Introductory remarks:
Chapter three concluded with Jesus, the sinless Son of God, being baptized by John and the announcement from Heaven, that it was the will of the Father that this be done to 'fulfill all righteousness.' Also what was very significant was the testimony of the occasion of the fact of the Trinity being attested to. The Voice from Heaven sounding forth 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,' and the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus and lighting upon Him in the form of a dove; all this is irrefutable Holy Testimony to the existence of the 'Three in One and One in Three.'
Chapter four begins with the second part of the preparation of Christ for His earthly Ministry, the baptism being the first part, of Jesus being tempted of Satan in the wilderness. The age-old question comes to mind, Could Jesus have yielded to the temptation? The answer is an emphatic and resounding no! Then the next question is asked, If Jesus could not have yielded, how is it then a temptation? The answer to the question is in the definition of the word 'Temptation.' The Greek word for 'temptation' is peirathenai has two meanings; 1) it means to 'test' or to 'try', and 2) it means to solicite to commit an evil act. Now from God's Divine Viewpoint the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness in order to prove to the whole world that Jesus was the genuine Son of God, and had the moral right to be the Savior of the world, and He could not be led astray by the evil One, Satan. From the human viewpoint, that is from Satan's perspective, he had it in his mind to get Christ to commit sin, that is literally, a solicitation to commit evil, by using the same three-fold basis of appeal He used against the first pair in the Garden of Eden; 1) the lust of the flesh, 2) the lust of the eyes, 3) and the pride of life, and then his plan would succeed in conquering the world.
The remainder of the chapter, vv. 12-25, Jesus begins His public ministry, and the calling of His disciples is recorded. John the Baptist is imprisoned and then killed by Herod; when John said 'I must decrease in order that Christ could increase' is made reality, for we hear no more of John's ministry, after Christ begins His.
The Temptation of Jesus
Verse 1, "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil."
LGT "Then Jesus was led up into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil."
"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness"
It is befitting for Matthew to present Christ being led by the Spirit, for Matthew presents Christ, in his Gospel, as a King. Satan tempted Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden, whereas Christ is tempted in the barren desert. Pentecost quotes shepherd:
"The place of the temptations was in the wilderness. The first Adam met his temptation in the garden of beauty and plenty; the last Adam in the barren, flowerless waste, with poverty, hunger, and the wild beasts. Tradition locates the temptations in Quarantania, a mountain which rises out of the Judean plain, fifteen hundred feet above the Jordan Valley. It is six or eight miles from the traditional place of the baptism, to the west of the Jordan and Jericho, agreeing with Luke's expression, returned from the Jordan. The mountain is barren, scarred by numerous artificial caves made by monks of the period of the Crusades and other times . . . The steep road leading up from Jericho to Jerusalem was called Ascent of Blood, because it was infested with robbers. Along this road Jesus would travel to reach the mountain, the heights of which commanded a vast prospect, reaching to Jerusalem on the West, to the Jordan Valley and the plains of Moab on the East, and to Hermon on the North. Highways also were visible, leading to all the kingdoms of the world."
"To be tempted of the devil."
We covered some of the aspects of this temptation in the introduction; what must be understood is that Satan attacks Christ from his own perverted viewpoint, and that is, he thinks he can make the Lord succumb to his type of temptation, whereas, it is impossible for Satan to understand Christ's impeccability [perfection]. Satan believed Christ was the Son of God, however, he did not accept all that God said about His Son. This lack of knowledge made it impossible for him to get Christ to satisfy Satan and for the second Adam to fall, as did the first Adam. The temptation from God's divine viewpoint was to prove that Christ is the unique 'God-Man.' The name 'Devil' gr. diabolou means 'slanderer,' and it is understood that the devil could never understand spiritual truth because he is not part of God's family, but is the 'father of all lies.'
Verse 2, "And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungered."
LGT "And having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards He was hungry."
