Interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 4

Interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 4

Old Testament

New Testament

Gospel of Matthew

Books of the Bible:

• Gospel of Matthew
• Gospel of Mark
• Gospel of Luke
• Gospel of John
• Acts of the Apostles
• Epistle of James
• 1 Peter
• 2 Peter

• 1 John
• 2 John
• 3 John
• Epistle of Jude
• Romans
• 1 Corinthians
• 2 Corinthians
• Epistle to the Galatians

• Epistle to the Ephesians
• Epistle to the Philippians
• Epistle to the Colossians
• 1 Thessalonians
• 2 Thessalonians
• 1 Timothy
• 2 Timothy
• Epistle to Titus

• Epistle to Philemon
• Hebrews
• Revelation of John

Chapter 4
Introduction

4

2. THROUGH TEMPTATION (4:1-11) (MARK 1:12-13; LUK 4:1-13)

Matt. 4:1-2

. Immediately after baptism, the Spirit of God led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil (according to legend, this happened near Jericho, map). Obviously, this period of time was necessary in the mind of the Father, so that in it the Son, led by His hand, would show a model of obedience (Heb. 5:8). The test or temptation of the Son began after He, having fasted for forty days and forty nights, felt a severe attack of hunger.

It appears that from God's perspective the Lord Jesus' putting him through temptation was intended to demonstrate His spiritual power. The Son of God could not sin by His nature, and by this the severity of His temptation was aggravated on a scale incomprehensible to us. He had to endure to the end, without “easing” his soul with his “fall.”

Matt. 4:3-4

. The first temptation concerned the area of ​​Jesus' filial relationship with the Heavenly Father. Satan was counting on the fact that, being the Son, Jesus could be “flattered” by some act or action “independent” of the Father. Tempting the Son, Satan acted subtly and cunningly: if you are the Son of God, he said, approaching Jesus, then you can turn these stones into bread with your own word. But Jesus knew that this was not the will of the Heavenly Father regarding Him. It consisted in allowing Him to “hunger in the wilderness” without food.

To listen to Satan’s “advice” and satisfy your hunger would mean to act contrary to the will of the Father. And in response to the evil spirit, Jesus quotes words from Deut. 8:3 “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” There is more good in being obedient to the word of God than in satisfying human desires. The fact that Jesus quoted from the book of Deuteronomy shows that He recognized the infallibility of its authority, and this cannot but sound like a rebuke to those theologians who dare to “criticize” it.

Matt. 4:5-7

. By tempting Christ a second time, Satan tried to kindle in Him the desire to “show off oneself” for the sake of greater popularity among people. The evil spirit came from the same thing as in the first case: if you are the Son of God, that is, the Messiah, no evil will happen to you; and so the devil takes Him and... places Him on the wing of the temple. It is not possible to dogmatically judge whether this actually happened or was just a vision. One way or another, Satan took a cunning step here in relation to Jesus as the Messiah.

He, in essence, reminded Him of the prophecy of Malachi (3:1), based on which many Jews believed that the Messiah would suddenly descend from heaven and appear in the temple. Satan seemed to be saying: Why don’t You do what people expect from You, and what would be a demonstration of a miracle in their eyes? After all, it is written that the Angels “will carry You in their hands, lest You dash Your foot against a stone.” Satan may have thought that he, too, needed to quote from Scripture if Jesus was doing it.

However, he deliberately did not bring Ps. 90:11-12 exactly, omitting the important idea that “Angels are commanded to guard You in all Your ways.” The psalmist, meanwhile, meant exactly that, that God will protect in everything he who acts according to His will. If Jesus would have thrown himself down from the wing of the temple in order to raise His prestige among people in such an unusual way, then he would not have acted according to the will of God. That is why He again answered the tempter with the words from Deuteronomy 6:16, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God,” meaning that he who goes out of His will should not expect help from Him.

Matt. 4:8-11

. The final temptation from Satan had to do with God's plan for Jesus. God intended that Jesus Christ would rule the world. And so Satan shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Currently, these “kingdoms” belong to Satan, since he is “the god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4) and “the prince of this world” (John 12:31 cf. Eph. 2:2). Consequently, by tempting Jesus, he really had the power at that time to give Him all the kingdoms, but on the condition: if you fall and worship me.

