Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
Galilee - "We notice a two-fold description of Galilee, namely, as the land of Zebulon and Nephtali and as the Galilee of the nations. Read Genesis 49:13, 'Zebulon shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of ships and his border shall be upon Zidon.' Jacob's prophecy outlines the history of the sons of Jacob, that is, the whole nation, and Zebulon signifies the time of their rejection, when they become merchantmen. Here in Matthew we see Zebulon swelling by the sea. So that we have the fulfillment of two prophecies before us—the prophecy in the forty-ninth chapter in Genesis and the one in Isaiah. The same is true of Nephtali. This means struggler. 'Nephtali is a hind let loose' (Gen. 49:21). In Jacob's prophecy Nephtali stands for the coming struggling and victorious Jewish remnant. Here, then, in the land of Zebulon and Nephtali the great light shines first." (Gaebelein)
leaving Nazareth - "According to Luke 4:16-30, He left because they tried to kill him." (Ryrie)
Capernaum - "A flourishing city on the western short of the Sea of Galilee and the base of His ministry in Galilee." (Ryrie)
v 14 - "See Isa. 9:1-2 (cf. Isa. 42:6-7) for the source of Jesus' quote." (Ryrie)
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” - "Like John the Baptist, Christ also preached the necessity of repentance before the messianic kingdom could be established." (Ryrie)
"From the lips of the King Himself comes now the proclamation, 'Repent, for the Kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh' (verse 17). He announces that the Kingdom has drawn nigh in that He, the King, is standing in their midst to establish that Kingdom. He never said nor taught of a Kingdom within them. All spiritualizing on these lines of a Kingdom within, which our Lord is made to teach here in Matthew, is wrong. It is the Kingdom John announced which He now preaches. He prolongs the message of the forerunner for a short time and soon His lips were closed, too. We preach not the Gospel of the Kingdom, but the Glad Tidings of Grace. A day is coming when heralds will announce once more the Kingdom to be at hand, and when it will come in the person of the Son of Man coming from heaven with angels of His power in flaming fire (2 Thes 1)." (Gaebelein)
Follow me - "This was their call to service and illustrates the directness, profundity, and power of Christ's commands (cf. 'go...,' Matt 28:19; 'love one another,' John 13:34)." (Ryrie)
James the son of Zebedee - "This is the apostle James, the brother of John, who was martyred under Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:2). Other men are named James in the NT: James the son of Alphaeus, 'the Less' (Mark 15:40), also one of the Twelve (Matt 10:3); James, the half brother of Christ and writer of the epistle of James; James, the father or, less probably, brother of the apostle Judas (to be distinguished from Judas Iscariot; Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13)." (Ryrie)
he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom - "This is the good news that the presence of the King caused the rule of God on the earth 9 in fulfillment of many OT prophecies) to be 'at hand.' Prerequisites for entrance into the kingdom included repentance (v. 17), righteousness (Matt 5:20), childlike faith (Matt 18:3), or, in summary, being born again (John 3:3). Because the people rejected these requirements, Christ taught that His earthly reign would not immediately come (Luke 19:11). However, this gospel of the kingdom will be preached again during the Tribulation (Matt 24:14), just prior to the return of Christ to establish His kingdom on earth (Matt 25:31, 34)." (Ryrie)
and healing every disease and every affliction - "Closely connected with the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom was the healing of every disease not spiritual, but every bodily disease and weakness. The healing of disease is always connected with the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom. The healings were signs that the King is the Jehovah and that the Kingdom had drawn nigh. These signs of healing every disease are the powers of the world to come." (Gaebelein)
"It is interesting that Christ did not come primarily as a miracle-worker. He came to reveal the Father. And He did so by opening up the Scriptures so that people might understand what had been written. The miracles substantiated the truth of His word. Matthew and Mark recorded the fact that Jesus Christ not only served as a teacher, but as a preacher (Matt 4:17; Mark 1:14). As a preacher, He was a proclaimer. The preacher was a prophet, publicly proclaiming God's message. But Christ not only served as a teacher, or a rabbi, in the synagogue but also as a prophet who proclaimed God's message. The message that Jesus proclaimed was identical in content to the message of John, His forerunner. Both said, 'Repent, the kingdom of heaven is near' (Matt 4:17; cf. Matt 3:2). Mark referred to Jesus' message as 'good news' (Mark 1:15). Israel long had waited for the fulfillment of the covenant of promise. Now the good news being given to them was that the kingdom for which they had waited was near. Christ, like John, called on the people to repent. Repentance involved an acknowledgment of sin and resulted in a restoration to fellowship with God from their state of alienation. It involved offering God the acceptable sacrifice that He demanded. The announcement that the kingdom 'is near' added an imperative to the message. Mark noted that the hearers were asked to 'believe the good news.' The truth of the message that was being preached had to be accepted by faith. We note that Mark referred to 'the kingdom of God' (Mark 1:15) and Matthew to 'the kingdom of heaven' (Matt 4:17). The difference in terms does not imply that Jesus was referring to two different kingdoms. Matthew normally used the term 'kingdom of heaven' rather than 'kingdom of God.' This was in keeping with the Jewish fear of taking the name of the Lord their God in vain; Matthew substituted God's dwelling place for the name of God." (Pentecost)
the Decapolis - "A district, originally containing 10 cities, S of the Sea of Galilee, mainly to the E of the Jordan River. These were cities with Gentile populations and typical Greco-Roman structures—pagan temples, hippodromes, etc." (Ryrie)
