CHAPTER 4

(A.D. 29)

THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS IN THE WILDERNESS

¹Then (immediately after the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him) was Jesus led up (urgently led) of the Spirit (Holy Spirit) into the wilderness (probably close to Jericho) to be tempted of the Devil (as the Last Adam, He would be tempted in all points like as we are [Heb. 4:15; I Cor. 15:21-22, 45, 47]).

²And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward hungry (other than Christ, three men in the Bible fasted forty days and forty nights: Moses [Deut. 9:9, 18, 25; 10:10], Joshua [Ex. 24:13-18; 32:15-17], and Elijah [I Ki. 19:7-8]).

³And when the tempter (Satan) came to Him, he said, If You be the Son of God (since You are the Son of God), command that these stones be made bread (Christ was tempted to use His Power for His Own benefit, which He was to never do).

⁴But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the Mouth of God ([Deut. 8:3];man is a spiritual being as well as a physical being; therefore, dependent on God).

⁵Then the Devil took Him up (a powerful force) into the Holy City (Jerusalem), and set Him on a pinnacle of the Temple (its highest point, which Josephus stated, was about 700 feet from the ravine below),

⁶And said unto Him, If You be the Son of God (since You are the Son of God), cast Yourself down (literally spoken): for it is written, He shall give His Angels charge concerning You: and in their hands they shall bear You up, lest at any time You dash Your foot against a stone (derived from Psalms 91:11-12).

⁷Jesus said unto him, It is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God ([Deut. 6:16]; to tempt God is to question His Word, which casts doubt on His ability to do what He has promised).

⁸Again (the third temptation), the Devil took Him up into an exceeding high mountain (not definitely known, but probably Nebo), and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them (showed them to Him, not in a physical sense, but rather in a spiritual sense);

⁹And said unto Him, All these things will I give You, if You will fall down and worship me (the temptation was that Christ abrogate the Cross, through which He would regain all things).

¹⁰Then said Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan (presents Christ for the first time Personally addressing Satan): for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve (Satan desires that mankind worship and serve him; we are to worship and serve the Lord Alone).

¹¹Then the Devil left Him (departed from Him for a season,meaning that there would be other temptations [Lk. 4:13]), and, behold, Angels came and ministered unto Him (in what manner they ministered, we arent told).

JESUS BEGINS HIS MINISTRY; REJECTED IN NAZARETH MOVES TO CAPERNAUM

¹²Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison (Johns Ministry was now finished; he had properly introduced Christ), He (Jesus) departed into Galilee (where the central core of His Ministry would be);

¹³And leaving Nazareth (refers to His rejection there [Lk. 4:16-30]), He came and dwelt in Capernaum (made this city His Headquarters), which is upon the sea coast (refers to the Sea of Galilee), in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim (refers to these two Tribes bordering the Sea of Galilee):

¹⁴That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the Prophet, saying (Isaiah prophesied of Christ more than any other Prophet),

¹⁵The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea (Sea of Galilee), beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles (the great Roman Roadran near the Sea of Galilee from Damascus; almost all Gentiles traveling in this direction did so on this road; the Headquarters of Christ was within the confines of the Tribe of Naphtali);

¹⁶The people which sat in darkness (implies a settled acceptance of this darkness; the moral darkness was even greater than the national misery) saw great Light (Christ is the Light of the world, and the only True Light); and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death (spiritual death is the result of this spiritual darkness) light (spiritual illumination in Christ) is sprung up.

¹⁷From that time (the move to Capernaum) Jesus began to preach (the major method of the proclamation of the Gospel), and to say, Repent (beginning His Ministry, the first word used by Christ, as recorded by Matthew, was Repent): for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (the Kingdom from Heaven, headed up by Christ, for the purpose of reestablishing the Kingdom of God over the Earth; the Kingdom was rejected by Israel).

JESUS CALLS FOUR FISHERMEN

¹⁸And 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 fishermen.

¹⁹And He said unto them, Follow Me (the Messiahs advent was signaled by three great words: Repent, Follow, and Blessed [Mat. 5:3]), and I will make you fishers of men (the greatest call of all).

²⁰And they straightway (immediately) left their nets (their fishing business), and followed Him.

²¹And 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 (the first three called, Peter, James, and John, were the closest to Christ).

²²And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed Him (He called them to a higher fishing, as He called David to a higher feeding [Ps. 78:70-72]).

SECOND TOUR OF GALILEE; JESUS FAME SPREADS

²³And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their Synagogues, and preaching (preaching proclaims the Gospel, while Teaching explains it) the Gospel of the Kingdom (the good news of the establishment upon Earth of the perfect Government of Heaven; as stated, it was rejected), and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people (Jesus is not only the Saviour; He as well is the Healer).

²⁴And His fame went throughout all Syria (the account of what He did went beyond the borders of Israel): and they brought unto Him all sick people who were taken with divers (different kinds) diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils (demons), and those which were lunatic (insane, whether by demon possession, or physical disabilities), and those who had the palsy, and He healed them (He turned no one away).

²⁵And there followed Him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis (the eastern side of the Jordan River), and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.