Jesus had fasted forty days and forty nights. Jesus was caught up in strict communion with His Father and the natural desire for food was suspended or completely non-existent; however, at the end of this time His natural human function returned to Him, and He began hungering. Ever since the apostolic age, and the completion of Scripture, men have gone on fasts, pretending to commune with God; I believe this to be self-hypnosis, or maybe even drug induced, however, I personally believe it but a figment of an spiritual imagination, a pretended phenomenon, and completely non-existent, if claimed to be Biblical. The Biblical sense given regarding a fast, is far removed from the 'asceticism' that has been practiced by certain sects drawn off from the 'organized church.' Edershein notes on Christ's attitude, and the real purpose of the 'forty-day fast':
"During the whole forty days of Christ's stay in the wilderness His Temptation continued, though it only attained its high point at the last, when, after the long fast, He felt the weariness and weakness of hunger. As fasting occupies but a very subordinate, we might almost say a tolerated, place in the teaching of Jesus; and as, so far as we know, He exercised on no other occasion such ascetic practices, we are left to infer internal, as well as external, necessity for it in the present instance. The former is easily understood in His pre-occupation; the latter must have had for its object to reduce outward weakness, by the depression of all the vital powers."
Verse 3, "And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."
LGT "And having come to Him, the tempter said, If [since] You are Son of God, speak, in order that these stones may become bread."
"And when the tempter came to Him,"
The 'tempter' is the same devil or Satan that appeared to Eve in the garden, and he uses the same 3-fold basis of appeal with Christ as he did with Eve, that is, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; I will be noting these as we proceed with this portion of God's Word.
"He said, If thou be the Son of God,"
This phrase is literally, since You are Son of God; the 'if' is in the 'first class condition' affirming the reality of the statement, and should read, 'since' You are the Son of God. There is no definite article in the Greek preceding Son, and as Robertson points out, Satan is responding to the Words of the Father, 'This is My Son, the Beloved.' "Satan's 'if' was rather a taunt than a doubt. Nor could it have been intended to call in question His ability to do miracles. Doubt on that point would already have been a fall" (Edersheim).
Satan doesn't deny the fact that Christ is the Son of God, and this statement could be well phrased, since you are the Son of God. Satan is in an all out effort to get Christ to succumb to his temptations, but what he is not aware of is, that as we know from God's Word, Satan is defeated because Christ cannot sin, He is impeccable.
"Command that these stones be made bread."
This is the first of the 3-fold temptation used by Satan, the 'lust of the flesh', to get Christ to prove that He is indeed the Son of God. Christ had just fasted forty-days, and we learn from verse two that He hungered. Christ is impeccable [spotless] because He is God-Man, He is not impeccable because He didn't sin; the impeccable ness of Christ is part of His divine nature, and He could not sin because of it. Christ was tempted by Satan the same as he tempted Eve in the garden, the big difference with the Christ being tempted is, He could not sin because of His perfect divine nature; all that could be accomplished through Christ's temptation is that He is definitely the Son of God. Satan has his own plan in this temptation, but it will soon be foiled; as a matter of fact, it was foiled prophetically, back in Genesis 3:15, when the 'seed' of woman [Christ] bruised the 'head' [a fatal blow] of the 'serpent' Satan. When Christ died on the cross, Satan was finished, that is, Christ's death dealt a lethal blow to Satan. No believer, since Christ died, has to worry about Satan, for he is impotent as far as any believer is concerned, For Greater is He [Christ] that is in you, than he Satan] that is in the world (1 John 4:4).
"Now, what constituted this a temptation? Where lay its evil? Suppose Christ had commanded the stones to become bread, what then? To Christ, considering the work He had to do, two things were necessary. He had to live His personal life (1) within the limits necessary to man, and (2) in perfect dependence on God. Had He transgressed either of these conditions He had ceased to be man's ideal Brother or God's ideal Son. Man cannot create; he lives by obeying Nature. He has to plough, to sow, to reap, to garner and winnow, to bruise and break his grain, that he may eat and live. Now, had Christ by direct miracle fed Himself, He had lifted Himself out of the circle and system of humanity, had annulled the very terms of the nature which made Him one with man. While His supernatural power was His own, it existed not for Himself, but for us. The moment He had stooped to save self, He had become disqualified to save men. The ideal human life must be perfect in its dependence on God, absolute in its obedience. The ideal Son could not act as if He had no Father. And so His choice was not to be His own Providence, but to leave Himself to the Divine. He conquered by faith, and His first victory was like His last" (Fairbairn - quoted by Pentecost).
