Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, 12 he departed into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, he came 13 and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea-coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim; that it might be fulfilled 14 thirsty, he stopped for refreshment at Jacob's well in Samaria. He was so spiritually exhilarated in his interview with the woman there, that hunger and thirst vanished, and when his disciples returned and pressed him to eat, he replied: "I have meat to eat that ye know not of. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." "When the great struggle was over, and the tempter had fled, and the bosom of Jesus, no longer darkened by evil shadows, was filled with the serene triumph of moral victory, and endowed with new force wrought out by the recent strife, then the ineffable light of God, beaming within, irradiated every thing around him, and the desert smiled, and the sun grew brighter in the heavens, and grace and beauty invested the meanest things, until they overflowed with a divine presence and spirit, and seemed to be living, speaking min isters of God. In this divine frame he quitted the desert, and returned in the power of the spirit to Galilee." Luke iv. 14. The temptation of Jesus proves that he was not God, for "God cannot be tempt ed with evil." James i. 13. 12-25. For the parallel passages, see Mark i. 14-20; Luke iv. 14, v. 1-11. An interval of several weeks, or months, elapsed between the Temptation and the events related in verse 12. Many important incidents of Christ's ministry, occurring at this time, are related in the first nine chapters of John, excepting the sixth. 12. John was cast into prison. For an account of John's imprisonment, and its causes and results, see Matt. xiv. 312; Mark vi. 17 -29; Luke iii. 19, 20. This event was a reason why Jesus should leave the country of Judea and withdraw into Galilee, then under the jurisdiction of Philip, where he could pursue his work with less molestation from the Scribes and Pharisees, who had become highly excited against him, and gather around him a band of disciples, who should be the preachers of his religion to the world. The ministry of his Forerunner was completed, and he now pursues his own with more activity, and makes preparation to perpetuate it after his death, through the instrumentality of the Apostles. 13. Leaving Nazareth, dwelt in Capernaum. Though Jesus had lived there many years with his parents, yet the unbelief of the people, and their abusive treatment of him personally, probably induced him to remove and fix his abode at Capernaum. Matt. xiii. 58; Luke iv. 16-30.-Dwelt, that is, made it his principal abode; yet he was absent much. Perhaps his mother and family moved thither. It was afterwards called his city. Nazareth lay near the middle of Lower Galilee. Capernaum was situated on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Its precise situation cannot now be determined. Which is upon the sea-coast, i. e. the shore of the Sea of Galilee. In the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim. In the Hebrew language, these tribes of Israel are called Zebulun and Naphtali. Gen. xlix. 13, 21. The portion of country assigned to them was located west and northwest of the Sea of Gali 15 which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying: "The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the 16 sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the 17 region and shadow of death light is sprung up.” — From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say: Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. lee, according to the division made by Joshua. Joshua xix. 10-16, 32-39. The word borders here means boundaries. 14. Fulfilled. Verified. - Esaias the prophet, i. e. Isaiah. See Is. ix. 1, 2. The prophet wrote during the irruption of the king of Assyria, and a short time before the ten tribes were carried away captive to Babylon. Looking beyond the dark present, he predicts the golden age of the Jews, when the oppressed and benighted would be enlightened and redeemed by the Messiah. Matthew quotes the passage probably by way of accommodation, rather than of literal accomplishment. The quotation is not exact, and seems to have been made from memory, but the sense is mainly preserved. 15. By the way of the sea. Lying along the sea-coast. - Beyond Jordan. This signifies in the vicinity of Jordan, on or along that river; not the country on the east side, as the words usually mean. — Galilee of the Gentiles. This province was divided into two parts, Upper and Lower. Upper Galilee was inhabited in a considerable measure by the Gentiles, or other people than the Jews, and hence was called Galilee of the Gentiles. This mixture of a foreign population was occasioned by Solomon giving to Hiram, in consideration of services done by him, twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 1 Kings ix. 11-13. These towns were in the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon, and were peopled by Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Arabians. 