Down an Unfamiliar Road

I once read this brain teaser: “Johnny’s mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named May. What was the third child’s name?” It should only take about 10 seconds to figure this out. But it exemplifies how oft times in life the answer is right before us but because we see only with our imagination instead of our minds, the answers do not come quickly. I read this posting by a young lady who said: “I’ve been an atheist for going on four years now and I feel so free now. May god strike me dead on then spot if I am not serious. I have told many folks that I do not believe in a god and then usually invite the strike down from god. Haven’t had anyone turn away yet or jump back from what they think is coming.” What this poor creature does not realize is that if there really is no God, then why is she asking Him to strike her dead? And if He did strike her dead, what would that prove? It would only prove that God is not patient with foolish people. But He is patient, because His Word has already said: “Only fools think there is no God” (Psalm 14:1).

Most people know that Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden, but contrary to popular opinion it was not because they ate the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Read it for yourself: “The Lord God said, ‘Look, the man has become like us—he knows about good and evil. And now the man might take the fruit from the tree of life. If the man eats that fruit, he will live forever.’ So the Lord God forced the man out of the Garden of Eden.”¹ Yes, that’s right! They were expelled because God did not want any competition! He knew there would one day be many dead gods made out of stone, wood, gold and silver, but He didn’t want a living one made by His own hands. Therefore, God’s plan of salvation is not to restore man back to where he no longer knows right from wrong, but give back to him access to the tree of life once he rejects evil and chooses good. Don’t believe me? Read this: “The angel showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal. The river flows from the throne of God and the Lamb. It flows down the middle of the street of the city. The tree of life is on each side of the river, and it produces fruit every month, twelve times a year. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations.”² So John never saw the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the new Jerusalem, only the tree of life. That’s why it is so incomprehensible that many of Adam and Eve’s descendants are today still enthralled by the fruit on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but have no desire to eat from the tree of life. If they keep eating from the wrong tree, they might live down here to be 120 some day, but if they eat of the right tree, they will be able to live up there forever!

UPDATE FOR ALL MY PRECIOUS STUDENTS AND THOSE WHO LOVE GOD’S WORD!

We just finished Chapter 4 of Matthew’s Gospel.  There we learned more about what the devil was really up to in his temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.  We also saw the start of Jesus’ official ministry and those fishermen that He called to follow Him so He could teach them the truth from His Father in heaven.  We also saw that from the beginning of our Lord’s ministry, healing of the sick was part of His mission to show that the power of God was not only in heaven, but also on earth.

Now that we’ve read about what was said concerning Jesus of Nazareth, in Chapter 5 we will learn what Jesus had to say.  It’s important to not only read what He said, but what He meant when He said it.  We will also see how what He said was already part of the teachings among the Jews and why His interpretation of it was so special.  His audiences knew what the Rabbis taught concerning the Word of God, but now they were being given the pleasure of hearing from the WORD Himself.

We will start this section on Monday.  See you then!

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.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER FOUR

Part IV

Verses 23-24: “Jesus went everywhere throughout Galilee.”

Apparently Peter told his nephew Mark, that after calling the disciples, Jesus went up early the next morning into the nearby hills to pray. When He came down He woke up His disciples, He said to them, “Let’s go elsewhere into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because I have come out in the open for this reason.”¹ Luke found out from his resources that the crowds didn’t want Jesus to leave. But He told them, “I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also. I was sent for this very reason.”² So now Matthew tells us that after calling four of disciples, Jesus took a tour throughout Galilee. John Gill describes it as: “…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, sovereignty, and riches, of His abounding goodness. He went about “all” this country, both upper and lower Galilee, which was very populous.”³

In his personal autobiography, Jewish historian Flavius Josephus tells about a trip he made to Galilee. “I came into Galilee, and found the people of Sepphoris in no small agony about their country, by reason that the [leading] Galileans had resolved to plunder it, on account of the friendship they had with the Romans, and because they had given their right hand [of fellowship], and made a league with Cestius Gallus, the president of Syria.”⁴ But that’s not all, after Josephus arrived he found another man named Jesus was very involved. Says, Josephus, “So Jesus the son of Sapphias, one of those whom we have already mentioned as the leader of a seditious tumult of mariners and poor people, prevented us, and took with him certain Galileans, and set the entire palace on fire, and thought he should get a great deal of money thereby, because he saw some of the roofs gilt with gold. They also plundered a great deal of the furniture, which was done without our approval; for after we had spoken with Capellus and the principal men of the city, we departed from Bethmaus, and went into the Upper Galilee. But Jesus and his party slew all the Greeks that were inhabitants of Tiberias, and as many others as were their enemies before the war began.”⁵