Verse 4, "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
LGT "But answering He said, It has been written [and stands written], Not by bread alone shall man live, but by every Word proceeding through the mouth of God."
How appropriate for Christ, the Living Word of God, to give answer from the Word of God, for He quotes Deuteronomy 8:3. Matthew Henry notes on this verse:
"This is observable, that Christ answered and baffled all the temptations of Satan with, it is written. He is Himself the eternal Word, and could have produced the mind of God without having recourse to the writings of Moses; but He put honor upon the Scripture [He not only put honor on the Scriptures, Christ knew that the words of Moses were actually God's Word], and, to set us an example, He appealed to what was written in the law; and He says this to Satan, taking it for granted that he [Satan] knew well enough what was written. It is possible that those who are the Devil's children may yet know very well what is written in God's Book; The devils believe and tremble. This method we must take when at any time we are tempted to sin; resist and repel the temptation with, it is written. The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit, the only offensive weapon in all the Christian armory (Eph. 6:17); and we may say of it as David of Goliath's sword, none is like that in our spiritual conflicts."
Verse 5, "Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,"
LGT "Then the devil takes Him [along with himself] into the holy city, and sets Him on the edge [the extremity] of the temple,"
"Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city,"
The Greek word for 'taketh' is paralambanei a compound of para = by his side, and lambanei = to take; so we have the devil literally taking Christ beside himself and conducting Him to the temple pinnacle.
"This does not mean that the devil bore Him through the air, or that he compelled Him to go against His will, or that he wrought a miracle in any way to place Him there. There is no evidence that Satan had power to do any of these things, and the word translated taketh him up does not imply any such thing. It means to conduct one; to lead one; to attend or accompany one; or to induce one to go." (Barnes).
Matthew is the only one of the gospel writers that refers to Jerusalem as the holy city.
"And setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,"
The Greek word for 'pinnacle' is pterugion a diminutive meaning a small wing of the temple.
"Nothing in the Word compels us to infer that Christ was placed on top of a tower or spire, which is the popular meaning of pinnacle. The word may be used in the familiar English sense of the wing of a building. Herod's temple had two wings, the northern and southern, of which the southern was higher and grander; that being the direction in which the chief enlargement of the temple area made by Herod was practicable. That enlargement, according to Josephus, was affected by building up walls of solid masonry from the valley below. At the extremity of the southern side of the area, was erected the 'royal portico,' a magnificent colonnade, consisting of a nave and two aisles, running across the entire space from the eastern to the western wall. Josephus further says, that 'while the valley of itself was very deep, and its bottom could scarcely be seen when one looked down from above. The additional vastly high elevation of the portico was placed on that height, insomuch that, if any one looked down from the summit of the roof, combining the two altitudes in one stretch of vision, he would be giddy [excited], while his sight could not reach to such immense depth.' This, in comparison with the northern wing, was so emphatically the wing of the temple to explain the use of the article here [before wing - the wing], as a well-known locality. The scene of the temptation may have been [for the whole matter is mainly one of conjecture] the roof of this portico, at the southern angle, where it joined Solomon's Porch, and from which the view into the Kedron Valley beneath was to the depth of four hundred and fifty feet" (Vincent).
Verse 6, "And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone."
LGT "And says to Him, Since You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down: for it has been written [and remains written] that He will command His angels concerning You, and in [their] hands they will lift You up, lest You strike a stone with Your foot."
