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Jesus dwells in Capernaum,

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11 Then the devil leaveth him, || 13 And leaving Nazareth, he came A. M. 4034.

and, behold, hangels came and minis

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and dwelt in Capernaum, which is
upon the sea-coast, in the borders of Zabulon
and Nephthalim ;

14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

iv. 14, 31; John iv. 43.2 Or, delivered up

and to continue the preaching interrupted by his confinement, being desirous to improve those good

h Heb. i. 14. Mark i. 14; Luke iii. 20; very passage to have no weight in it. God alone, say they, is to be worshipped as the first and principal cause of all things, and the chief author of our || impressions which the ministry of John had made

salvation; but yet, religious worship and service may be paid to Christ, as the intermediate cause of that salvation which God, by him, hath revealed and

on the minds of the people, and which would not be erased but deepened by the injurious things they saw him suffer. Thus it becomes one messenger brought to us. For as there are no footsteps of this of God to carry on the work begun by another. distinction in the holy Scriptures, so it is plain that || But it is to be observed, that this was not the first, our Lord's reply to Satan here entirely condemns it. || but the second time of Jesus's going into Galilee. The devil, it is manifest, did not require to be wor-Nor did he take this journey immediately upon his

shipped by Jesus as the original cause and supreme governor of the world. He frankly owns that all the power he had over the kingdoms of the earth was given to him. He claims, therefore, only a subordinate worship; and yet our Lord rejects his claim, not on the ground of his being a liar and usurper, who had no such power, and therefore had no right to any such worship; but on the ground of God only having a right to any kind of religious worship, saying, in the words of Moses, Thou shalt || worship the Lord thy God, and him ONLY shalt thou serve. Christ, therefore, cannot be worshipped lawfully, if he be not God as well as man.

Verse 11. Then the devil-Being so baffled and confounded as not to be able to present any other temptation which seemed more likely to prevail,

temptation; but at some distance of time, viz., after the events had taken place which are recorded in the latter part of the first, and in the second and third chapters of John's gospel. His first journey from Judea into Galilee is mentioned John i. 43, and ii. 1. Then he went into Judea again, and celebrated the passover at Jerusalem, John ii. 13. He baptized in Judea, while John was baptizing at Enon, John iii. 22, 23. All this time John was at liberty. But the Pharisees being offended, chap. iv. 1, and John put in prison, he then took this journey into Galilee.

Verse 13. Leaving Nazareth-Namely, when they had rejected his word, and even attempted to kill him, as is described Luke iv. 29: he came and dwelt in Capernaum, upon the sea-coast" Capernaum is nowhere mentioned in the Old Testament, either

leaveth him--Namely, for a season, as Luke observes, || by its own name or by any other. Probably it was

meditating no doubt some future assault, and espe- one of those towns which the Jews built after their cially designing, by and by, to use all stratagems to return from Babylon. Its exact situation has not, take away his life. And, behold, angels came and as yet, been determined with certainty by geogra ministered unto him-Not only furnishing him with phers: only, from its being on the confines of the proper supplies for his hunger, but also congratu-two tribes, Reland and others conjecture that it stood somewhere on the north-west shore of the lake of

lating him on so illustrious a victory over the prince of darkness; and doing him honour by the appear-Gennesareth. According to Josephus, Bell., iii. 18, ance of a number of them, (for one of them would the length of this lake was one hundred furlongs, or nave sufficed to bring him food,) after this horrible | twelve miles and a half, and its breadth forty fur

combat with Satan, to which, for wise and gracious || reasons, he was pleased to condescend. And it may encourage us in all our temptations to remem- || ber, that if our conflict be thus maintained, the struggle will, ere long, be over; and angels, who are now spectators of the combat, will at length congratulate our victory. God teaches us, by all this, that our lives are to have their vicissitudes of temptation and consolation, and that our temptation shall have a happy issue, and that when ordinary

longs, or five miles. Pliny says it was sixteen miles long, and six broad. Anciently, the lake of Gennesareth was called the sea of Chinneroth, Num. xxxiv. 11; but in later times, it was named the sea of Galilee, because that country formed part of its shore, and the sea of Tiberias, from the city Tiberias, lying on the south-west coast thereof. Its bottom is gravel, which gives its waters both a good colour and taste. The river Jordan runs through the middle of it, and stocks it with a variety of excellent

means fail we may expect extraordinary helps. fish. In the countries round this lake, our Lord

spent a great part of the two former years of his public life; and though he afterward enlarged the compass of his journeys, yet they always enjoyed a considerable share of his blessed company and divine instructions."-Macknight.