But this was not Jesus of Nazareth, because Josephus says that when he went, “to the house of Jesus, which indeed was a large castle, and very much like a citadel.”⁶ Josephus describes Galilee during this period some 25 years after Christ’s ascension in a letter to Justus: “To be sure, the greatest cities of Galilee, O Justus! were Sepphoris, and your country Tiberias. But Sepphoris, is situated in the very middle of Galilee, and is surrounded by many villages,”⁷ and “…there are two hundred and forty cities and villages in Galilee.”⁸ So Matthew records our Lord’s ministry in this area: “He taught in the synagogues and told the Good News about God’s kingdom. And he healed all the people’s diseases and sicknesses. The news about Jesus spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all those who were sick. They were suffering from different kinds of diseases and pain. Some had demons inside them, some were thought to be crazy, and some were paralyzed. Jesus healed them all.”

When most Christians hear the word “synagogue,” they think of a building that resembles a church. But in Jesus’ day it was quite different. First of all, it was most often referred to as a house of prayer.⁹ That’s what Jesus applied to the Temple when He went there to clear out the money changers.¹⁰ Jewish scholars tell us that in any town or village, it is the place where Jews come together for community prayer services. Jews can satisfy the obligations of daily prayer by praying anywhere; however, there are certain prayers that can only be said in the presence of a quorum of 10 adult men, and tradition teaches that there is more merit to praying with a group than there is in praying alone. The sanctity of the synagogue for this purpose is second only to The Temple. In fact, in rabbinical literature, the synagogue is sometimes referred to as the “little Temple.” Any house or building could be used for a synagogue, which also usually served as the residence of the synagogue keeper.

By the time Jesus came these synagogues had progressed to also include schools and places for Rabbi’s to teach their students. Here was where Jesus taught and performed many of His miracles. A lot of people limit the miracles of Christ to those described individually in the Gospels. Here we have evidence enough to believe that just in this one time period in Galilee, He performed more wonders than all those described in detail by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In reference to people coming from Syria, the northern part of Israel at that time was very near the border with Syria, so this was not too far out as a possibility. As a matter of fact, Josephus tells us that Damascus had a large Jewish contingency, and that many of the Syrian men were married to women who had embraced the Jewish religion.¹¹ It is also worthwhile to take note that up until now Jesus had not yet visited Jerusalem nor His home town of Bethlehem, yet His reputation had already spread there.

Matthew does not give us any details about exactly what Jesus preached, only that it was the Good News about the Kingdom of God. I like what one commentator says: “The gospel of the kingdom is not a message about getting to go to heaven. It is not a message for the hereafter, or the world to come. It is a message for today. It is a message that men and women can come in contact with the power of the living God who breaks through the space time continuum to meet them at the point of their human need. It is a message that men and women can be delivered, healed, made whole, by the power of the living God. That was the ‘good news.’ That was the gospel of the kingdom.”¹²

Matthew ends this section by making sure the reader knows that along with those who were physically ill, many came who were emotionally ill. Here in the KJV they are called “lunatiks.” The actual Greek word here is selēniazomai which means “moon struck,” which some scholars have interpreted as being epileptic. This is the way it is described in a famous medieval lexicon.¹³ Most people in that day attributed this to demonic powers, but there is no reason not to believe that today we might refer to them as being mentally ill, even those suffering from Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis and even Down’s Syndrome.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER FOUR

Part III (con’t)

Verses 19-20: Now we are given even more information that may help us understand why Jesus moved from Nazareth to Capernaum. “Jesus said to them, ‘Come, follow me, and I will make you a different kind of fishermen. You will bring in people, not fish.’ Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed Him.”

According to Luke, before Jesus called these diciples He ask them if He could use their boat as a platform to continue speaking to the crowd that had gathered there. They agreed. And after Jesus finished, then He told them they could now go out and fish. But another thing to take into consideration is that it appears that Jesus did not have to introduce Himself to these fishermen. Both Andrew and Peter had met Jesus while they were followers of John the Baptizer, and they spent some time alone with Him,¹ contrary to the way this call to discipleship is often presented. No doubt Jesus was going by what they had previously talked about, and the fact that John the Baptizer was now dead. Jesus saw their skills in being able to catch fish, and applied that to the concept of them becoming fishers of men. The Aramaic Version has “fishers of the sons of men.” One esteemed Rabbi gives us a very insightful comment on how to combine one’s work with one’s studies. He says:

“Until when is a person obligated to study Torah?² Until the day he dies, as it states: ‘Lest you remove it from your heart, all the days of your life.’³ Whenever a person is not involved with study, he forgets.