What Satan was actually saying was, “I can do God’s will for You, and You can have all these kingdoms now.” In that case, of course, Jesus would never have gone to the cross. One can assume that He could have become the “King of kings” without experiencing the suffering of the cross. This, however, would mean thwarting God's plan to save the world; and for Jesus personally this would mean bowing down to a creature inferior to Him. And again He refers to the book of Deuteronomy (6:13 and 10:20), where it is said that only God should be worshiped and served. Thus Jesus resisted this temptation.

It is interesting to note that Satan tempted Eve in the same way in the Garden of Eden. It affected her physical appetite (Gen. 3:1-3; Matt. 4:3), flattered her “feeling of security” (Gen. 3:4-5; Matt. 4:6), and finally inflamed her what we call “ambition,” the desire for power and authority (Gen. 3:5-6; Matt. 4:8-9).

In the same “three ways” the evil spirit has been seducing people from the ages (1 John 2:16). But the One who identified Himself with sinners through baptism and Who gives people righteousness has proven that He Himself is righteous, and this is confirmed by the Heavenly Father. The result is natural: the devil leaves Jesus. And at the same moment God sends Angels to serve Him.

II. News brought by the King

(4:12 — 7:29)

L. The Beginning of His Sermons (4:12-25)

1. WORD OF JESUS ​​(4:12-22) (MARK 1:14-20; LUK 4:14-15)

A. His Sermon (4:12-17)

Matt. 4:12-16

. Matthew makes an important clarification regarding the timing of further events, noting that Jesus began His ministry only when he heard that John had been taken into custody. The reason for John the Baptist's imprisonment is given later in 14:3. Upon learning of John's arrest, Jesus leaves Nazareth and settles in Capernaum (Luke 4:16-30 explains why He left Nazareth). This area was inhabited by the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali (since these were the lands that fell to them according to the division made by Joshua), but pagans also lived there.

Isaiah prophesied (Isaiah 9:1-2) that light would shine in this land, and Matthew views Jesus' removal to Capernaum as the fulfillment of this prophecy. One of the tasks of the Messiah was to bring light to those who are in the shadow (darkness) of death, to become this light for both Jews and Gentiles (John 1:9; 12:46).

Matt. 4:17

. So, after John was imprisoned, Jesus began to preach. To many, a familiar motif, or rather, two motifs, sounded in His words: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (compare 3:2). What John the Baptist had previously proclaimed, the Messiah Himself began to proclaim. Now God’s work was rapid progress towards the ultimate goal - the establishment of His glorious Kingdom on earth. And if someone wants to become a part of this Kingdom, they must repent. For repentance is an indispensable condition for joyful communication with God.

b. Jesus calls the disciples (4:18-22) (Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11)

Matt. 4:18-22

. Because Jesus was the promised Messiah, He had the right to take people out of their daily activities and call them to follow Him. However, the meeting with Simon and Andrew that Matthew writes about was not Jesus' first meeting with these people; the first is described in the Gospel of John (1:35-42). But now Jesus called these fishermen to leave their usual occupation in order to follow Him always and everywhere. For from the “fishers” He intended to make them fishers (of the souls of men).

The news of the coming Kingdom of God had to be preached everywhere so that many could hear it and - through repentance - become “partakers” of this Kingdom. However, the call of Jesus was not easy to fulfill, for it assumed that a person would have to - in order to fulfill it - leave not only his studies, but also his neighbors. Matthew explicitly states that James and John parted not only with their fishing gear, but also with their father; both followed Jesus.

2. ABOUT THE WORKS OF JESUS ​​(4:23-25) (LUKE 6:17-19)

Matt. 4:23

. The Lord did not limit himself to preaching. His deeds were no less important than His words, since the Jews could always ask: “Can this one who calls Himself the Messiah do deeds worthy of the Messiah?” The summary of Jesus' works found in 4:23 is very important to the development of Matthew's main theme (note that Matthew 9:35 sounds almost identical to Matthew 4:23, which talks about several significant things).

1)

. And Jesus walked throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues. He who claimed the title of King of the Jews taught among the Jews. He taught in synagogues where Jews gathered for worship.

2)

. Jesus taught and preached, that is, he performed prophetic ministry - after all, He was the “Prophet” promised to the Jews in Deuteronomy (Deut. 18:15-19).

