_Then_ After the afore-mentioned glorious manifestation of his Father's love, by which he was armed for the combat. _Was Jesus led by the Spirit_ By a strong impulse of the Spirit of God, of which he was full; _into the wilderness_ Probably, the wilderness near Jordan, which, as Mr. Maundrell, who t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights_ As Moses, the giver, and Elias, the restorer of the law, had done before: _he was afterward a hungered_ That is, he was as sharply assaulted with hunger, as any man is at any time for want of food. Thus he was fitted for the ensuing trial of his t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when the tempter came to him_ In a visible shape and appearance, to tempt him outwardly, as he had done inwardly before. For it appears from the account which Mark and Luke have given us of this matter, that our Lord had been tempted by the devil invisibly during the whole of the above-mentione... [ Continue Reading ]
_It is written_ There is no better way of answering the tempter, than by opposing the word of God to his temptations. This is that sword of the Spirit that must put him to flight. The Church of Rome, therefore, by taking from the people the word of God, disarm them as to the spiritual combat. _Man s... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city_ That is, the city Jerusalem, frequently called _the holy city_ in Scripture, see Nehemiah 11:1; Isaiah 52:1; Daniel 9:24; and that with great propriety, as being for ages the place of the special residence of Jehovah. It has been supposed by many, th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Again the devil taketh him up_ In what way is not said; _into an exceeding high mountain_ Probably one of the mountains in the wilderness, and from that eminence, partly by the advantage of the place, from which he might behold many magnificent buildings, rich fields, pleasant meadows, hills covere... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then saith Jesus, Get thee hence, Satan_ The expression, Υπαγε, Σατανα, plainly expresses Christ's authority over Satan, as well as his detestation of so vile a suggestion: _for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God_, &c. It would therefore be unlawful to worship thee, who art no other... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the devil_ Being so baffled and confounded as not to be able to present any other temptation which seemed more likely to prevail, _leaveth him_ Namely, for a season, as Luke observes meditating no doubt some future assault, and especially designing, by and by, to use all stratagems to take awa... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison_ Namely, for reproving Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, for taking his brother Philip's wife, and for other evils, Matthew 14:3: _he departed into Galilee_ Viz., from Judea. This it seems he did, partly to avoid the envy of the Pharisees, J... [ Continue Reading ]
_Leaving Nazareth_ Namely, when they had rejected his word, and even attempted to kill him, as is described Luke 4:29: _he came and dwelt in Capernaum, upon the sea-coast_ “Capernaum is nowhere mentioned in the Old Testament, either by its own name or by any other. Probably it was one of those towns... [ Continue Reading ]
_That it might be fulfilled._ Or, whereby was fulfilled, _that which was spoken by Esaias_ Namely, Isaiah 9:1, where see the notes. _The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim_, &c. Isaiah, in this passage, comforts the Jewish Church of his time against the desolation about to be made through t... [ Continue Reading ]
_The people who sat in darkness_ They whose predecessors were afflicted by the Assyrians, and who, before Christ visited them, were captives of Satan, and had lived in gross ignorance of God and religion, being far from Jerusalem, the place of worship, and intermixed with the Tyrians, Sidonians, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_From that time Jesus began to preach_ He had preached before, both to Jews and Samaritans, John 4:41; John 4:45, but from this time he began to preach publicly and statedly, and to insist on the same doctrine that John had done: and with good reason, for the repentance which John taught, still was... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Jesus, walking, &c., saw two brethren_ One of the two, at least, namely, Andrew, had been a disciple of the Baptist. And the Apostle John “informs us, John 1:40; John 1:42, that they had both before been called to the knowledge of Christ, upon the banks of Jordan, and that the name of _Peter_ h... [ Continue Reading ]
_He saith unto them_ Namely, after some previous circumstances, an account of which is given, Luke 5:1. _Follow me_ That is, not only now and then, as you have hitherto done, since my baptism, John 1:37; but now leave your ordinary employments, and become my constant attendants; that by continually... [ Continue Reading ]
_Going on from thence_ Mark says, _A little further thence, He saw two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother_ The reader will observe, there was another James, the son of Alpheus, or Cleophas, commonly called _James the Less. In a ship, with Zebedee their father_ By the sea-... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Jesus went about all Galilee_ Accompanied, it seems, by the four disciples above named; _teaching in their synagogues_ The word, συναγωγη, rendered, _synagogue_, may either signify the congregation, or the place in which they assembled. But it seems here, and generally, to mean the latter. Syna... [ Continue Reading ]
_His fame went through all Syria_ Of which the country of the Jews and Samaritans was but a small part. Pliny tells us, that Syria contained several provinces, Comagene to the north, Phœnicia to the west, Cœlosyria to the south, Palmyrene, and the province of Seleucia, in the middle part. If, by all... [ Continue Reading ]
_And there followed him great multitudes_ Affected with the sight, or fame of his miracles, which was now very great, _from Galilee_ Its many and populous towns and villages. See note on Matthew 4:15. _From Decapolis_ A tract of land on the east side of the sea of Galilee, which had its name from δε... [ Continue Reading ]