"“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, Toward the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations, The people that sat in darkness Saw a great light, And to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, To them did light spring up.” Matthew 4:15, 16 , A.R.V., margin. MH 20.1"
"The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;"
EGW directly quotes Matthew 4:15, making it an explicit allusion.
"The Saviour made each work of healing an occasion for implanting divine principles in the mind and soul. This was the purpose of His work. He imparted earthly blessings, that He might incline the hearts of men to receive the gospel of His grace. MH 20.2"
"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people."
Both passages highlight the dual nature of Jesus' ministry: healing and teaching/preaching. EGW explicitly states that Jesus used healing as an opportunity to impart divine principles, which aligns with the broader picture presented in Matthew 4:23, where healing and preaching are presented together as core components of His ministry.
"And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people."
Both passages highlight Jesus' ministry of healing and teaching. The EGW passage emphasizes that healing was a means to impart divine principles, while Matthew 9:35 describes Jesus doing both healing and preaching.
"Christ might have occupied the highest place among the teachers of the Jewish nation, but He preferred rather to take the gospel to the poor. He went from place to place, that those in the highways and byways might hear the words of truth. By the sea, on the mountainside, in the streets of the city, in the synagogue, His voice was heard explaining the Scriptures. Often He taught in the outer court of the temple, that the Gentiles might hear His words. MH 20.3"
"The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them."
The EGW passage describes Christ's ministry to the poor and marginalized, echoing the description in Matthew 11:5 where Jesus identifies preaching the gospel to the poor as a sign of his messianic ministry. The connection is strong and directly related to the content of both passages.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,"
The EGW passage directly reflects the principle in Luke 4:18 of Christ ministering to the poor and marginalized, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah. It expands on the idea by giving specific examples of where Christ ministered.