Verse 12. Now when Jesus had heard that John || was cast into prison-Namely, for reproving Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, for taking his brother Philip's wife, and for other evils, ch. xiv. 3, 4: hedeparted into Galilee-Viz., from Judea. This it seems he did, partly to avoid the envy of the Pharisees, John iv. 3, and partly to encourage John's disciples, || whereby was fulfilled, that which was spoken by

Verses 14, 15. That it might be fulfilled-Or, Jesus begins to preach,

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15 * The land of Zabulon, and the || 17 m From that time Jesus began A. M. 4035.

land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16 1 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up.

Isa. ix. 1, 2. Isa. xlii. 7; Luke ii. 32.- - m Mark i. 14, 15.
Chap. iii. 2; x. 7.

Esaias-Namely, chap. ix. 1, 2, where see the notes.
The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim,
&c.-Isaiah, in this passage, comforts the Jewish
Church of his time against the desolation about to

to preach, and to say, "Repent: for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand.*

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18° And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

* St. Andrew's Day, gospel, verse 18 to verse 23. Mark i. 16-18; Luke v. 2.--P John i. 42.

strangers resorting to the trading towns on the lake, who, after hearing Jesus preach, could carry home with them the glad tidings of salvation which were the subjects of his sermons. Capernaum, chosen by

be made through the Assyrian invasion, by foretel-Christ as the place of his residence, was a town of

ling that they who should have the greatest share in that calamity should afterward enjoy, in the greatest plenty, the means of salvation through Christ's abode and preaching among them: By the way of the sea-That is, on the coasts of the lake of Gennesareth, commonly called a sea: Galilee of the Gentiles-Or nations; that is, Galilee in the confines of, or encompassed by, the heathen nations. Or, perhaps the reason of the name may rather be, that many Gentiles were early settled there, and

this kind, and much frequented. 2d, The countries round the lake were remote from Jerusalem, the seat of the scribes and Pharisees, who would not have borne with patience the presence of a teacher held in such estimation as Jesus deservedly was. We know this by what happened in the beginning of his ministry, when he made and baptized many disciples in Judea. They took such offence at it, that he was obliged to leave the country. Wherefore, as it was necessary that he should spend a

had filled the country with a variety of supersti- || considerable time in preaching and working mira

tions, in consequence of Solomon's giving a tract of land here to Hiram. See 1 Kings ix. 11-13. Hence it was soon filled with foreigners, and peopled with a mixture of Phœnicians, Egyptians, and Arabians, as we learn from Strabo, an ancient writer.

cles, both for the confirmation of his mission, and for the instruction of his disciples in the doctrines they were afterward to preach, these countries were, of all others, the most proper for him to reside in, or rather, they were the only places where

Verse 16. The people who sat in darkness-They || he could be with safety for any time."

whose predecessors were afflicted by the Assyrians, and who, before Christ visited them, were captives of Satan, and had lived in gross ignorance of God and religion, being far from Jerusalem, the place of

Verse 17. From that time Jesus began to preachHe had preached before, both to Jews and Samaritans, John iv. 41, 45, but from this time he began to preach publicly and statedly, and to insist on the

us, and other wicked heathen: saw a great light -This is spoken by Isaiah in the prophetic style, which represents things future as already accomplished, because certainly to be accomplished. This

reason, for the repentance which John taught, still was, and ever will be, the necessary preparation for that inward kingdom of heaven, or, of God, which is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

worship, and intermixed with the Tyrians, Sidoni-same doctrine that John had done and with good

whole country had been overspread with spiritual | The phrase, however, is not only used with regard darkness, but, by the example and preaching of to individuals, in whom that kingdom is to be estabChrist, the day-spring from on high visited it, dif-lished, but also with regard to the Christian Church,

fusing among its inhabitants knowledge and holiness, and guiding their feet into the way of peace. "There were several reasons," says Dr. Macknight, "which might determine Jesus to be so much about the sea of Galilee. 1st, The countries which surrounded this sea were large, fertile, and populous,

the whole body of believers. In the former sense, it is opposed to repentance, by which it is preceded; in the latter, to the Mosaic dispensation. Our Lord now properly and fully entered upon his prophetic office; which consisted of three things: preaching, or making known the will of God; gathering disci

especially the two Galilees. For, according to Jo-ples; and working miracles. The first of these he

sephus, Bell., iii. 2, they alone had many towns, and
a multitude of villages, the least of which contained
above 15,000 souls. On the east side of the lake were
Chorazin, Gadara, and Hippon; on the west, Ca-
pernaum, Tiberias, Bethsaida, and Tarrichea, with
other places of inferior note. Wherefore, as it was
agreeable to the end of Christ's coming that his
doctrine should be spread extensively, and his mi-
racles wrought publicly, no country could be a fitter |
scene for his ministry than this. Besides its nu-
merous inhabitants, there were at all times many ||

does here, and more largely chap. v., vi., vii., and in his many parables and other discourses. The second, verses 18-22. The third, as being necessary to confirm his doctrine, on all occasions, from time to time, till his departure hence.

