CHAPTER 4

(A.D. 27)

THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS

¹And Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit (in Christs case, He received the Spirit without measure [Jn. 3:34; Acts 10:38]) returned from Jordan (His Water Baptism), and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (speaks of great urgency by the Spirit),

²Being forty days tempted of the devil (refers to being tempted for the entirety of this time; forty is Gods number for probation). And in those days He did eat nothing (speaks of Him fasting for forty days and nights): and when they were ended, He afterward hungered (some claim that God suspended hunger during these forty days and nights regarding Christ, but that is not so; Jesus suffered hunger exactly as we do).

³And the devil said unto Him (Satan is a fallen Angel, who led a revolution against God in eternity past; he is at least one of the most powerful Angels ever created by God, and served God in righteousness and holiness for an undetermined period of time before his Fall [Isa., Chpt. 14; Ezek., Chpt. 28]), If You be the Son of God (should have been translated, since You are the Son of God), command this stone that it be made bread (the temptation was that Jesus use His Power for personal gratification, which was outside the Will of God).

⁴And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God ([Deut. 8:3], Jesus answered Satans temptation with the Word; merely quoting it will not garner the same results; Jesus also said, you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free [Jn. 8:32]).

⁵And the Devil, taking Him up into an high mountain (constitutes that which was literally done, at least as it regards the mountain), showed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time (this was not literally, but rather was done by suggestion).

⁶And the Devil said unto Him, All this power will I give You, and the glory of them (proclaims Satans method of operation; he has captured many by the offer of a part of the glory of earthly dominion): for that is delivered unto me (referred back to the Garden of Eden when Satan gained such authority because of the default of Adam and Eve); and to whomsoever I will I give it (makes Satan the pseudo-ruler of this world [Jn. 12:31; II Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:1-3; Rev. 13:2, 7]; however, even then his authority is limited, with the Lord actually having the final say in everything).

⁷If You therefore will worship me, all shall be Yours (was a lie; but yet, the world has fallen for this lie from the beginning of time; Satan was attempting to have Christ gain the world without going through the Cross; he is still proposing the same, and mostly going through the Church to do such; every Believer is an heir of the world, but only through the Cross [Rom. 4:13]).

⁸And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind Me, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve ([Deut. 6:13; 10:20], the answer given by Christ addresses itself to worship, as the first addressed itself to desire; men desire the wrong thing, the opposite of the Word of God, and worship the wrong thing, that proposed by Satan).

⁹And he (Satan) brought Him (Jesus) to Jerusalem, and set Him on a pinnacle of the Temple (seems to have been literally done, meaning that it was not a vision), and said unto Him, If You be the Son of God (since You are the Son of God), cast Yourself down from hence:

¹⁰For it is written, He shall give His Angels charge over You, to keep You (a misquote from Psalms 91:11-12; the correct quotation is, to keep you in all Your ways, which refers to the Ways of God; protection is guaranteed under those circumstances, but not as Satan said):

¹¹And in their hands they shall bear You up, lest at any time You dash Your foot against a stone (Satan again misquoted the Text by adding the words at any time, which changes the meaning altogether; this tells us that Satan knows the Word very well, and to his own advantage subtly changes it to make it say something it originally did not say; as well, if one is to notice, Satan didnt quote the Thirteenth Verse in the 91stPsalm, for it predicts his destruction by the Lord Jesus Christ).

¹²And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, You shall not tempt the Lord your God (expresses the sin of presumption; presumption is an attitude or belief dictated by probability; in other words, Gods Word is not probable, but certain).

¹³And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from Him for a season (means that he would return, which he no doubt did again and again; the implication is that Jesus was tempted by Satan throughout His Ministry).

¹⁴And Jesus returned in the Power of the Spirit into Galilee (there is no power without the Holy Spirit): and there went out a fame of Him through all the region round about (concerned all the miracles being performed, which actually began with the changing of the water to wine at Cana [Jn. 2:1-11]).

NAZARETH

¹⁵And He taught in their Synagogues, being glorified of all (this was the beginning; it would soon change).

¹⁶And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up (makes vivid the fact that Jesus was Very Man, even as He was Very God): and, as His custom was (in our language presently He was faithful to Church), He went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read (it was common to ask visitors to expound on the Word).

¹⁷And there was delivered unto Him the Book (Scroll) of the Prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the Book, He found the place where it was written (Isa. 61:1),

¹⁸The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (we learn here of the absolute necessity of the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit within our lives), because He has anointed Me (Jesus is the ultimate Anointed One; consequently, the Anointing of the Holy Spirit actually belongs to Christ, and the Anointing we have actually comes by His Authority [Jn. 16:14]) to preach the Gospel to the poor (the poor in spirit); He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted (sin breaks the heart, or else is responsible for it being broken; only Jesus can heal this malady), to preach Deliverance to the captives (if it is to be noticed, He didnt say to deliver the captives, but rather preach Deliverance, which refers to the Cross [Jn. 8:32]), and recovering of sight to the blind (the Gospel opens the eyes of those who are Spiritually blind), to set at liberty them who are bruised (the vicissitudes of life at times place a person in a mental or Spiritual prison; the Lord Alone, and through what He did at the Cross, can open this prison door),

¹⁹To preach the acceptable Year of the Lord (it is believed that the day, on which Jesus delivered this Message was the first day of the year of Jubilee).