16. Darkness, light. These terms are frequently used in Scripture for ignorance and knowledge of true religion, respectively. As the people were heathen who dwelt in this part of the country, they were involved in that moral darkness, which might without exaggeration be called the region and shadow of death, i. e. the darkest shadow. This was a vivid figure to describe the desperate moral condition of the land. "A shadow is caused by an object coming between us and the sun. So the Hebrews imagined death as standing between these regions and the sun, and casting a long, dark, and baleful shadow abroad on the face of the nation, denoting their great ignorance, sin, and woe. It denotes a dismal, gloomy, and dreadful shade, where death and sin reign, like the chills, damps, and horrors, of the dwelling-place of the dead." Job x. 21; Psalms xxiii. 4; Jer. ii. 6. 17. Jesus began to preach. He had already for a considerable time been laboring in Judea, but he now began to preach in Galilee. John, being imprisoned, was now unable to carry forward the reformation of the people, and prepare them for the kingdom of the Messiah. Jesus takes up the great subject where he left it, and thus points out to the people that he was acting in conjunction with John, and was the person whom the Baptist had predicted. Jesus did not immediately declare himself as the Messiah And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, 18 Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. And he saith unto them: 19 Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they 20 straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on 21 from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zeblated nets in verse 21. The fishery of this lake afforded a subsistence to a large number of persons. in his preaching; for the popular feeling, thus aroused, would have brought the Jews into immediate collision with the Romans. By his labors and instructions he sought to open their prejudiced minds to the important fact that the Messiah was to be a spiritual, not a temporal King. See note on chap. iii. 7. 18. Sea of Galilee. This body of water went under the names of the Sea of Galilee, Sea of Tiberias, Lake of Gennesareth, or Cinnereth. It is included in Lower Galilee, and is situated east of north from Jerusalem, at the distance of seventy miles. The shape of the lake is oval, its length about sixteen miles, its breadth about six. Its waters are pure and sweet, and abound in fish. It is situated among high, steep hills, and is therefore subject to severe and sudden gusts of wind. Many flourishing cities once stood on its romantic shores, as Tiberias, Bethsaida, Capernaum, Chorazin, and Hippos. Two brethren. It is an interesting circumstance, that several of the Apostles were related to each other, and also to Jesus, thus adding the ties of kindred to the sympathies of religion, and securing union and harmony. - Simon called Peter, and Andrew. Peter is the same as Cephas in Hebrew, and signifies a rock. Matt. xvi. 18; John i. 42. They were the sons of John, or Jona. They were already acquainted with Jesus, as appears from John i. 35-42. This was a kind of second call. Net. A seine, or large drag net. The original word is not the same as that trans 19. Follow me. Equivalent to saying, "Become my disciples.' Matt. viii. 22, ix. 9.-Fishers of men. You shall collect men into the kingdom of the Messiah, from the Jews and Gentiles. This promise was abundantly fulfilled in the multitudes which were converted by the Apostles. This instance is in harmony with Christ's general method of teaching, by which he employs events, trades, objects around him to illustrate and enforce spiritual truth. In classical authors, terms of hunting and fishing are often used in relation to acquiring adherents and disciples. Jesus calls not the rich, learned, refined, or powerful; resorts not to the schools of Jerusalem, but to the fishing-boats of Galilee, to obtain his disciples and apostles. Fishermen could better endure hardships. They had not been so deeply corrupted by worldliness, or spoiled by vain philosophy. They would, being uneducated men, also make it more apparent to the world that their doctrine was from heaven, not of men. Many great movements in society begin in the humbler walks of life. 20. Straightway. They obeyed the invitation without seeking to excuse themselves, or waiting till a more convenient season. Followed him. They were probably ignorant to some extent, at this time, of the spiritual character of their Master. 21. James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother. James received edee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, 22 mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. 23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing the title of James the Elder, or Greater, to distinguish him from James called the Less. John was the Evangelist, designated as the disciple whom Jesus loved. They had probably seen Jesus at Jerusalem, or elsewhere, for he was evidently no stranger to them. Ship. Better, boat, or fishing vessel, or craft, such as were used on this inland water.-Mending their nets. These, according to the original, were small casting nets, and unlike that used by Simon and Andrew, verse 18. It has been ingeniously observed, that the inventor of a fictitious tale would not have been likely to have mentioned so trivial a fact as that they were mending their nets; trivial to one not engaged in that calling, but important to the fisherman himself. The mention of such a fact is one of those minute, but strong and beautiful filaments of truth and reality which are woven into every page of the Gospels; were not our eyes so dulled by custom and familiarity as to pass them over unheeded. 