A person is obligated to divide his study time in three parts: one third should be devoted to the Written Word; one third to the Spoken Word; and one third to understanding and conceptualizing the ultimate derivation of a concept from its roots, inferring one concept from another and comparing concepts, understanding the Torah based on the principles of Biblical exegesis, until one appreciates the essence of those principles and how the prohibitions and the other decisions which one received according to the Spoken Word can be derived using them. The latter topic is called Gemara.⁴

How is the above expressed? A person who is a craftsman may spend three hours each day involved in his work, and devote nine hours to Torah study…The ‘words of the prophetic tradition’ are considered part of the Written Word; and their explanation, part of the Spoken Word. The matters referred to here as Pardes⁵ are considered part of the Gemara.⁶ The above applies in the early stages of a person’s study. However, when a person increases his knowledge and does not have the need to read the Written Word, or occupy himself with the Spoken Word constantly, he should study the Written Word and the Spoken Word at designated times. Thus, he will not forget any aspect of the laws of the Torah. However, he should focus his attention on the Gemara alone for his entire life, according to his ambition and his ability to concentrate.⁷

Over my half century in the ministry, both in seminary, missions, pastoring, chaplaincy and administrative work, I have met so many ministers who were more dependent on their memory of what they heard from others, rather than searching God’s Word to gain insight into what the disciples heard from the Word Himself. When Jesus called these disciples, He gave them a new net to spread and cast, which was the Gospel.⁸ It may have been at this point that Matthew started telling the story, and then continues from there.

Verses 21-22: “Jesus continued walking by Lake Galilee. He saw two other brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee. They were preparing their nets to catch fish. Jesus told the brothers to come with him. So they immediately left the boat and their father, and they followed Jesus.”

There can be no question as to Christ’s ability to see the true character of an individual as in the case of Nathanael. And their immediate and uncompromising acceptance of His bidding indicates enough prior knowledge about Him to leave very few questions in their minds that He was not only equal to John the Baptizer, but the One prophesied to replace him. But there were more that Jesus wanted to call to follow Him. As our Lord continued walking along the shoreline, he came to another boat where a man named Zebedee was getting ready with his two sons, James and John, to go out fishing. I can only imagine the look on their father’s face when Jesus walked up and told the two young men, “Follow me,” and they dropped their nets, jumped off the boat and took off after Him. Again, this shows that Jesus was no stranger. They had heard enough to know what an honor and privilege it was to be called by someone many believed to be the promised Messiah.

The Jews make mention of these disciples in their writings: “Akiba you have reminded me, I was once walking in the upper-market of Sepphoris⁹ when I came across one of the disciples of Jesus the Nazarene, Jacob of Kefar-Sekaniah by name.”¹⁰ Then again of an incident involving the disciples of Jesus: “It once happened to Ben Dama the son of Rabbi Ishmael’s sister that he was bitten by a serpent and Jacob [James], a native of Kefar Sekaniah.¹¹ Commentators say: “…this Jacob may have been either James the son of Alphaeus¹² or James the Little¹³.”¹⁴ In an earlier writing we read this as well: “There was a case in which a snake bit Eleazar ben Dama. Jacob of Kefar Sama came forward to heal him in the name of Jesus Pantera [Jesus of Nazareth]. But Rabbi Ishmael would not allow him to do so.”¹⁵ And in a later version it says: “Ben Dama, the nephew of Rabbi Ishmael was pious and wise and died of snakebite. He did not want to use the Christian charms against such a wound so as not to contravene the words of his colleagues, for their words are like unto snakebite. For this transgression is more heinous than snakebite. He died immediately and did not feel a thing. Rabbi Ishmael said of him, Blessed are you that you departed from this world in peace, and did not break the fences of the sages, as it says, ‘He who breaks a fence’ etc. The snake bit him but the snakebite of heresy won’t deprive him of the World-to-Come.”¹⁶ So it appears that James was very active within the Jewish community after the resurrection of Jesus, and we will find out later how prominent he became. So the close nit group of people that Jesus called to follow Him, along with His being a relative of John the Baptizer should dispel any notion that these men were all strangers and unknown to our Lord.