"If thou be the Son of God,"
Here, as in verse three, we have 'if' in the first class condition, a statement of fact, and is literally, Since You are the Son of God.
"Cast thyself down:"
Jesus is completely dependant on His Father in His humanity while on this earth, and He is confident in this. Christ does not have to prove it. In the garden, the devil used this second of the three fold basis of appeal, 'the pride of life', to Eve, when he said, 'Eat of the fruit, it will make you wise as gods, knowing good and evil.' Here in the wilderness, the devil wanted Christ to prove His Sonship, 'the pride of life', by casting Himself down, and proving God would not let anything happen to Him.
"It is a direct attempt to force Jesus to act upon that principle of trust, which has been ministered to by the selection of this particular place. In the city of the great King, in the house devoted to His worship, at its most awe-inspiring point, exercise trust in Him by casting Thyself from this great height. Behind this palpable [blatant] suggestion lay one inferred and indirect. It was the suggestion that trust most perfectly expresses itself in daring something unusual, out of the common, heroic" (G Campbell Morgan - quoted by Pentecost).
"Satan's implication was that Jesus, as a Son, had a right to put His Father to a test. The one who puts another to a test is putting himself in a superior position. For Christ to put God to a test would be for Him to abandon His dependence on God. You test another because you do not have confidence in him. If you have full confidence, no test is necessary. Any promise of the Word of God is to be claimed when the one claiming the promise is in the will of God. If one steps outside the will of God, he cannot expect that God will then fulfill what He has promised. For Christ to act in obedience to Satan would remove Him from the protection of this promise of God [and I might add, from being qualified to Redeem mankind]" (Pentecost).
"For it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone."
The Devil is misquoting Psalm 91:11-12: For He will give His angels charge concerning You in all Your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, lest You strike Your foot against a stone. Satan, the father of lies even tries to make the Word of God a pretext [excuse] by leaving out an important phrase, in all Your ways. Just like all the leading 'false cults' Satan misrepresents God's Word. John gives a warning in the last chapter of the Revelation on the danger of adding to or leaving out anything from the Word. Even we believers fall into a danger of misusing the Word of God when we don't pay close enough attention to context. There was a little catch-phrase I learned when I was first starting out in my study of God's Word: "When we take a text, out of its context, we make a pretext out of it." How Satan is mocking God, is that, he is speaking to Christ, the Living Word of God, the One who spoke the universe into existence, who created Lucifer, who later became Satan, and is now quoting from Christ's Own Word.
"So the devil quotes the Word of God, misinterprets it, omits a clause, and tries to trip the Son of God by the Word of God. It was a skilful thrust and would also be accepted by the populace as proof that Jesus was the Messiah if they should see Him sailing down as if from heaven. This would be a sign from heaven in accord with popular Messianic expectation. The promise of the angels the devil thought would reassure Jesus. They would be a spiritual parachute for Christ" (A. T. Robertson).
Verse 7, "Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."
LGT "Jesus said to him, again it has been written [and stands written], do not put to the test the Lord your God."
Jesus answers Satan with the Word of God once again. Here He is quoting Deuteronomy 6:16. The Greek word for 'tempt' is ekpeiraseis meaning to put God to the test. Jesus Christ had no need to prove God, for He was absolutely sure of God and His Word. The Word of God is the only answer any believer needs in this confused world; we must be completely confident that the Word of God has all the answers we will ever need. Satan uses the Word of God masterfully to deceive, however, our Lord lives it as the Master of it, to repel the father of lies.
Verse 8, "Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;"
LGT "Again the devil takes Him [alongside himself] unto an exceeding high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them."
