NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER FOUR

Part IV (con’t)

Verse 25: “Large crowds were following Him – people from Galilee, from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and the area across the Jordan River.”

Since the crowd couldn’t get Jesus to stay there in Capernaum, they went with Him. The same reaction will occur today when people see the same demonstration of Jesus’ power in action! But like then, some came out of good will and others out of ill will; some came to see His miracles and praise Him while others came to see His miracles and criticize Him; some wanted to hear Him in order to gain a better understanding of the Kingdom of God, and others to find fault with His doctrine; and a great number came for the healing of their bodies, and yet others for the cleansing of their souls. In Jesus’ case, they not only came to hear Him in one place, but they followed Him to the next place, and I’m sure the crowds grew larger and larger.

We find what some Jews thought of a large crowd that gathered for any reason: “If one sees a crowd of Israelites, he should say: ‘Blessed is he who discerns secrets.’ If he sees a crowd of heathens, he should say: ‘Your mother would be ashamed, etc.’ A few paragraphs later, we read that “a multitude is not less than sixty myriads.”¹ One myriad was generally calculated as being 10,000. However, in this case most scholars think the word was used in its generic form to mean a very, very large crowd. Jews describe the land where this was taking place as follows: “There are three distinct districts in Israel in respect to the law of removal…These are: Judea, Jordan River, and Galilee, and each one of these in turn divided into three districts. “Upper Galilee, Lower Galilee, and the Valley. From where the sycamores do not grow toward the north is Upper Galilee. From there to the south is Lower Galilee; and area of Tiberias including Capernaum, is considered part of the Valley.”²

We get a picture of Upper Galilee from Rabbi Ishmael who was speaking of a property owner there for whom his father worked. He says: “They used to pasture their flocks in forests…very near to their estates, but there was also a little field near by belonging to others, and the cattle were led this route.”³ And in another place it describes the city of Sepphoris in Upper Galilee. According to comments in the footnotes it states that Sepphoris (5 km northwest of Nazareth) was perched on the top of a mountain like a bird. It was the capital of Galilee and has been identified with the city of Kitron⁴.⁵ Scholars point out that this city is not mentioned in the journeys and events of Jesus, but he probably visited the city, since it was a commercial center for the whole area, and where he may have helped his father Joseph who received work there as a carpenter. There are many other mentions of this area in Jewish writings.

And it was also the place where Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai who was born and raised in Galilee, researched as many writings as he could covering 3,000 years of Hebrew theology and philosophy, and put it into a document which became known as Zohar (The Book of Light). He began his quest not too long after the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. Today this book influences the thoughts and conduct of millions of Jews who see it as their New Testament. So it is not out of coincidence that this also became the area of Jesus’ ministry at the beginning of His time as a prophet. It is also not coincidental that the Zohar is very prophetic and Messianic in its content.

We also know that Jesus visited Decapolis where He ran into those possessed by demons. Pliny the Elder, the Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, gives quite a detailed description of this area and the many cities that made up this region, about six miles SE of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus cast out the legions of demons.⁶ He mentions “Gadara, with the River Hieromiax running through it.”⁷ And they also came from the other side of the Jordan River from an area called Peraea. In addition to Judea and Galilee, this region was always included in Talmudic writings. For instance, the Jews tell us: “Our Rabbis taught: The grain and fruit of the following three regions are taken as the standard for deciding upon the declaration of a leap-year: Judea, Trans-Jordan, and Galilee.”⁸ We find these same three mention in addition Jewish writings.⁹ We then find out: “The following regions are regarded as three individual countries in respect to matrimony, Judea, Trans-Jordan and Galilee.”¹⁰ And one of the more interesting comments on this area is made by a Jewish Philosopher and Theologian who speaks of this area, describing its mountainous portion, its plain, its valley, and its sea.¹¹

Also, much is said in the Torah about the settling of this area by the children of Israel after crossing the Jordan River.¹² But as one scholar put it, “The country on the east side of the Jordan river was not as esteemed by the Jews as was the land of Israel on the west side. This may have been caused by what we read about the Israelites who settled on the east side of the Jordan were suspected of not having any interest in helping the rest of the Israelite tribes to conquer the rest of Canaan because this region had such a good grazing area for their cattle.”¹³ The Jewish philosopher we quoted earlier clearly states: “The entire Land of Israel is more sanctified than all other lands. How is its holiness expressed? The offering of the two loaves offered on the Day of Pentecost, and the first fruits must be produced in Israeli territory and cannot be brought from other lands.”¹⁴ Not only that, but we see another comment about this area: “…even if they are from beyond the Jordan since, this too, is land God gave to Israel. Therefore, firstfruits are not brought from beyond the Jordan, for that is not referred to as the land flowing with milk and honey.”¹⁵

This should help you to better understand and envision the area where Jesus started His ministry. It was not the heart of Judea, nor was considered sacred ground as was Mt. Zion and the holy city of Jerusalem. No wonder Jesus’ brothers finally felt led to tell Him that He needed to go to Jerusalem if He wanted to be noticed and have His ministry appreciated. But Jesus had no interest in starting out at the top of society in the big city and then drop to the bottom in the rural areas, but to begin at the bottom rung of Jewish society and then climb to the top of Mount Zion, then to the top of Mount Calvary where He would then become known around the world.