v 1…Then Yeshua was led up by the Spirit (his purposes) into the wilderness to be tempted (tested, examined, tried, made proof of) by the devil (ha Satan-the “accuser” who is a created being opposed to Yehovah).
v 2…And after he had fasted (at his weakest point) forty days and forty nights (forty is the number of testing. Moses received the Torah after fasting forty days and Yeshua is tempted to break it after forty days) he then became hungry.
v 3…And the tempter came and said to him, “If (or “since”) you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread (like in Eden, food is used to test him).”
v 4… But he answered and said, “It is written (already on record in the Tanak and the entire Tanak is sometimes called Torah, as is the Brit Chadasha or “new/renewed testament”), “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (the Torah-Deut 8.3).”
v 5…Then the devil took him (notice Yeshua followed) into the holy city (Jerusalem); and he stood him on the pinnacle of the Temple (walls surrounded the Temple enclosure. This is the southeastern corner of the outer wall of the Temple Mount, overlooking the Kidron Valley, but some believe it was the southwestern corner)
v 6…and said to him, “If (or since) you are the Son of God throw yourself down; for it is written (already on record in the Tanak), He will give his angels charge concerning you (to protect you); and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”
v 7…Yeshua said to him, “On the other hand, it is written (already on record in the Tanak), ‘You shall not tempt (to test and demand a sign when the situation does not warrant it) the Lord your God (Deut 6.16).”
v 8…Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain (mountains are symbolic of “kingdoms” but to do this he could have done it anywhere) and showed him all the kingdoms of the world (a deception of the eyes), and their glory (the riches and honors);
v 9…and he said to him, “All these things will I give you (the jurisdiction over them, but he is lying, only Yehovah has this jurisdiction), if you fall down and worship me.”
v 10…Then Yeshua said to him, “Begone, Satan (he had heard enough from him and he is very forceful in saying this)! For it is written (already on record in the Tanak), ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve him only (Deut 6.13)'”
v 11…Then the devil left him and behold angels came and ministered to him (they came only after Yeshua had defeated him as the second Adam to show they did not assist him during this “test.” They came in visible, human form as ministering spirits).
v 12… Now when he heard that John had been taken into custody (in the castle of Machaerus), he withdrew to Galilee (to call his talmidim who lived there. Yeshua was not the first rabbi to call talmidim to follow him. This was a very Jewish concept. A “talmid” is not just a learner, but this was a common word for students of a rabbi. Their task was to learn everything the rabbi would teach. They ate, slept and lived with their rabbi. They were to do everything the same way their rabbi did, such as praying and fasting like he did. They learned how to keep the commandments from him. They followed him everywhere. They were to be a living reflection of their rabbi. They were the next “link” in a chain of teachings that would come from him. They, in turn, would “collect” talmidim eventually and this was repeated to them and so on. This was the life that Yeshua would call his “twelve” into. To follow him meant a total immersion into his life and teachings);
v 13…and leaving Nazareth (“branch”), he came and settled in Capernaum (means “village of the comforter” and an idiom for the Messiah) which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulon and Naphtali;
v 14… that it might fulfill (confirm, give meaning to) what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet saying,
v 15… “The Land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea (the via maris) beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles (this was the first area taken away in Assyrian/Babylonian captivity, but now is the first to hear the Messiah in his ministry of calling people out of their spiritual captivity)-
v 16… The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, and to those who were sitting in the land and the shadow of death, upon them a light dawned (the Messiah was seen as the “sun” of righteousness-Mal 4.2).”
v 17… From that time Yeshua began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven (God’s movement and rule in action and power) is at hand (here now, being offered).”
v 18… And walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Shimon (meaning “to hear”), who is called Peter (Cephas), and Andrew (Andrei) his brother, casting a net into the sea (probably washing their nets because they were close to shore); for they were fishermen.
v 19…And he said to them, “Follow me (come study and learn from me as a talmid), and I will make you fishers of men (casting a spiritual net).”
v 20…And they immediately left the nets, and followed him (He knew who they were from the foundation of the world. He will be looking for specific people to be his talmidim according to the plan and election of God. It is possible that they were followers of John-John 1.35-37-and John may have pointed Yeshua out to them and may have even talked with him before. Once John was arrested, they went back to work and this is where Yeshua finds them).
v 21…And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James (Jacob) the son of Zebedee (Hebrew “Zebedi” means “my gift”-possibly a priest-same name as in 1 Chr 27.7), and John (Yochanon meaning Yehovah is gracious) his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them (from their work, to learn from him).
v 22…And they immediately left the boat and their father, and followed him.
v 23…And Yeshua was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel (the basar, the good news-see the introduction the Matthew and the article “The Basar” on this site for definition of what this was; if the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Yeshua as some teach, how can he be teaching it if he was still alive, and how could it be taught to Abraham and to the people in the wilderness-Gal 3.8) of the kingdom (Yehovah’s movement), and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people (healing was seen as prophetic of the Messianic Kingdom, ot that the kingdom of God had come upon them. Many sick came to Galilee due to the hot springs there and the cooler climate. That is why there were so many sick there).
v 24…And the news about him went out to all Syria (This is probably a mistranslation. The DuTillet version of Matthew has “the people” which makes more sense, and these words are very similar in Hebrew); and they brought to him all who were ill, taken with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and he healed them (with his word, which showed him more than just a man).
v 25…And great multitudes followed him from Galilee and Decapolis (where there were ten Greek cities southeast of the Sea of Galilee) and Jerusalem (his fame had reached there) and Judea (the other parts of it) and beyond the Jordan (Trans-Jordan- Perea).
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