Without spending a great deal of time trying to locate this mountain I will let the experts describe this scene:
"Conveying Him to some high mountain peak, he showed Him 'all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them.' By some strange power, at the command of the enemy, he made to pass before the vision of Christ a gorgeous and magnificent scene . . . Not merely a few imperfect kingdoms of Palestine, but all the kingdoms of the world, the great Roman empire, Greece, Pergamos, Bythinia, the Bosphorus, Syria, Pontus, Judea, and Egypt, all the known kingdoms of the world. And yet more than this, for the statement has no such limitation as that indicated by the word made use of: 'known kingdoms.' All the kingdoms of the world, the great unexplored lands with their thousand nations and tribes. Any literal interpretation contradicts the real story. Luke tells us that the devil gave Christ the vision of these 'in a moment of time'." (G. Campbell Morgan - quoted by Pentecost)
Verse 9, "And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."
LGT "And he said to Him, All these things I will give to You, if falling down You might worship me as divine."
"All these things will I give thee,"
Satan had shown Christ the kingdoms of this world; this is the appeal of 'the lust of the eyes.' The fact that Satan offers Christ full control of these kingdoms would appeal to the lust for power, and that would be Satan's appeal to the 'pride of life.' This is, as I pointed out in John's gospel, a legitimate offer on the part of Satan, because at the time Satan carries the scepter, and is the 'prince of this world' (John 12:31). Satan is offering Christ the ruling scepter in order to frustrate the will of God; God has a prophetic timetable for Christ to wrest the scepter from the hand of Satan at Christ's second advent when He will come back to judge the nations, as we learned from the Book of the Revelation. Christ will not succumb to one thing outside of God's will.
"If thou wilt fall down and worship me."
The 'if' used here is ean used with the aorist subjunctive, a second class condition, meaning the outcome is undetermined, that is, in Satan's mind, maybe Christ will submit, and maybe He won't. In verse three the 'if' in the phrase 'if You are the Son of God' is in the first class condition, meaning 'since' You are the Son of God. Satan knew that Christ was the Son of God, but here he is not sure Christ will worship him.
Satan's ambition has been since his fall to be above the Most High, How have you fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol to the recesses of the pit" (Isaiah 14:12-15 - NASB). Again we see the attitude of Satan in 2 Thess. 2:4 Who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God (NASB).
Regarding Satan's offering Christ the 'kingdoms of this world' Ironside remarks: "Actually, they were his to give only by God's permissive will, for the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will (Dan. 4:25). Satan had robbed Adam of the authority given him and reigned as usurper in the hearts of wicked men; but he had no undisputed title to the kingdoms of the world, which he offered to give to Jesus if He would worship him, that thus He might obtain the kingdom without the cross."
Verse 10, "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
LGT "Then says Jesus to him, Get behind Me Satan: for it has been written [and remains written], Worship [the] Lord your God, and Him alone you should serve."
The Lord is quoting Deuteronomy 6:13 and 10:20. The Lord answers Satan each time with His Holy Word. I have said this many times, and I will say it many more, all we need is the Word of God as our guide; Christ here, sets us an example; we need to use the Word of God and the Word alone to live the Christian life. We have so many so-called 'men of God' in our so-called churches, giving directions to their congregations on how to live for God; they have written books by the score, in order to fatten their coffers, [one such book is The Purpose Driven Life - by Rick Warren] directing Christians on how to live for God, while all along they themselves live like bloody kings. The proper advise that any Christian could possibly, properly give, is to encourage their brothers and sisters to study God's Word, in order to be properly equipped, All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof [admonishing], for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God [all believers] may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17 NASB). I add another Scripture for your instruction, Paul writes: Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the WORD OF GOD" (Eph. 6:13-17).
Brother J. Vernon McGee in his commentary has the right answer:
"Why is it that many of us are having trouble living the Christian life? May I say this very kindly: It is ignorance of the Word of God. Notice that our Lord always answered by giving the Word of God. I believe that the Word of God has the answer for our particular problem. That doesn't mean that I know the answer for your problem [too bad someone doesn't let Rick Warren in on McGee's Commentary, maybe he could possibly learn something, before trying to advise others how to live]. It doesn't mean that your psychologist or psychiatrist knows the answer for your problem. But God has an answer for your problem, and it is in His Word. That is the reason we should know the book better than we do."
Verse 11, "Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him."