I think we could safely say, that when God sends the Holy Spirit to call us to Jesus to receive repentance and follow Him, He does so because He already knows us. He sees our potential. Not as recovering sinners, but as budding saints. That’s why being chosen and experience the new birth is such a privilege to everyone who is called. This gift to become a child of God should be cherished with love and dedication. But just as in the case of these disciples, we are called to follow our Lord Jesus and become fishers of men, not sit on the sideline and watch the game.

The next time someone tells you, especially your pastor, that Jonah was swallowed by a whale, please discreetly let them know they are incorrect. First of all, the Bible doesn’t call it a whale, but a huge fish. Also, it couldn’t have been a whale because whales are not fish. Whales are warm blooded, which means they keep a high body temperature that does not change in the cold water. Fish are cold-blooded, so their body temperature changes depending on the temperature of their environment. Whales actually breathe air with lungs using their blowholes to breath out! Whales are mammals! It’s always best to know what the Bible really says so when you do quote it, you quote it correctly. If God’s words calls something an abomination, then it’s an abomination, not a matter of personal choice or preference, or a wrong that you have somehow made right. The reason this is so important is because on Judgment Day it’s what God says that will count, not what we think – Dr. Robert R Seyda

The Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), Warden of New College, Oxford, unconsciously switched the first letters of successive words, causing uproarious laughter in his congregation. After awhile, these verbal slip-ups earned the nickname, “Spoonerisms.” Some examples were instead of saying “tons of soil,” he said, “sons of toil;” rather than “loving shepherd,” he said “shoving leopard;” and in place of “so help me God,” he said “go help me Sod.” One Spoonerism I heard, told of a preacher under what appeared to be a heavy anointing, sweating as he flung his arms, preaching to the top of his voice, encouraging his congregation to fight back against the devil and quoting Ephesians 6:16. However, instead of saying: “…quench all the fiery darts of the wicked,” he yelled, “quench all the diery farts of the wicked.” It is not surprising that instead on continuing, he decided to quickly close in prayer.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER FOUR

Part III

It is also worth noting that the mention of Galilee as being the place where many non-Jews lived seems to be a parenthetical statement placed there by the scribe that was translating Matthew’s notes from Hebrew into Greek. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that once the Jews regained their freedom after being made slaves by the Macedonians, and after many struggles, and great battles, Judas, the general of their army continued fighting until he died in battle fighting for them. This calamity of the Jews was greater than anything they had experienced since their return out of Babylonian exile. But those companions of Judas who survived, seeing that the nation was ready to be destroyed in a miserable manner, came to his brother Jonathan, and begged him to follow the example of his brother who took good care of his countrymen. Later, when Jonathan received a letter from King Demetrius who, in an act of gratitude for Jonathan’s friendship, said “I relinquish my control over them as of this day: and as to the poll-money, which ought to be given me for every head of the inhabitants of Judea, as well as the three hierarchies that adjoin to Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, and Peres.”¹ This shows that Galilee at the time of Jesus was inhabited mostly by Jews.

For Matthew, none of this was coincidental, it had all been arranged by the prophecy in Isaiah.² In his mind, the light that now came to dwell in Capernaum was none other than the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. John Gill comments on this portion of Matthew and gives an explanation of Isaiah prophecy as it “relates to the place where the Messiah was chiefly to fulfill his ministry, as the great prophet in Israel, which appears to be Galilee of the nations.”³ Says Gill, “…that whereas those parts of the land of Israel mentioned here, had suffered much by Tiglath Pilezer,who had carried them captive,⁴ which is the vexation referred to; so they should be very much honored and glorified, by the presence and conversation of the Messiah, who is the great light, in verse 9:2, that was to shine in those dark and obscure parts, and give light unto them, and there become famous himself, and make them so by his doctrines, miracles, and holy life and conversation; who is no other than the child born, and son given, of whom such great things are spoken, and to whom such magnificent titles are given in verses 6 and 7.”⁵ And there are others in the Jewish community who look back and come to the same conclusion. Arthur Edward Waite notes that in their literature that speaks about the date of the arrival of the Messiah they say: “…it is said that heaven shall visit the daughter of Jacob…the King Messiah shall be revealed in the province of Galilee.”⁶

Now that Jesus had resettled, Matthew goes on to tell the reader, “From that time Jesus began to tell people his message: ‘Change your hearts and lives, because God’s kingdom is now very near.’”