3)

. He proclaimed to them the Gospel (good news) of the Kingdom. For the essence of His preaching was that God intended to fulfill what He promised to Israel (when He entered into a covenant with them) by establishing His Kingdom on earth.

4)

. Jesus healed every sickness and every disease among people (compare “teaching,” “preaching,” and “healing” in Matt. 9:35). This proved that He was a true Prophet, since His words were accompanied by “signs.” All this should have convinced the Jews that God acted in history to fulfill His purposes. They were required to repent of their sins and recognize Jesus as their Messiah.

Matt. 4:24-25

. The ministry of Jesus, and perhaps the ministry of the four disciples whom He called first (verses 18-22), made a tremendous impression on the people: hearing about the wonderful works of Jesus caused large crowds to flock to Him. Matthew writes: And rumors about Him spread throughout all Syria, that is, throughout all the territory north of Galilee.

Those who came to see and hear Him brought with them many sick people suffering from all kinds of diseases, and Jesus healed them. It is not surprising that many people followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis (meaning the area south and east of the Sea of ​​Galilee), and Jerusalem and Judea, and beyond the Jordan (map).

You can learn more about God and the Bible on the website The Bible about God

Jesus is at the start of his main mission on earth, and the spirit of God prompts him to retire to the literal desert where the devil prowls. Well, the desert is a suitable place for temptation (“test of strength”) by the devil. Just as metal is tested under stresses greater than normal, so the person God needs must be tested BEFORE God can use him for His purposes.

The Jews had a proverb: “The Most Holy God, blessed be His name, will not exalt anyone before he has tested and studied him; and the one who endures temptation, He magnifies.” So, the purpose of tempting the man of God is not to incline him to sin, but to strengthen the righteous in him.

Let us remember once again that both Christ and Eve were tempted by the devil. What is the difference between reactions in two similar situations? What is the reason for Christ’s victory, and what is the reason for Eve’s loss? Let’s look: At the devil’s offer, Eve’s first thought was: “What will I personally gain from this?” At the devil’s proposal, Jesus’ first thought was: “how will this affect my Father?”

That’s the whole difference: spiritual protection begins with one’s own inner beliefs. Whoever thinks about what first of all when faced with temptation repels the attacks of the devil and wins or loses.

4:2
And having fasted forty days and forty nights, he was finally hungry.
For forty days Jesus ate NOTHING - Luke 4:2 - this is the “content” of the fast of Christ. There is no time for food, of course, when the heavens opened and the essence of Christ’s suffering was revealed: there is something to think about alone with yourself and with God in order to realize the meaning of your coming to earth and sacrificial death.

Prolonged hunger could have weakened Jesus - a man - why not the right moment to try to seduce him? The temptations described are common to all people: natural need (severe hunger), or the lust of the flesh - pride (ambition and vanity), the desire to possess and rule (1 John 2:16). But each of them is also messianic, for Satan, turning to Jesus, refers to His Divine right: “ if

You are the Son of God,
then
...” Will Christ stand?

4:3
And the tempter came to him and said, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.
The devil immediately took advantage of the opportunity.
A normal request. Almost innocent. Simple and humanly understandable, just a check for compliance: “ SHOW me yourself so that I have the opportunity
to believe in you”

This may seem so to a person who is not experienced in distinguishing between good and evil and does not understand the motives of the petitioner. Like, for example, this request is simple and honest: “if you are a surgeon, then demonstrate your work so that I can

trust you as a surgeon.
Otherwise, you won’t give me any opportunity to believe you
, although I really want it. And if you do not SHOW me that you are a surgeon, then I am not to blame for my lack of faith. You will only have yourself to blame."

However, Jesus reads the “simplicity” of the devil’s motives and sees right through him: the devil knows perfectly well who Jesus is. All his demonic brethren know about this - Matthew 8:29. And there is no need for him to demonstrate “surgeon skills” - turning stones into bread.

But the devil asks for this so innocently in order to provoke OBEDIENCE TO YOURSELF - at least in such a harmless little thing. And at the same time he hides behind a quotation of the word of God from Scripture in order to enhance the effect of purity of motives.