LGT "Then the devil leaves Him, and behold angels come down and ministered to Him."
Nothing can make the devil flee faster than when we use the Word of God; Christ knew that Satan was powerless over Him, and by using the Word of God in each of the temptations, He proved His superiority. Christ never did try and reason with Satan from the human wisdom, He depended on God's Holy Word, and so should we; Christ always answers those 'vipers', the Scribes and Pharisees with God's Word. The devil leaves the Lord alone, but as we have seen in John, he doesn't leave permanently, for we read in Luke 4:13, That Satan left until a good opportunity.
The angels came and ministered, consoling and refreshing the Son of God, after this tremendous trial.
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry
Verse 12, "Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee:
LGT "But having heard that John was delivered up, He went away into Galilee:"
In the providence [divine intervention] of God it was wise for Christ to leave Jerusalem because of the danger that would be facing Him after the imprisonment of John the Baptist. We will learn more of this when we get to chapter 14.
Verse 13, "And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Naphthalim."
LGT "And having departed Nazareth, having come He dwelt at Capernaum, which is the sea coast in [the] borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:"
"And leaving Nazareth,"
Jesus left Nazareth because His townsmen rejected Him [Luke 4:14-31].
"He came and dwelt in Capernaum,"
"Not, however, for its beauty only, but because of its centrality, and populous activity, it was admirably adapted for that ministry which fulfilled the old prophecy of Isaiah 9:1,2. And people of many nationalities dwelt in and encompassed this neighborhood, because it was 'the way of the sea.' 'The cities,' says Josephus. 'Lie here very thick; and the very numerous villages are so full of people, because of the fertility of the land . . . that the very smallest of them contain above 15,000 inhabitants.' He added that the people were active, industrious, and inured [trained] to war from infancy, cultivating every acre of their rich and beautiful soil. No less than four roads communicated with the shores of the lake. One led down the Jordan valley on the western side; another, crossing a bridge at the south of the lake, passed through Peraea to the fords of Jordan near Jericho; a third led through Sepphoris, the gay and rising capital of Galilee, to the famous port of Accho on the Mediterranean Sea; a fourth ran over the mountains of Zebulun to Nazareth, and so through the plain of Esdraelon to Samaria and Jerusalem. Through this district passed the great caravans on their way from Egypt to Damascus; and the heathens who congregated at Bethsaida Julius and Caesarea Philippi must have been constantly seen in the streets of Capernaum. In the time of Christ it was, for population and activity, 'the manufacturing district' of Palestine, and the waters of its lake were ploughed by 4,000 vessels of every description, from the war-vessel of the Romans to the rough fisher-boats of Bethsaida, and the gilded pinnacles from Herod's palace. Iturea, Samaria, Syria, Phoenicia were immediately accessible by crossing the lake, the river, or the hills. The town of Tiberias, which Herod Antipas had built to be the capital of Galilee, and named in honor of the reigning emperor, and risen with marvelous rapidity; by the time that St. John wrote his Gospel it had already given its name to the Sea of Galilee; and even if Christ never entered its heathenish amphitheater or grave-polluted streets, He must have often seen in the distance its turreted walls, its strong castle, and the Golden House of Antipas, flinging far into the lake the reflection of its marble lions and sculptured architraves. Europe, Asia, and Africa had contributed to its population, and men of all nations met in its market-place. All along the western shores of Gennesareth Jews and Gentiles were strangely mingled, and the wild Arabs of the desert might there be seen by side with the enterprising Phoenicians, effeminate Syrians, contemptuous Romans, and supple [agile], wily, corrupted Greeks" (Farrar-quoted by Pentecost).
Verses 14-16, "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up."
(I will not give the translation from the Greek, for it is a quotation from Isaiah's prophecy)
Here is the prophecy: But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land the light will shine on them (Isaiah 9:1-2).
Verse 17, "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
LGT "From that time Jesus began to proclaim and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near."
