NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER FOUR

Part II (con’t)

Verse 11: “So the devil left Him alone. Then some angels came to Jesus and attended to Him.”

This is a mission and ministry for which the angels are thoroughly trained. They always show up with exactly what is needed, and stay as long as it takes to provide assistance. Later on, Jesus let it be known that there were 12,000 angels on-call and ready to respond to His slightest nod.¹ We are also told that after His agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, an angel was dispatched to His side to help steady Him.² In addition, we know that angels were dispatched to roll the stone away at the tomb.³ Therefore, since we are also sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ, these angels are also prepared to assist us whenever the Father deems it necessary.

Verses 12-17: “Jesus heard that John was put in prison, so He went back to Galilee. But He did not stay in Nazareth. He went to live in Capernaum, a town near Lake Galilee in the area near Zebulun and Naphtali.”

Some scholars point out that there is an obvious break between Matthew’s record of Jesus during His temptation in the wilderness and His hearing about John the Baptizer’s arrest. This suggests that our Lord was still in the area where He had been baptized by John, which was close to Jericho. So no doubt some of John the Baptizer’s disciples sent word to Him of what had happened. Of course, Jesus knew that this placed Him in danger of perhaps being arrested as John the Baptizer’s friend. So that is why He left immediately for Galilee.

Josephus gives us a broader view of not only what happened before, but what came after Herod’s despicable act. Says the Jewish historian: “Now, when crowds came to gather around John the Baptizer, they were greatly moved by hearing his words. Herod, who feared lest the great influence that John the Baptizer had over the people might give him the power and desire to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do anything he advised them to do), thought it best, to prevent any mischief John the Baptizer might cause, that would bring him difficulties, if he spared a man who would cause him to be sorry, after it was too late. Accordingly, he was sent as a prisoner, because of Herod’s suspicious mind, to the castle Machaerus.”⁴

So apparently when Jesus returned from the rural area of Judea to Nazareth, He went by to see His mother and family before departing on His way to initiate His formal entrance into His ministry. Not only that, but in order to remain out of reach by the authorities in Jerusalem who might be looking for John the Baptist’s family members in that area, He relocated to Capernaum on the north side of the Sea of Galilee. The village of Nazareth was too small to serve as the headquarters for His nation-wide ministry, He wanted to be at the crossroads where He could interact with all kinds of people everyday, not hidden away in some cloister in an isolated village.

The more I’ve learned about our Lord’s ministry, it strikes me that in the past so many Christian travelers, historians and archaeologists have concentrated on Bethlehem and Nazareth, while the fact is that Jesus spent most of His adult life in Capernaum. And this is where most of His disciples and followers came from. As a matter of fact, this area was and would continue to be, an important center of rabbinic Judaism as we see in their writings: “Raba once said: ‘I am today in the company of Ben Azzai in the markets of Tiberias.’ [Ban Azzai was the most prominent speakers of his day and his discourses were usually delivered in the market place of Tiberias] which was located in Capernaum.”⁵ Thus we can see that Jesus was not a recluse who lived in a cave like a hermit and only came out on occasions to speak. Yet some may question as to why He left Nazareth. It has been pointed out that this was where He was educated, and had lived many years together with His family; and where he no doubt became known, especially after His visit to Jerusalem at age twelve. He must have gained a good reputation as a scholar of God’s Word.

However on His last visit, his neighbors were very much displeased with Him because of His claim in being the Anointed One spoken of by Isaiah, so they drove him out of their city with the intent of destroying Him by throwing Him headlong from the brow of a hill; which may have been one reason why He moved away. So it was off to Capernaum. The original Semitic name of the settlement of Capernaum is “Kefar Nahum” i.e. the village of Nahum. It is not possible to identify this Nahum after whom the village was named. Some ancient writers bypassed the problem of identification since they took Nahum as a common noun. For instance, Origen interpreted Kefar Nahum as “the village of consolation” from the etymological meaning of the Hebrew root nhm (consolation). While Jerome saw it differently, perhaps Origen was influenced by the fact that it was here Jesus fled after hearing about John the Baptizer’s imprisonment and death.

According to Jewish tradition, Haninah, the nephew of Rabbi Joshua, once went to Capernaum where he met with some people they called heretics, and it was claimed that they did something mystical to him. One commentator says “they bewitched him.” As a result, according to tradition, the Jews had very little good to say about Capernaum because Haninah was made a heretic by the inhabitants of Capernaum. Those heretics are not specifically identified, but scholars have every reason to believe they were Christians.

Matthew then says, “He did this to give full meaning to what the prophet Isaiah said, ‘Listen, land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, lands by the road that goes to the sea, the area past the Jordan River’ – (Galilee, where those from other nations live). ‘The people who live in spiritual darkness have seen a great light. The light has shined for those who live in the land that is as dark as a grave.’”

This quote comes from Isaiah: “But there will be an end to the gloom those people suffered. In the past, people thought the land of Zebulun and Naphtali was not important. But later, that land will be honored – the land along the sea, the land east of the Jordan River, and Galilee where people from other nations live. Those people lived in darkness, but they will see a great light. They lived in a place as dark as death, but a great light will shine on them.”⁶ Matthew’s inspiration to use this as a reference to Jesus and His choice of Capernaum, may no doubt have come from what Isaiah goes on to say: “ This will happen when the special child is born. God will give us a son who will be responsible for leading the people. His name will be ‘Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace.’ His power will continue to grow, and there will be peace without end. This will establish him as the king sitting on David’s throne and ruling his kingdom. He will rule with goodness and justice forever and ever. The unconditional love that the Lord All-Powerful has for his people will make this happen!”⁷

But none of this was arbitrary. It just didn’t happen by some quirk of favorable circumstances. It was all foreordained by our Lord’s heavenly Father before He ever appeared in the flesh here on earth. Why Capernaum? No doubt this was Matthew’s question. So he saw the answer in Isaiah’s prophecy. In any case, this is the area from which Jesus’ disciples were chosen, and from which He went out to minister before His eventual trip to Jerusalem. Peter also had a home here, and no doubt that was where Jesus stayed initially. In addition, some of our Lord’s strongest financial supporters came from this area.