It is not difficult for Jesus to turn stones into bread. But, having done so, he will worship the devil (listen to him) and become defiled, and will no longer be able to preserve the holiness of the son of God, for it is not proper for him to use his abilities to worship the devil and his personal life: the ability to perform miracles, which God endowed with some of his servants, served another purpose, to use miracles to encourage people to believe in God and lead them to Him. For your own life (for personal purposes), you can use the OPPORTUNITIES from the Father, for example, to earn bread with your own hands, because in this case you will begin to spend YOUR personal efforts. And the worker is worthy of food - Matthew 10:10.

And the devil knew this very well, offering Jesus a snack at the expense of Jehovah’s gift. But Jesus also knew about this: two worthy spiritual opponents met. Their battle is not on earth, they are under the supervision of the heavenly “arena” of God and angels.

Jesus won, recognizing the provocation of the “simplicity” of the request and did not bow to the devil. But the devil was able to lose with dignity - without hysteria he decided to come from the other side.

4:4
And he answered and said unto him, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Christ's answer is also a quotation from Scripture. Word against word, and who who is not versed in the word of God will understand this opposition?

“Man cannot live by bread alone” - The phrase has become a catchphrase, but not everyone remembers the continuation: “but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

Jesus considered spiritual nourishment from God's Word to be as important as nourishment from physical food.

interest in His word and His way in eternity If he WANTS to feed on the word of God for eternity, he WILL BE ALIVE THANKS to this nutrition .

4:5
Then the devil takes Him to the holy city and places Him on the wing of the temple. The holy city
is Jerusalem, for only in it was the temple of God, sanctifying the city, on the wing of which the devil placed Jesus in the vision.
The temple wing
is a porticoed roof in the southeastern part of the temple complex, where the retaining wall reached the top of the temple, deep in the Kidron Valley. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, this point was at an altitude of 135 m.

It is interesting that the devil, it turns out, has a huge advantage over God in this century in terms of influencing us: God does not actively offer us anything and does not influence us in any way from the OUTSIDE in order to persuade us to obey Him, luring us with a “carrot roll” or intimidating with a "whip". God left only the Bible, the existence of which we may not even know, and His creations - in the hope that reflection on the meaning of life will still prompt us to seek God.

And every day the devil actively uses such an arsenal of influences on us that even our most ordinary “decent” life can turn into complete obedience to him: after all, if we do not obey God, then automatically we obey the god of this age - Rom.6:16. Even if it seems to us that we are not obeying anyone at all, that we are free at the call of our own heart and our own conscience, we obey the god of this age if

the heart and conscience
are not
trained by God.

4:6
And he saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He will command his angels concerning thee, and in their hands they will bear thee up, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Satan uses Ps.
90,11.12 in a meaning that is beneficial to him and directly opposite to the true one. Psalm 91 encourages us to trust
God;
Satan tries to replace trust with testing
, questioning the faithfulness of God.

4:7
Jesus said unto him, It is also written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
“Do not tempt the Lord your God” (Deut. 6:16). What Jesus meant by this is this: It is pointless to try to see how far we can go in trying to experience God's promised help for ourselves; It also makes no sense to deliberately expose yourself to danger unnecessarily, indulging your ambitions, and then expect that God will save you from danger. That is, it would be wrong to make some reckless decision and then wait to see whether God will help or not.

However, how do we understand the call to “test God” from Mal. 3:10? You can test God in righteous and unrighteous ways. Unrighteousness is to test His reaction by acting recklessly and thoughtlessly thinking that God will help me - no matter what I do. And the righteous way is to do the right thing in any trial, even if doing the right thing may lead to trouble. Faith or trust in God helps to do the right thing and make sure that in these cases God always helps.

Bottom line: God justifies a person who can take risks in order to remain faithful to Him, but He does not want a person to take risks for the sake of self-affirmation or increasing his prestige. Faith based on signs and wonders has nothing to do with true faith, as it is written: only “an evil and adulterous generation SEEKS for signs.” Jesus trusted God absolutely in the simplicity and purity of his heart without the thought of testing God’s faithfulness to his promises. Therefore, do not test the patience of God by violating His principles and expecting a reaction from Him in the form of thunder from heaven. Don’t expect Him to solve our problems instead of us. And do not check, by deliberately creating difficulties for yourself, whether He will help you in artificial, reckless difficulties or not.

4:8
Again the devil takes Him to a very high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
There is no mountain from which all the kingdoms of the world can be seen: this vision was internal. Jesus did not consider what the devil was offering him, but he knew what his offer meant.

