Matthew 4:25

And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. AND THERE FOLLOWED HIM GREAT MULTITUDES OF PEOPLE FROM GALILEE, AND FROM DECAPOLIS - a region lying to the east of the Jordan, so called as containing ten cities, founded and chiefly inhabited by Greek settlers. AND FROM JERUSALEM AND FROM BEYOND JORDAN - meaning from Perea. Thus not only was all Palestine upheaved, but all the adjacent regions. But the more immediate object for which this is here mentioned is, to give the reader some idea both of the vast concourse and of the varied complexion of eager attendants upon the great Preacher, to whom the astonishing Discourse of the next three chapters was addressed. On the importance which our Lord Himself attached to this first preaching circuit, and the preparation which He made for it, see...

23-25 Wherever Christ went, he confirmed his Divine mission by miracles, which were emblems of the healing power of his doctrine, and the influences of the Spirit which accompanied it. We do not now find the Saviour's miraculous healing power in our bodies; but if we are cured by medicine, the praise is equally his. Three general words are here used. He healed every sickness or disease; none was too bad; none too hard, for Christ to heal with a word. Three diseases are named; the palsy, which is the greatest weakness of the body; lunacy, which is the greatest malady of the mind; and possession of the devil, which is the greatest misery and calamity of both; yet Christ healed all, and by thus curing bodily diseases, showed that his great errand into the world was to cure spiritual maladies. Sin is the sickness, disease, and torment of the soul: Christ came to take away sin, and so to heal...

Verse Matthew 4:25. This verse is immediately connected with the fifth chapter, and should not be separated from it. _GREAT MULTITUDES_] This, even according to the Jews, was one proof of the days of the Messiah: for they acknowledged that in his time there should be a great famine of the word of God; and thus they understood Amos, Amos 8:11. _Behold, the days come - that I will send a famine in the land, not a_ _famine of bread - but of hearing the words of the Lord_. And as the Messiah was to dispense this word, the bread of life, hence they believed that vast multitudes from all parts should be gathered together to him. See _Schoettgenius_ on this place. _DECAPOLIS_] A small country, situated between Syria and Galilee of the nations. It was c

FROM DECAPOLIS - Decapolis was the name of a region of country in the bounds of the half-tribe of Manasseh, mainly on the east of Jordan. It was so called because it included 10 cities - the meaning of the word Decapolis in Greek. Geographers generally agree that Scythopolis was the chief of these cities, and was the only one of them west of the Jordan; that Hippo (Hippos), Gadara, Dion (or Dios), Pelea (or Pella), Gerasa (or Gergesa), Philadelphia, and Raphana (or Raphanae), were seven of the remaining nine, and the other two were either Kanatha and Capitolias, or Damascus and Otopos. These cities were inhabited chiefly by foreigners (Greeks) in the days of our Saviour, and not by Jews. Hence, the keeping of swine by the Gergesenes Matthew 8:30, which was forbidden by the Jewish law....

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 4:1 THE TEMPTATION. The Father's acceptance of the Lord's consecration of himself for the work of the kingdom does not exclude temptation, but rather necessitates it. Psychologically, the reaction from the ecstasy of joy in hearing the announcement of Matthew 3:17 was certain; ethically, such testing as would accompany the reaction was desirable. Even the Baptist was, as it seems, not without a special temptation during this period (cf. John 1:19; and Bishop Westcott's note). At the very commencement of his official life the Lord is led consciously to realize that he has entered on a path of complete trust (even as his brethren in the flesh

AND THERE FOLLOWED HIM GREAT MULTITUDES OF PEOPLE,.... Some on one account, and some on another; some out of good will, others out of ill will; some for the healing of their bodies, others for the good of their souls; some to see his miracles, others to hear his doctrine; and what with one and another, the concourse of people that followed him was greater than that which followed John. The Greek word for "multitude" is adopted into the Talmudic language, and is often used by the doctors; who have a tradition to this purpose, that אין אוכלוסא פחותה מששים רבוא, "there is no multitude less than sixty myriads" o; but we are not to imagine, that when here, and elsewhere, a multitude is said to follow, or attend on Christ, that he had such a number of people after him as this; only that the number was very large. The places from whence they came are particularly mentioned, as "from Galilee"; w...

4. THE TESTING OF THE KING AND HIS TESTIMONY. _ 1. The Testing by the Devil. (Matthew 4:1 .) 2. His Testimony and His Disciples. (Matthew 4:12 .) 3. The Powers of the Kingdom. (Matthew 4:23 .)_ CHAPTER 4 The first part of this chapter gives us the history of the temptation of the King. This is a most important topic, many-sided in its applications; large volumes have been written on it without exhausting it. We will therefore have to confine ourselves to the bringing out of some of the most important teachings, without attempting to go into many of the precious details and applications to the believer. The baptism marked, as we saw in the last chapter, our Lord's entrance upon

SUMMARY OF WORK IN GALILEE (_cf._ Mark 1:39; Luke 4:44). Mt. here departs from Mk.'s order; he is about to give an account of the teachings of Jesus (Matthew 4:5) before an account of His healings (Matthew 8:1). _Cf._ the ré sumé at Matthew 9:35. The note of good tidings omitted in Matthew 4:17 (Mark 1:15) is here (Matthe

GREAT MULTITUDES FROM GALILEE. The fame of his teaching and miracles caused great multitudes to gather from all Palestine. The accounts elsewhere given confirm this statement. GALILEE. The northern part of Palestine. DECAPOLIS. A district containing ten cities east of the Jordan and the Sea of Galilee. PRACTICAL AND SUGGESTIVE. Wherever we are, we should by word and life preach the gospel of the kingdom. We should watch opportunities for doing good. While Jesus was walking he called the four. Jesus honored labor by calling his first ministers from the scenes of toil. Faithfulness in daily labor prepares us for Christ's spiritual work. Therefore God calls busy people to serve him. None can do it better. It is observable that God has often called men to places of dignity and honor when they have been busy in the honest employment of their vocation. Saul was seeking his father's...

THE TESTING TIME (Matthew 4:1-11) Step by step Matthew unfolds the story of Jesus. He begins by showing us how Jesus was born into this world. He goes on to show us, at least by implication, that Jesus had to perform faithfully his duties to his home before he began on his duty to the world, that he had to show himself faithful in the smaller tasks before God gave to him the greatest task in all the world. He goes on to show us how, with the emergence of John the Baptist, Jesus knew that the hour had struck. and that the time had come to enter upon his work. He shows us Jesus identifying himself with a people's unprecedented search for God. In that moment he shows us Jesus' realization that he was indeed the chosen one of God, but that his way to victory lay through the Cross. If any man has a vision, his immediate problem is how to turn that vision into fact; he has