Galilee - "We notice a two-fold description of Galilee, namely, as the land of Zebulon and Nephtali and as the Galilee of the nations. Read Genesis 49:13, 'Zebulon shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of ships and his border shall be upon Zidon.' Jacob's prophecy outlines the history of the sons of Jacob, that is, the whole nation, and Zebulon signifies the time of their rejection, when they become merchantmen. Here in Matthew we see Zebulon swelling by the sea. So that we have the fulfillment of two prophecies before us—the prophecy in the forty-ninth chapter in Genesis and the one in Isaiah. The same is true of Nephtali. This means struggler. 'Nephtali is a hind let loose' (Gen. 49:21). In Jacob's prophecy Nephtali stands for the coming struggling and victorious Jewish remnant. Here, then, in the land of Zebulon and Nephtali the great light shines first." (Gaebelein)
leaving Nazareth - "According to Luke 4:16-30, He left because they tried to kill him." (Ryrie)
Capernaum - "A flourishing city on the western short of the Sea of Galilee and the base of His ministry in Galilee." (Ryrie)
v 14 - "See Isa. 9:1-2 (cf. Isa. 42:6-7) for the source of Jesus' quote." (Ryrie)
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” - "Like John the Baptist, Christ also preached the necessity of repentance before the messianic kingdom could be established." (Ryrie)
"From the lips of the King Himself comes now the proclamation, 'Repent, for the Kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh' (verse 17). He announces that the Kingdom has drawn nigh in that He, the King, is standing in their midst to establish that Kingdom. He never said nor taught of a Kingdom within them. All spiritualizing on these lines of a Kingdom within, which our Lord is made to teach here in Matthew, is wrong. It is the Kingdom John announced which He now preaches. He prolongs the message of the forerunner for a short time and soon His lips were closed, too. We preach not the Gospel of the Kingdom, but the Glad Tidings of Grace. A day is coming when heralds will announce once more the Kingdom to be at hand, and when it will come in the person of the Son of Man coming from heaven with angels of His power in flaming fire (2 Thes 1)." (Gaebelein)
Follow me - "This was their call to service and illustrates the directness, profundity, and power of Christ's commands (cf. 'go...,' Matt 28:19; 'love one another,' John 13:34)." (Ryrie)
James the son of Zebedee - "This is the apostle James, the brother of John, who was martyred under Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:2). Other men are named James in the NT: James the son of Alphaeus, 'the Less' (Mark 15:40), also one of the Twelve (Matt 10:3); James, the half brother of Christ and writer of the epistle of James; James, the father or, less probably, brother of the apostle Judas (to be distinguished from Judas Iscariot; Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13)." (Ryrie)
he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom - "This is the good news that the presence of the King caused the rule of God on the earth 9 in fulfillment of many OT prophecies) to be 'at hand.' Prerequisites for entrance into the kingdom included repentance (v. 17), righteousness (Matt 5:20), childlike faith (Matt 18:3), or, in summary, being born again (John 3:3). Because the people rejected these requirements, Christ taught that His earthly reign would not immediately come (Luke 19:11). However, this gospel of the kingdom will be preached again during the Tribulation (Matt 24:14), just prior to the return of Christ to establish His kingdom on earth (Matt 25:31, 34)." (Ryrie)
and healing every disease and every affliction - "Closely connected with the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom was the healing of every disease not spiritual, but every bodily disease and weakness. The healing of disease is always connected with the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom. The healings were signs that the King is the Jehovah and that the Kingdom had drawn nigh. These signs of healing every disease are the powers of the world to come." (Gaebelein)
"It is interesting that Christ did not come primarily as a miracle-worker. He came to reveal the Father. And He did so by opening up the Scriptures so that people might understand what had been written. The miracles substantiated the truth of His word. Matthew and Mark recorded the fact that Jesus Christ not only served as a teacher, but as a preacher (Matt 4:17; Mark 1:14). As a preacher, He was a proclaimer. The preacher was a prophet, publicly proclaiming God's message. But Christ not only served as a teacher, or a rabbi, in the synagogue but also as a prophet who proclaimed God's message. The message that Jesus proclaimed was identical in content to the message of John, His forerunner. Both said, 'Repent, the kingdom of heaven is near' (Matt 4:17; cf. Matt 3:2). Mark referred to Jesus' message as 'good news' (Mark 1:15). Israel long had waited for the fulfillment of the covenant of promise. Now the good news being given to them was that the kingdom for which they had waited was near. Christ, like John, called on the people to repent. Repentance involved an acknowledgment of sin and resulted in a restoration to fellowship with God from their state of alienation. It involved offering God the acceptable sacrifice that He demanded. The announcement that the kingdom 'is near' added an imperative to the message. Mark noted that the hearers were asked to 'believe the good news.' The truth of the message that was being preached had to be accepted by faith. We note that Mark referred to 'the kingdom of God' (Mark 1:15) and Matthew to 'the kingdom of heaven' (Matt 4:17). The difference in terms does not imply that Jesus was referring to two different kingdoms. Matthew normally used the term 'kingdom of heaven' rather than 'kingdom of God.' This was in keeping with the Jewish fear of taking the name of the Lord their God in vain; Matthew substituted God's dwelling place for the name of God." (Pentecost)
the Decapolis - "A district, originally containing 10 cities, S of the Sea of Galilee, mainly to the E of the Jordan River. These were cities with Gentile populations and typical Greco-Roman structures—pagan temples, hippodromes, etc." (Ryrie)
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