4 Jesus answered, “It is written:
‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth
of God.’[Deut. 8:3]”
5 Then the devil took him to the
holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is
written:
“‘He will command his angels
concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot
against a stone.’[Psalm 91:11,12]”
(The devil/Satan quoted and use scripture to tempt the Lord)
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the
Lord your God to the test.’[Deut. 6:16]”
8 Again, the devil took him
to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world
and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow
down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is
written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
12 When Jesus heard that John had
been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and
lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—
14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
15 “Land of Zebulun and land of
Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the
shadow of death
a light has dawned.”[Isaiah 9:1,2]
17 From that time on Jesus began to
preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
18 As Jesus was walking beside the
Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his
brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come,
follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At
once they left their nets and followed him.
[Simon called Peter here Verse 18 is because, in other Gospels, Jesus said, you will be called Peter. At this time, during the initial calling of the 12 Apostles, Simon was not yet officially called Peter it was only during his confession of Jesus as the Messiah that his name was officially changed to Peter]
21 Going on from there, he saw two
other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a
boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and
immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus Heals the Sick
23 Jesus went throughout
Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good
news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the
people. 24 News about him spread all over
Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases,
those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having
seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large
crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,[That is, the Ten Cities] Jerusalem, Judea and the region across
the Jordan followed him.
NOTES:
Footnotes:
4:1–11 Jesus, proclaimed Son of God at his baptism, is
subjected to a triple temptation. Obedience to the Father is a characteristic
of true sonship, and Jesus is tempted by the devil to rebel against God,
overtly in the third case, more subtly in the first two. Each refusal of Jesus
is expressed in language taken from the Book of Deuteronomy (Dt 8:3; 6:13, 16).
The testings of Jesus resemble those of Israel during the wandering in the
desert and later in Canaan, and the victory of Jesus, the true Israel and the
true Son, contrasts with the failure of the ancient and disobedient “son,” the
old Israel. In the temptation account Matthew is almost identical with Luke;
both seem to have drawn upon the same source.
4:2 Forty days and forty nights: the same time as that
during which Moses remained on Sinai (Ex 24:18). The time reference, however,
seems primarily intended to recall the forty years during which Israel was
tempted in the desert (Dt 8:2).
4:4 Cf. Dt 8:3. Jesus refuses to use his power for his own
benefit and accepts whatever God wills.
4:5–7 The devil supports his proposal by an appeal to the
scriptures, Ps 91:11a, 12. Unlike Israel (Dt 6:16), Jesus refuses to “test” God
by demanding from him an extraordinary show of power.
4:9 The worship of Satan to which Jesus is tempted is probably
intended to recall Israel’s worship of false gods. His refusal is expressed in
the words of Dt 6:13.
4:12–17 Isaiah’s prophecy of the light rising upon Zebulun
and Naphtali (Is 8:22–9:1) is fulfilled in Jesus’ residence at Capernaum. The
territory of these two tribes was the first to be devastated (733–32 B.C.) at
the time of the Assyrian invasion. In order to accommodate Jesus’ move to
Capernaum to the prophecy, Matthew speaks of that town as being “in the region
of Zebulun and Naphtali” (Mt 4:13), whereas it was only in the territory of the
latter, and he understands the sea of the prophecy, the Mediterranean, as the
sea of Galilee.
4:17 At the beginning of his preaching Jesus takes up the
words of John the Baptist (Mt 3:2) although with a different meaning; in his
ministry the kingdom of heaven has already begun to be present (Mt 12:28).
4:18–22 The call of the first disciples promises them a
share in Jesus’ work and entails abandonment of family and former way of life.
Three of the four, Simon, James, and John, are distinguished among the
disciples by a closer relation with Jesus (Mt 17:1; 26:37).
4:20 Here and in Mt 4:22, as in Mark (Mk 1:16–20) and unlike
the Lucan account (Lk 5:1–11), the disciples’ response is motivated only by
Jesus’ invitation, an element that emphasizes his mysterious power.
4:23–25 This summary of Jesus’ ministry concludes the
narrative part of the first book of Matthew’s gospel (Mt 3–4). The activities
of his ministry are teaching, proclaiming the gospel, and healing; cf. Mt 9:35.
4:23 Their synagogues: Matthew usually designates the Jewish
synagogues as their synagogue(s) (Mt 9:35; 10:17; 12:9; 13:54) or, in address
to Jews, your synagogues (Mt 23:34), an indication that he wrote after the
break between church and synagogue.
4:24 Syria: the Roman province to which Palestine belonged.
4:25 The Decapolis: a federation of Greek cities in
Palestine, originally ten in number, all but one east of the Jordan.
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