Verse 18. And Jesus, walking, &c., saw two brethren-One of the two, at least, namely, Andrew, had been a disciple of the Baptist. And the Apostle John "informs us, chap. i. 40, 42, that they had both before been called to the knowledge of Christ, upon the banks of Jordan, and that the name of Peter Peter and Andrew follow Jesus.

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19 And he saith unto them, Follow || 21 $ And going on from thence, he A. M. 4035. me, and I will make you fishers of

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saw other two brethren, James the
son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship

20 And they straightway left their nets, and with Zebedee their father, mending their nets: followed him.

9 Luke v. 10, 11. Mark x. 28; Luke xviii. 28.

had been given to Simon. And it is probable that, from their first acquaintance with him, they followed Jesus for some time, and went with him to Cana and Capernaum, John. ii. 3, 12; and afterward to Jerusalem, John ii. 13, 17; and tarried with him while he continued in Judea, John iii. 22. But when the Pharisees grew jealous of the number of

and he called them.

* Mark i. 19, 20; Luke v. 10.

their fishing. God does not encourage idleness, nor despise persons in mean employments. And I will make you fishers of men-You shall gather men into the gospel net, and gain them over to the faith; and such abundant success will I give you, that the number of souls converted by you, shall be greater than that of the fishes you have been used to catch.

his followers, and Herod was offended at the popu-See notes on Ezek. xxxvii. 6-10. Observe, reader! larity of John, we may suppose that Jesus, at his || The work of ministers is here set forth. They are

return to Galilee, might think it prudent to dismiss his disciples for a time, till he himself had gone about from place to place to preach the gospel, and had informed the people more particularly of the character of his person, and the nature of his doctrine: or, possibly, they might leave him at the time when the Samaritans prevailed upon him to go with them to their city, John iv. 40. Be this as it may, we read no more of his disciples being with him, till he now found them at the sea of Galilee. For they no sooner were gone home, but they returned again to their old employment, and continued in it till they were now taken off from any further regard to their worldly business, and were particularly || called by Christ to a constant attendance upon him." -Doddridge. Casting a net into the sea. -Namely, || to wash it, for, according to Luke, chap. v. 2, they || were washing their nets, when he called them. For they were fishers-He called such mean persons to

not to fish for a livelihood, much less for honour and applause, to themselves, but to win souls to God, and are to bait their hooks and order their nets for this end: which, however, will never be answered if, either by mere general discourses, they make the meshes so wide that sinners will find an easy passage through them, or, by abstract reasonings, and fine-spun speculations, they make the threads so || small that they can easily break them; or, if they neglect to close the net upon those they have enclosed, by a proper and pointed application of their subject. Nor will all our art or labour make us fishers of men, without the divine blessing. Without this, like the disciples of old, we may toil all day and all night, but we shall catch nothing, or nothing to purpose. And it is to be observed further, that the apostles were not immediately to enter upon the work of the ministry, but were first to follow Jesus. And the apostles, in the choice of one

show, 1st, the freedom of his grace, in choosing such || to succeed Judas, limited themselves in their election

weak instruments; 2d, his power, in that by such men he could subdue the world; 3d, the depth of his wisdom, in providing thus for his own honour, that the instruments might not carry away the glory of the work.

to those that had companied with them all the time the Lord Jesus had gone in and out among them, Acts i. 21. Those who do not observe this become fishers for something else rather than the souls of men. They straightway left their nets and fol

Verses 19, 20. He saith unto them-Namely, after || lowed him-Influenced by the power of his word,

some previous circumstances, an account of which is given, Luke v. 1-11. Follow me-That is, not only now and then, as you have hitherto done, since my || baptism, John i. 37; but now leave your ordinary employments, and become my constant attendants; | that by continually hearing my doctrine, and seeing || my miracles, you may be fitted, in due time, to become my messengers to mankind. It is observable that, when God has called men to offices of dignity

and struck with the wonderful miracle recorded Luke v. 6-9. It is not of indispensable necessity that those who are called to the ministry of the word should have nothing else to do. Paul's hand ministered to his necessities and those of his companions. But it is very desirable that they should be so supported as to be able to give themselves wholly up to the work of the Lord.