No doubt Jesus wanted the message that John the Baptizer had been preaching to remain relevant. After all, if John the Baptizer could no longer announce His arrival, then He needed to start letting it be known that His ministry was about to begin. That’s why the light needed to shine on its own accord. “Light” was often used as a metaphor for the Messiah.⁷ This was certainly a part of Jewish Theology. For instance, one Rabbi commented on what David wrote: “Light is sown for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart,”⁸ by saying: “…this light alludes to the royal Messiah.”⁹ And in another Jewish book we read: “Finally, according to the very wise Rabbi Bibi, the name ‘The Enlightened One’¹⁰ is given to the Messiah.”¹¹ And another highly respected Rabbi comments on David’s words: “Send Your light and Your truth,”¹² by saying: “The King Messiah, who is compared to light, as it is stated: ‘I have set up a lamp for my anointed.”¹³ And a well-known Jewish philosopher points out that “Zebulun is a symbol of light, since his name means the departure of night; and when the night departs and leaves us, then of necessity light arises.”¹⁴

So as we can see, Matthew’s quote of Isaiah has a double meaning when it comes to Zebulun,¹⁵ because the light there had gone out until the Light arrived to make Capernaum His temporary earthly home. But I like the way a Jewish writer summarizes the comparison between Jesus and John the Baptizer: “The young Nazarene was of an altogether different temperament from that of John the Baptizer, the stern, Elijah-like preacher in the wilderness; he manifested Himself as a preacher and as a healer of the sick for whom He had profound love, and tender sympathy for suffering humanity…This drew him toward that class of people who were shunned as unclean by the uncompromising leaders of the Pharisees…His simple countrymen, the fishers and shepherds of Galilee, on hearing His wise and humane teachings and seeing His miraculous cures, considered him a prophet and a conqueror of the hosts of demons, the workers of disease…He felt it to be his calling to bring the good tidings of salvation to the poor and outcast, to “seek the lost sheep of the house of Israel” and win them for God.”¹⁶

Verses 18-22: “As Jesus was walking by Lake Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Simon’s brother Andrew. These brothers were fishermen, and they were fishing in the lake with a net.”

Luke tells us that this happened after Jesus finished speaking to the crowd that came out to hear Him teach. But instead of using their nets to fish, Luke says they were washing their nets. Therefore, the location of this event was on the Sea of Galilee near the city of Capernaum. It was called Lake Kinneret earlier because it is shaped like a harp, which is “kinner” in ancient Hebrew. Also, Peter’s name can cause some confusion. In the Galilean dialect his first name was pronounced “Shim’on,”¹⁷ while in the Judean accent it was “Simon.” His surname was “Cephas” (also spelled “Kefa” and “Caiphas”) which means “rock,” and in Greek is “Petros.” In this case, since the Gospels come to us in Greek, but Jesus spoke in Aramaic, He never really called him “Petros” in Greek, but “Caiphas” in Hebrew. Therefore, his last name – “Peter” came to us in English, but that is not the language Jesus used. So to be authentic, we should always refer to him as Simon, as Jesus did.¹⁸

So this is a matter here in the text of the writer saying that there were two brothers, one called Simon (in Hebrew), who is called Peter (in Greek). As such, Simon Cephas became better known in Christendom by his last name in Greek, Petros, and Peter in English. We see this combination of Hebrew and Greek names among the disciples in many places.¹⁹ Even in Jewish writings we encounter such combinations, such as this: “Rabbi Yosé bar Petros, father-in-law of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi by reason of Joshua’s first wife, had a bereavement.”²⁰ John tells us that Simon and Andrew were from Bethsaida, which is near Capernaum, and interestingly enough means in Hebrew, “House of Fishing.” It should be noted that Jesus found these man at work. They were not standing around in the market place or wandering along the shoreline looking for seashells. And even though they came from a class of people who were not educated, beyond learning their craft, yet He knew that with His touch he could turn them into apostles that would turn the world upside down.²¹

This should give hope and faith to anyone who is called into the ministry. Regardless of your status at the time, God sees your potential. He will not force it on you, nor will He transform you from a backward person into a bright outgoing personality on His own. But He will open the doors for you to study, learn, train and grow in the Word and in the Spirit. But you must show the energy, will and dedication to follow the path He lays out for you. I speak to this from personal experience, and praise my Lord for calling a small town boy with marsh mud between his toes into the ministry, where I was given the privilege to preach and teach His Word in Europe, USA and Asia, to thousands of people. Glory to His matchless name!

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.