Jesus has been preaching about a year now, and His message is the same as John the Baptist, 'Repent' (change your mind and turn around) 'for the kingdom of the heavens is near', that is, the One who will rule in the kingdom is among you. Christ will not set up His kingdom until after the 'Great Tribulation' because His mission now is to go to the cross. Christ's message is the same as John the Baptist, but His baptism will be that of the Holy Spirit and fire; the Baptism of the Holy Spirit will occur after His ascension at Pentecost, and the Baptism of fire will be when He returns to judge the nations.
The Calling of Four Fishermen
(Mark 1:16-20. Luke 5:1-11)
Verse 18, "And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers."
LGT "And walking along side the sea of Galilee He saw two brothers, Simon, the one called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a large fish drag- net into the sea: for they were fishers."
"And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee,"
Lakes are called 'Seas' in the NT; they are also called seas in Europe: "The small lake of Gennesaret, only thirteen miles long and six wide in its broadest part, is called the sea, by the same kind of popular usage by which Swiss and German lakes are called See; as the konigsee, the Traunsee. So also, in Holland we have the Zuyder Zee. The Latin mare (the sea) likewise becomes meer in Holland, and is used of a lake, as Haarlemmer Meer; and in England, meer, as appears in Windermere, Grasmere, etc." (Vincent),
"Saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother,"
These two had already been attracted to Jesus and made His disciples (John 1:35-42), but now they will receive the call from the Christ, to come and follow Him.
"Casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers."
Here Christ seeks out these men to discipleship; He seeks men to accompany Him during His earthly ministry; He seeks men to be witnesses of His miracles, and to learn of His doctrine. This is all in preparation for Him to send them into the world after His ascension, and after they receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. What is important to note is that the men He calls are not from the Seminaries, and from the religious circle, and from the academic societies, but hard workingmen, as these two brother fishermen.
Verse 19, "And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
LGT "And He says to them, Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Christ had already made these men disciples, but now He calls them to leave everything and follow him. These men knew how to cast a net and catch fish, and now Christ is going to teach them how to catch souls. Christ will show that His disciples need to learn how to give out His Word to reap souls, and that His Word will be the net; anyone who will be able to resist His Word will not be among the souls that are caught; Christ 'the Living Word' is the One who seeks and saves the lost; the 'fishers of men' are only chosen to give out the Word.
Verse 20, "And they straightway left their nets, and followed him."
LGT "And they immediately, having left the nets, followed Him."
The Greek word for 'straightway' is eutheos, meaning 'immediately;' so this is literally: they immediately followed Him. There is no reference here, as in the case of the rich man, that these two brothers spent any time deciding whether it was prudent to leave their nets, or whether they should go home till their father died, or to get there houses in order; it says they immediately left and followed Him. It seems as though they had enough resolve from their past experience with the Savior not to argue, but do what He commands.
Edersheim notes:
"It is not well to speak too much of the faith of man. With all the singleness of Spiritual resolve - perhaps, as yet, rather impulse - which it implied, they probably had not themselves full or adequate conception of what it really meant. That would evolve in the course of Christ's further teaching, and of their learning in mind and heart. But, even thus, we perceive, that in their own call they had already, in measure, lived the miracle of the draught of fishes, which they were about to witness. What had passed between Jesus and, first, the sons of Jona, and then those of Zebedee, can scarcely have occupied many minutes."
Verse 21, "And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them."
LGT "And having gone on from there, He saw other two brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them."
Jesus calls two more fishers, James and John. We will see as we go, and as we have learned from John's Gospel, that these men all go back to fishing before Christ calls them the third time to become Apostles.
Verse 22, "And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him."
LGT "And they immediately having left the ship and their father followed Him."
The same could be said of James and John as Andrew and Peter, they didn't hesitate, but immediately followed.