Verses 21, 22. Going on from thence-Mark says,

and usefulness among his people, or has particularly || A little further thence, He saw two other brethren,

appeared in their favour, they have generally been | engaged in some honest employment. Saul was seeking his father's asses, and David was keeping his father's sheep, when the Lord called them to the kingdom. The shepherds were feeding their flocks when they received information from the angel, accompanied by the heavenly host, of the birth of Christ. God called Amos from the flock, Gideon from the threshing floor, and the apostles here from ||

James the son of Zebedee, and John his brotherThe reader will observe, there was another James, the son of Alpheus, or Cleophas, commonly called James the Less. In a ship, with Zebedee their father - By the sea-side, mending their nets-Which had been broken by the vast draught of fishes they had taken just before. And he called them-Not with his voice only, but by his Spirit affecting and drawing their hearts, so that they immediately left their

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t Chap. ix. 35; Mark i. 21, 39; Luke iv. 15, 44. -u Chap. xxiv. 14; Mark i. 14. Mark i. 34. Mark iii. 7. ship and their father, and indeed their earthly all, one of ability to do it. Preaching the gospel of the and followed him. kingdom-Namely, that doctrine whereby the king

Verse 23. And Jesus went about all Galilee-Ac-dom of heaven, that is, of grace here and glory here

companied, it seems, by the.four disciples above named; teaching in their synagogues-The word, συναγωγη, rendered, synagogue, may either signify the congregation, or the place in which they assembled. But it seems here, and generally, to mean the latter. Synagogues were in every city, from the time of the Babylonish captivity, and perhaps before that time. For, it is certain, the Jews neither did nor could assemble in the temple at Jerusalem

after, is revealed and offered to men, and, by obedience to which, they come to partake of it. Healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people-Intending by these beneficent actions to confirm his doctrine, at the same time that he relieved the temporal distresses of mankind.

Verse 24. His fame went through all Syria-Of which the country of the Jews and Samaritans was but a small part. Pliny tells us, that Syria con

for public worship every sabbath day, and therefore || tained several provinces, Comagene to the north,

it is probable they had other places throughout the country to assemble in. This seems, indeed, to have been absolutely necessary, not only that the people might join in prayer together, but to bring them, in some degree, acquainted with the law of God. For, as copies of it were very scarce, the body of

Phœnicia to the west, Cœlosyria to the south, Palmyrene, and the province of Seleucia, in the middle part. If, by all Syria, the evangelist means all these different provinces of Syria, our Lord's fame musi at this time have been exceedingly great. Nor is there any thing incredible in the evangelist's affir

the people must, of necessity, have remained igno- || mation, taken in the largest sense. For considering

rant of it, unless it were read to them in public, and that in other places besides the temple, which the women in general could not visit at all, and the men but very seldom. Accordingly, in the lxxivth Psalm, which, by whomsoever it was composed, plainly speaks of the destruction of the temple, of Jerusalem, and of the Jews, by the Chaldeans, we read of all the synagogues of the land being burned up,

the number and greatness of the miracles which he performed, it would not have been beyond belief, had the historian told us that the fame of them reached as far as the communication of the Jews with the rest of the world extended. And they brought unto him those that were possessed with devils, and those lunatic, and those that had the palsy-These are justly reckoned cases of as great

which certainly implies that there were synagogues || misery, and of as little hope, as any to be found

among men. The evangelist, therefore, properly instanced these. And he healed them, and thereby wonderfully displayed both his power and his love.

in the land before they were thus destroyed; and
therefore before the captivity of Babylon. After
the restoration from Babylon, they became very
frequent. Even in Jerusalem itself, where one
would have imagined they were less necessary, on
account of the temple being there, the Hebrew doc-
tors and other ancient and learned writers inform
us, that there were above four hundred. It was
usual to have service in them thrice a day, on three
days of the week, when public prayer was put up,
and the Scriptures were read and expounded. And
though it belonged chiefly to the priests, Levites,
and scribes to teach, yet it was the custom for any || which was Damascus.

56

Verse 25. And there followed him great multitudes -Affected with the sight, or fame of his miracles, which was now very great, from Galilee-Its many and populous towns and villages. See note on verse 15. From Decapolis-A tract of land on the east side of the sea of Galilee, which had its name from δεκα, ten, and πολις, a city, because it contained only ten cities, which were situated near each other, and formed into a distinct district, the metropolis of

Christ's sermon on the mount.

CHAPTER V.

Blessings on the poor in spirit

CHAPTER V.

