gospel proclamation — not the law, which had been compared to a lamp. That is why a lamp always burned in the tent: the law’s gleam was short, able to send its own light only as far as the Jewish boundaries. So the gentiles were in darkness, as those who did not even have lamp-light (Matthew 4:12–16) (Isaiah 9:1–2).
Greek
Οὐ διὰ δειλίαν δὲ ὑπεχώρησεν, ἀλλ' ἡμᾶς δι' ὧν ἐποίει διδάσκων ὑποχωρεῖν τοῖς διώκουσιν. ἀναχωρεῖ δὲ ἐκ τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη, δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐ μόνον ὅταν εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν θεὸν ἐνυβρίσωσιν Ἰουδαῖοι ἀφίσταται αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτε εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους προφήτας ἁμαρτάνουσιν. φῶς δὲ μέγα ἐστὶ Χριστὸς ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν καὶ ἡ φαιδρότης τοῦ εὐαγγε λικοῦ κηρύγματος, οὐ μὴν ὁ νόμος, ὃς λύχνῳ ἦν ἀπεικασθείς. διὸ ἀεὶ ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ λύχνος ἐκαίετο διὰ τὸ βραχὺ τῆς τοῦ νόμου αὐγῆς ἄχρι μόνων τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν ὅρων ἰσχύων ἐκπέμψαι τὸ ἴδιον φῶς. οὐκοῦν οἱ ἐθνικοὶ ἐν σκότει ἦσαν ὡς μηδὲ τὸ λυχνιαῖον ἔχοντες φῶς.