22. Left the ship and their father, and followed him. Matt. x. 37, xix. 27, 29. They felt it to be their duty to leave all, at the command of one whom they considered as a divine messenger, and perhaps as the Messiah; and though they had not yet, and did not have for a long time, correct ideas of the mission of their Master, yet they showed their religious faith and loyalty by adhering to one authorized and sent by God. 23. Synagogues. This word at first meant a collection of people, but, like the English word church, it afterwards was applied to the The building where the assembly was held. The origin of Synagogues is unknown. They were probably introduced during or after the Babylonish captivity. They are not mentioned in the Old Testament. At first they were erected without the cities, in the fields, and usually near streams, or on the sea-shore, for the greater convenience of ablution; subsequently they were erected in cities, in proportion to the population. Jerusalem had nearly five hundred. Services were held in them on festival and fast days, and the first, second, and seventh days of every week. Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath. The exercises consisted in reading the law and the prophets; prayers, and addresses to the assembly, consisting chiefly_of interpretations of Scripture. whole was closed by a short prayer and benediction, to which the assembly responded, Amen. The officers in a Synagogue were ten in number. The most important were the Rulers, who constituted, according to Lightfoot, the "council of three," and the scribe, or minister, who prayed and preached. Mark v. 22; Luke iv. 20. The Synagogues opened a fine avenue for Christ and his Apostles to communicate their instructions to the Jewish people, for strangers were often invited to give a word of exhortation. Acts xiii. 15. Gospel of the kingdom, i. e. Christianity. Gospel is compounded of two Saxon words, meaning good, and message, or news. Jesus preached the good news of Christianity, the glad intelligence of the mercy of God, and the broth all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria; and they 24 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 - erhood and immortality of mankind. The word kingdom is used as implying that its subjects would all recognise and obey God, as the Supreme Lawgiver and Judge. Healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease, i. e. every kind, not every case of sickness. According to Bloomfield, the original word, translated sickness, signifies a thoroughly formed disorder, and that translated disease, an incipient indisposition. Jesus had already, as we learn from John ii., v., begun to work his beneficent miracles. How active was his benevolence! He went about doing good, and proclaiming glad tidings. 24. Syria was at this period a Roman province, lying north and northeast of Palestine, and contiguous to it. All sick people. Not literally every one, but great numbers of all kinds.. - Possessed with devils. Or, to hold to the original, possessed with demons, demoniacs. None probably believe that the Jews supposed that these persons were possessed of devils, in the present acceptation of that word; but with demons, or the departed spirits of wicked, malignant men, evil genii, who entered into the living. Josephus says, "that those called demons are no other than the spirits of the wicked, that enter into men that are alive, and kill them, unless they can obtain some help against them." This was probably a superstition. Wetstein has conclusively shown that it is the unanimous opinion of physicians, whose authority is great upon such a subject, that demoniacs and lunatics were cases of natural disorders and insanity. The demoniacs sometimes believed, indeed, that they were possessed with evil spirits; but their testimony is not admissible; since the insane often imagine themselves to be what they are not; kings, generals, Christ, and even God. The symptoms, as given in the New Testament, of this class of sufferers, are precisely those of insanity. Their dislike to wearing clothes, their love of living in by-places, and wandering about, their recklessness in attacking persons, their sudden fits of violent convulsions, their fixed idea of being some thing or some body different from themselves, indicate a state of derangement. See Luke viii. 27-30; Matt. viii. 28; Mark ix. 20. When cured, the demoniacs are said to be restored to reason. Luke viii. 35. Jesus and his Apostles used the popular language of the times in reference to them. Nor was there any prevarication in it, any more than in our using the word bewitched, though we do not believe in witchcraft; and the expressions, St. Vitus' dance, and St. Anthony's fire, though we suppose that those saints have nothing to do with certain disorders of the human body called by those names. Jesus came not to reform institutions, but men, their makers; not language, but the spirit from which it sprang. true religion had enlightened mankind, he foresaw, that the superstitions about demons, ghosts, and witches, would disappear, as the unseemly birds of night vanish before the shining of the sun. — Lu When |