Post by M.R. Hagerty on Mar 15, 2023 19:34:33 GMT -7
CHAPTER 5
His Galilean Ministry
Luke 3:19,20, Matthew 4:12-22, Luke 5:1-11
19 But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by [John] because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done, 20 Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison. (Luke 3:19,20)
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: 15 "THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES -- 16 "THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED." 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. (Matthew 4:12-22)
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Commentary
Luke 3:19
19 But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by [John] because of Herodias . . he locked John up in prison.
We return briefly to the closing events in John the Baptist’s ministry.
The Herod here is Antipas, whose realm was Galilee. He lived in Jerusalem but had palaces and fortresses in other locations. Josephus tells us that John was put into the prison at Machaerus on the E side of the Dead Sea. Machaerus was one of three fortresses built by Herod the Great, Masada and the Herodium being the other two. (For more on tetrarchies, see above at Luke 3:1-6)
Herodias had been married to Philip, Antipas’ brother, when she left him for Antipas. She lived with him at first, but they eventually married. The Herods often emulated the patterns of the Roman nobility, who routinely forced people to divorce so they could form new unions. (Tiberius was forced by Augustus to divorce his first wife Vipsania and marry the emperor’s daughter Julia.) The Herods took this as license to do likewise in satisfying their own ambitions and desires.
John, as mentioned earlier, was a humble man, but rather bold in his preaching, and careless about his own life in the interest of saying the truth. We do not see the direct excoriation of Herod in John’s preaching as shown in the NT. It may have been in response to questions from the Herodians in general at the Jordan, or it may have been in sermons that decried the times and the condition of Israel under its oppressors.
John accuses the tetrarch of adultery in unlawfully putting away his former wife and stealing away that of his brother’s, for lust. But the apostle states here that the Baptist reprimanded Antipas for other deeds he had done. This was of course actionable speech, so it was only a matter of time that he was arrested. John was kept here for some time, as a sort of curiosity. We derive this conclusion from Herod being reluctant to put him to death.
Matthew 4:12-16
12 When Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
Again, Jesus was not running for fear, but avoiding the untimely precipitation of events that would upset the time table He was faithfully keeping.
“withdrew into Galilee” - Wasn’t he already in Galilee by being in Nazareth? He was indeed. But this reference is not to the region, but to the sea itself, specifically the town of Capernaum on its N shore.
15 "THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES –
The mention of Zebulun and Naphtali is critical because it here fulfills a prophecy. (Zebulun and Naphtali were sons of Jacob and therefore tribes of Israel.) As northern tribes, they had been long since taken off the land (8th century) and had intermingled with other Near Eastern nations. The area mentioned was predominantly Gentile because these cities and the area around the Sea of Galilee came to be populated with Gentiles due to the area being a key passageway for journeys between the Mediterranean and the East, between northern kingdoms and Egypt.
16 "THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED."
Israel from of old was encouraged to be a light unto all nations. The covenant of Genesis 12:3 promised Abraham that all the nations of the earth were to be blessed by his offspring. But Israel had neglected this by cloistering themselves within their land and even despising the Gentile with many ordinances regarding defilement. They made provision that Gentiles could come to Jerusalem (they even had a court of the Gentiles in the Temple) but they did not generally evangelize. Isaiah was prophesying that this promise to Abraham was still standing and would be eventually accomplished.
The fulfillment is now accomplished here in Jesus who was now walking in the Galilee of the Nations, among those in need of light, and essentially completing what Israel had left undone for centuries.