Pentecost writes:
"According to Mark's account, Jesus saw James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, who were preparing nets to go fishing. Jesus called them as He had called Simon and Andrew. The fact that James and John were partners with their father and had a number of hired servants as well as many boats and nets indicates that these brothers were partners in a very lucrative fishing enterprise. But Christ called them away from their boats, nets, and loyalties to the family business. He told them to come and follow Him. Luke recorded that they 'left everything and followed Him' (Luke 5:11). The demonstrated authority of Christ took precedence over the authority of the father and the demands of a lucrative business. The fishermen forsook all to follow Him."
Ministering to a Great Multitude
(Luke 6:17-19)
Verse 23, "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."
LGT "And He going around in all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease, and every bodily weakness among the people."
"Notice that Jesus is teaching in their synagogues, and He is preaching the gospel of the kingdom. What is it? The gospel (Good News) of the kingdom is that it is at hand in the person of the King. They are to accept and receive Him. Also, He is healing their physical illnesses. Friend, there were thousands of people in that day whom Jesus healed. Matthew especially lets us know that. If we will pay attention to the text, we will find that there were not just a few isolated cases, but thousands of folk were healed. That is the reason the enemies of Jesus never questioned His miracles - there were too many of them walking around. By the way, I live in Southern California where many so-called faith healers claim the healing of thousands of people, but we don't see these purported miracles walking around, at least they don't come my way" (J. Vernon McGee).
Verse 24, "And His fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them."
LGT "And His fame went out into all Syria: and they brought to Him all who were ill, having various diseases and torments oppressed, [and] possessed by demons and lunatics and paralytics, and He healed them."
"And His fame went throughout all Syria:"
"It is not easy to fix the exact bounds of Syria in the time of our Savior. It was, perhaps, the general name for the country lying between the Euphrates on the east, and the Mediterranean on the west; and between Mount Taurus on the north, and Arabia on the south. Through all this region His celebrity was spread by His power of working miracles; and as might be expected, the sick from every quarter were brought to Him, in the hope that He would give relief" (Barnes).
The remainder of this verse describes various ailments that the people were suffering.
"Jesus had a moving hospital of patients from all over Galilee and Syria:
- Those that were sick, literally 'those who had it bad,' cases that the doctors could not cure.
- Holden with divers diseases and torments, literally 'held together' or 'compressed' is the idea of the participle (poikilais nosois kai basanois sunechomenous). The same word is used by Jesus in Luke 12:50 and by Paul in Phil. 1:23 and the crowd pressing on Jesus (Luke 8:45). They brought these difficult and chronic cases to Jesus. Instead of 'divers' say 'various' (poikilais) like fever, leprosy, blindness. The adjective means literally many colored or variegated [multi-colored] like flowers, paintings, jaundice, etc.
- Some had torments (basanois). The word originally meant a touchstone, 'Lydian stone' used for testing gold because pure gold rubbed on it left a peculiar mark. Then it was used for examination by torture. Sickness was often regarded as 'torture.'
- Demoniacs, lunatics, and paralytics, people possessed by demons, lunatics or 'moon-struck' because the epileptic seizures supposedly followed the phases of the moon (Bruce) as shown also in Matt. 17:15, paralytics (our very word). Our word 'lunatic' is from the Latin luna (moon) and carries the same picture as the Greek seleniazomai from selene (moon). These diseases are called 'torments'." (A.T. Robertson).
Verse 25, "And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan."
LGT "And followed great crowds from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and beyond the Jordan."
The word 'crowds' is plural and as Robertson says: There was not just one crowd, but crowds and crowds.
"Decapolis was a district containing ten cities in the northeastern part of Galilee, east of the Jordan River. Also, folk came up from Jerusalem and from Judea, the southernmost division of Palestine, and from beyond Jordan, which means a long way off. Jesus is ministering there in the north of Palestine.
It should be kept in mind as we consider the Gospel of Matthew, he is making no attempt to give us a chronological record of the life of Christ, he is presenting Jesus in his Gospel as King, and he follows a pattern, which is a movement in bringing the King and His claims to the nation Israel. This is important to observe. If we miss the movement in Matthew, we miss the purpose of this Gospel" (McGee).
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