²⁰And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the Minister, and sat down (portrays the custom of that time). And the eyes of all them who were in the Synagogue were fastened on Him (even though most there would fail to see it, this represented a moment far exceeding anything these people had ever known).

²¹And He began to say unto them, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears (in effect, He is saying, I am the Messiah, the fulfillment of these Scriptures).

²²And all bear Him witness (all understood exactly what He said, but all did not believe Him), and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth (means that we are given only a small portion of the things He actually said). And they said, Is not this Josephs Son? (This refers to the fact that they could not equate these gracious words with the carpenter they had known for about thirty years.)

²³And He said unto them, You will surely say unto Me this Proverb, Physician, heal Yourself (how could this carpenter be the Messiah?): whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in your country (perform the same miracles; but they would give him no opportunity to do so).

²⁴And He said, Verily I say unto you, No Prophet is accepted in his own country (He predicts their unbelief).

²⁵But I tell you of a truth (will proclaim in no uncertain terms Israels problem of self-righteousness resulting from pride), many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the Heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land (proclaims the time of Ahab, and the great wickedness concerning the northern kingdom of Israel);

²⁶But unto none of them was Elijah sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman who was a widow (she was a Gentile as well).

²⁷And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the Prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian (another Gentile).

²⁸And all they in the Synagogue, when they heard these words, were filled with wrath (incensed that He would hold up two Gentiles as examples of receiving from the Lord, while the Jews were shut out; He, in effect, was telling them that this is what would happen to Israel; the Gentiles would receive Him but Israel would refuse Him; wrath is generally the response of unbelief),

²⁹And rose up, and thrust Him out of the city (means that they bodily seized Him, taking Him by force out of the Synagogue and out of the city; this was their response to their own Messiah, Gods only Son, and their only Saviour), and led Him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast Him down headlong (presents Nazareth, His Own village, as the first to seek His Death).

³⁰But He passing through the midst of them went His way (did so by the Power of God, and left never to return),

HEALINGS AND DELIVERANCE

³¹And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee (this would be His Home and Headquarters for the entirety of His Ministry of some three and one half years), and taught them on the Sabbath days (in their Synagogues).

³²And they were astonished at His doctrine (had to do with the manner in which He explained the Scriptures): for His Word was with power (pertained to the Anointing of the Holy Spirit, which they had never experienced before).

³³And in the Synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil (demon), and cried out with a loud voice (the voice of this demon spirit using the vocal cords of the man),

³⁴Saying, Let us alone (refers to the fact that Jesus Alone has power over these spirits of darkness); what have we to do with You, Thou Jesus of Nazareth? (This portrays the total separation of the spirit world of Light from the spirit world of darkness.) Are You come to destroy us? I know You Who You are; the Holy One of God (knowing Who He was, they also knew that He had come to destroy their kingdom of darkness).

³⁵And Jesus rebuked him (rebuked the evil spirit in the man), saying, Hold your peace (shut up), and come out of him (a command that had to be obeyed). And when the devil had thrown him in the midst (threw him down), he came out of him, and hurt him not (meaning that he was commanded by the Lord to do no damage upon his exit).

³⁶And they were all amazed, and spoke among themselves, saying, What a word is this! (presents that which they had never before seen) for with authority and power He Commands the unclean spirits, and they come out (they recognized His Authority and Power).

³⁷And the fame of Him went out into every place of the country round about.

PETERS MOTHER-IN-LAW

³⁸And He arose out of the Synagogue, and entered into Simons house (this was His headquarters during the three and one half years of His public Ministry). And Simons wifes mother was taken with a great fever (was life threatening); and they besought Him for her (asked Him to heal her).

³⁹And He stood over her, and rebuked the fever (indicates that this was an evil spirit causing the fever); and it left her (the spirit left along with the sickness): and immediately she arose and ministered unto them (speaks of an instant recovery, with her probably helping to prepare an evening meal).

CASTING OUT DEMONS

⁴⁰Now when the sun was setting (meaning the Sabbath was ending; each new day in Jewish reckoning at that time began at the setting of the sun, where ours begin at midnight), all they who had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them, and healed them.

⁴¹And devils (demons) also came out of many, crying out (speaks of deliverances other than healings), and saying, You are Christ the Son of God (speaks of these spirits having personalities and intelligence; they knew who He was, even though the religious leaders of Israel didnt). And He rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that He was Christ (He wanted no testimony from them).

⁴²And when it was day (insinuates that He Ministered all night long), He departed and went into a desert place (He desired a place of solitude for privacy): and the people sought Him, and came unto Him, and stayed Him, that He should not depart from them (they desired that He spend all His Time in Capernaum and not go elsewhere).

⁴³And He said unto them, I must Preach the Kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore Am I sent (modern thought belittles Preaching and exalts ceremony; the Eternal Son of God was wholly a Preacher; this fact, and the opposition of Satan to Preaching, demonstrates its importance).

⁴⁴And He Preached in the Synagogues of Galilee.