In this and the following chapters we have our Lord's much-famed sermon on the mount, consisting of three parts. In the first of these, contained in this chapter, we have, (1,) A description of, and a sweet invitation to true holiness and happi. ness, 3-12. (2,) The character and duty of Christ's disciples, who, being possessed themselves of his holy and happy religion, are exhorted to impart it to others, and obey his irrevocable law, 13-20. (3,) An exposition of the principal precepts of the moral law, and a vindication of them from the corrupt glosses of the scribes and Pharisees, particularly with respect to murder, 21-26: uncleanness, 27-32: swearing, 33-37 : retaliation, 38-42: and love to mankind, 43-48.

a

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went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him :*

a Mark iii. 13, 20. * All Saints' Day, gospel,
verse 1 to verse 13.

NOTES ON CHAPTER V.

Verses 1, 2. And seeing the multitudes-A vast concourse of people assembled from all parts to attend him, some with their sick to obtain cures, for he never rejected any who applied to him; some out of curiosity to see his miracles, and hear his extraordinary doctrine; some with a design to find Fault and censure; and some, doubtless, to hear and be edified by his discourses, which seldom failed to make a deep impression on those who had any share of good sense or true piety: -the Son of God, beholding such a vast multitude of men, bewildered in the darkness of ignorance, and lost in sin and

taught them, saying,

D.

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

b Luke vi. 20; Psa. li. 17; Prov. xv1. 19; xxix. 23; Isa. lvii. 15; lxvi. 2.

speak. Our Lord, it must be observed, pursues the most exact method in this divine discourse; describing, Ist, viz., in this chapter, the nature, excellency, and necessity of inward holiness; 2d, chap. vi., that purity of intention which must direct and animate our outward actions to render them holy; 3d, cautioning us against the grand hinderances of religion, and pointing out the chief means of attaining it: chap. vii. 1-20; and, 4th, making an application of the whole, chap. vii. 21-28.

Verse 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit-The word μακαριοι, here rendered blessed, properly means happy, and it may be better to translate it so, be

wretchedness, had compassion on them, and feeling | cause our Lord seems to intimate by it, not only

in himself a strong desire to give them more particular instruction than he had yet done in the infinitely important matters of religion; that he might deliver what he had to say to them on this most momentous subject, with more convenience to himself and advantage to them, he went up into a mountain-Which afforded room for all, and where, addressing them from an eminence, he could be seen and heard by great numbers. And when he was set -After the manner of the Jewish doctors, who, to show their authority, were wont to sit when they taught; his disciples came unto him-To be instructed by him as a teacher come from God. By his disciples here, not only those strictly so called, viz., the twelve, who were afterward chosen to be

that the dispositions here recommended are the way to future blessedness, but that they immediately confer the truest and most noble felicity. As happiness was the great end to which the wisest philosophers undertook to conduct their hearers, and as it is our common aim, and an object to the pursui of which we are continually urged by an innate instinct, our Lord, whose great business in coming into the world was, to make mankind happy by making them holy, wisely and graciously begins his divine institution, which is the complete art of happiness, by pointing out the necessary connexion it has with holiness, and inciting to the latter by motives drawn from the former. In doing this we cannot but observe his benevolent condescension.

his apostles, are intended, but as many of the mul-He seems, as it were, to lay aside his supreme

titude as were willing to learn of him. And he authority as our legislator, that he may the better opened his mouth-A phrase which, in the Scrip- act the part of our friend and Saviour. Instead of tures, generally denotes the solemnity of the speaker, using the lofty style in positive commands, he, in a and the importance of what he delivers, and here more gentle and engaging way, insinuates his will signifies that he uttered the following weighty truths and our duty by pronouncing those happy who with great seriousness and earnestness. And taught comply with it. And, in order to render his hearthem-As the great prophet and lawgiver of his ers more attentive, he proposes his doctrine in cerchurch, the one way to present and future happi- tain paradoxical dogmas, which, at first sight, may ness, at the same time that he corrected those false seem false to such as judge by appearance, but notions of the Messiah's kingdom which so gene- which, when attentively considered, are found to be rally prevailed, and which he foresaw would prove most true. Indeed, as an old writer remarks, "All of destructive tendency to those who continued to the beatitudes are affixed to unlikely conditions, to be governed by them. Observe, reader! Christ show that the judgment of the word and of the thought it as lawful to preach on a mountain as in world are contrary." By this expression, the poor a synagogue; nor did his disciples doubt the law-in spirit, Grotius and Baxter understand those who bear a state of poverty and want with a disposition

fulness of hearing him wherever he thought fit to

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