Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit The Evangelist having finished his account of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ; of his ministry and baptism; and particularly of the baptism of Christ; when the Holy Ghost came down upon him in a visible and eminent manner; whereby he was anointed for…

And when he had fasted forty days. &c.] As Moses did, when he was about to deliver the law to the Israelites, and as Elijah did, when he bore his testimony for the Lord of hosts, so did Christ, when he was about to publish the Gospel of his grace, and bear witness to the truth.

And when the tempter came to him. &c.] By “the tempter”, is meant the devil, see so called, because it is his principal work and business, in which he employs himself, to solicit men to sin; and tempt them either to deny, or call in question the being of God, arraign his perfections, murmur at his…

But he answered and said, it is written The passage referred to, and cited, is in the manner of citing it is what was common and usual with the Jews; and is often to be met with in the Talmudic writings; who, when they produce any passage of scripture, say (דכתיב) , “as it is written”.

Then the devil taketh him up This was done, not in a visionary way, but really and truly: Satan, by divine permission, and with the consent of Christ, which shows his great humiliation and condescension, had power over his body, to move it from place to place; in some such like manner as the Spirit…

And saith unto him, if thou be the Son of God He addresses him after the same manner as before; if, or seeing, thou art the Son of God, show thyself to be so; give proof of thy sonship before all the priests which are in and about the temple, and before all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; cast…

Jesus saith unto him, it is written again Christ takes no notice of the false and wrong citation of scripture made by the devil, nor of any misapplication of it; but mildly replies, by opposing another passage of scripture to him, ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, thereby tacitly showing, that…

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain That is, he took him off from the pinnacle of the temple, and carried him through the air, to one of the mountains which were round about Jerusalem; or to some very high mountain at a greater distance; but what mountain is not certain;…

And saith unto him, all these things will I give thee &c.] This is more fully and strongly expressed by the Evangelist Luke. (Luke 4:6, Luke 4:7) . And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will, I give…

Then saith Jesus to him, get thee hence, Satan. &c.] In it is “get thee behind me”: and so some copies read here, and is expressive of indignation and abhorrence; see rebuking his impudence, and detesting his impiety: he had borne his insults and temptations with great patience; he had answered him…

Then the devil leaveth him In it says, when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season, or until a season. That is, having tempted him with all sorts of temptations, and tried him every way to no purpose; having gone through, and finished the whole scheme and course…

Now, when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, &c.] John was cast into prison by Herod; the reason of it may be seen in (Matt. 14:3, Matt. 14:4) .

And leaving Nazareth Where he was educated, and had lived many years together; and where he preached first to the good liking of the people, who wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth: though afterwards they were so much displeased with him, that they thrust him out of their…

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken Christ’s dwelling in Capernaum accomplished a prophecy of the prophet (Isa. 9:1, Isa. 9:2) and he went and dwelt there, that it might be fulfilled which he had spoken: the meaning of which prophecy is [[22]], that as those parts of the land of Israel,…

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken Christ’s dwelling in Capernaum accomplished a prophecy of the prophet (Isa. 9:1, Isa. 9:2) and he went and dwelt there, that it might be fulfilled which he had spoken: the meaning of which prophecy is [[22]], that as those parts of the land of Israel,…

The people which sat in darkness The inhabitants of Galilee, who sat or “walked”, as in Isaiah; that is, continued in spiritual darkness, in ignorance, blindness, error, and infidelity, “saw great light”; Christ himself, who came a light into the world; he conversed with them, preached unto them,…

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say Not from the time he dwelt in Capernaum; for he had preached in Nazareth before he came there, (Luke 4:16, Luke 4:31) nor from the time of John’s being cast into prison; for he had preached, and made disciples, who were baptized by his orders, before…

And Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee Not for his recreation and diversion, or by accident: but on purpose to look out for, and call some, whom he had chosen to be his disciples.

And he saith unto them, follow me These two brethren had been the disciples of John, as Theophylact thinks, and which seems agreeable to and though through John’s pointing out Christ unto them, they had some knowledge of him, and conversation with him, yet they abode with him but for that day,…

And they straightway left their nets That is, as soon as he had called them, they left their worldly employment, and followed him; they gave up themselves to his service, and became his disciples; they not only left their “nets”, but their fishing boats, and fishing trade, and all that belonged to…

And going on from thence, he saw other two When he had gone but a little way further, he spied two other persons he was looking for, and had designed to call to the office of apostleship; and these are also described as “brethren”, and by name, James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother.

And they immediately left the ship More is expressed here than before, for they not only left their nets, but their ship too; which was of much more value; nay, even “their father” also, “with the hired servants”, and so complied with the call of Christ to his people, and thereby proved, that they…

And Jesus went about all Galilee Having called four of his disciples, he took a tour throughout Galilee; a country mean and despicable, inhabited by persons poor, illiterate, vile, and wicked: such had the first fruits of Christ’s ministry, and messages of his grace; which shows the freeness,…

And his fame went throughout all Syria For his ministry and miracles, especially the latter; wherefore they brought to him, that is, out of Syria, the sick. Syria was in some respects reckoned as the land of Israel, though in others not.

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,…