This text shows that all the kingdoms of this world are in the power of the devil. And since Jesus will become the king of the earth in the future to help people, the devil’s offer to become a king and help all of humanity right now (the ruler of the world has much more opportunities) could seem tempting (what difference does it make when, if it’s all the same - to reign over the world) .

4:9
And he saith unto him, All this I will give thee, if thou shalt fall down and worship me.
The conditions for the royal deal are very “simple”: just FALL and bow to the devil. The devil noted very correctly: it is impossible to bow to him if you DO NOT fall before him. And falling before him is not just a harmless procedure of kneeling. This means losing the battle for eternal life by LISTENING to the devil, and thereby betraying God. The evil one cannot be defeated by making a deal with him.

Since then, approaching God’s servants with temptations, the devil has not changed his tactics: he uses the word of God and, through various Biblical teachings, distorts the essence of what God said, in the hope that no one will understand the depths of God’s meaning. By influencing people through various sources of information, including religious ones, the devil subtly tries to show the world that by performing certain actions, we will not sin before God. Therefore, when accepting this or that point of view in Biblical teachings, it is very important to strive to carefully examine in the context of the WHOLE Bible what meaning God puts into certain words from Scripture, taking into account the spirit of the personality of God (His attitude, character, what He can afford , and what not, etc.).

4:10
Then Jesus saith unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve.
“Get away from me, Satan!”: it is not at all necessary, wanting to practice the ability to successfully reject the offered temptations and resist the temptation - to stand at the same time and meekly listen to everything that the seducers are trying to put into our ears. Sometimes it makes more sense to simply get rid of the seducer, decisively driving him away from you. Which is what Jesus did.

If someone is trying to piss us off and encourage us to commit a sin, the simplest thing we can do in this situation is to drive him away from us. Just urgently ask him to leave and leave us alone, or leave himself.

4:11
Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
As soon as Jesus drove out the devil, the Angels came to him and served him. God’s spiritual helpers did not leave Jesus and supported him, but it’s interesting: here they appeared not BEFORE he made a decision whether to remain faithful to God or not, but AFTER he had passed the test of “strength.” That is, no one will make a decision to remain faithful to God INSTEAD of us. Complete trust in God in itself can help us make the right decision; the services of angels in making such decisions are not needed.

4:12-16
When Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, he withdrew to Galilee.
Having heard that John had been taken into custody, Jesus did not go to rescue him, but withdrew from Judea himself. Someone, by human reflection, can say or think: “Well, I didn’t go to the rescue of a comrade, but I could have helped out.” But Jesus' purpose and John's purpose were subordinated to the fulfillment of God's will. They both knew that there was no escape from death in this world anyway, and they subordinated everything in their lives to the cause of God. And so that someone would not think badly of Christ, he did not risk his mission by saving John or remaining in Judea.

13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali,

So Jesus left Nazareth and settled in Capernaum. Jesus left His home and never returned there again. Before opening the door that was IN FRONT of him, He seemed to slam the door that remained BEHIND him. It was a final and clear transition from old to new; One stage of the life of the carpenter Jesus ended and a new stage began - the life of Christ, the messenger of heaven.

14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, who said: 15 The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, on the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles

16 The people sitting in darkness saw a great light, and to those sitting in the land and shadow of death a light dawned
. When such decisive moments arise in our lives, it is better to cut off completely than to vacillate between two courses of action. He went to Galilee. It was no coincidence that He went there to begin His mission THERE. The prophecy of Isaiah 9:1,2 about the great light for pagan Galilee was fulfilled.

Galilee is the northernmost region of Palestine. Galilee was not only distinguished by its population density; The greatest roads in the world passed through Galilee. The Galileans were a special kind of people: of the regions of Palestine, it was Galilee that most welcomed new ideas. As they said in ancient times: “Judea is on the road to nowhere, Galilee is on the road to all lands.” Judea could create a fence around itself to prevent the penetration of any outside influence and new ideas; Galilee could do no such thing. New ideas were to come to Galilee. (Barkley)

4:17
From that time Jesus began to preach and say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
“From that time” - these words denote the transition from preparation for serving God, which lasted from the birth of Christ, to the service itself. At this point, the Messiah had reached the spiritual and physical maturity that allowed him to begin fulfilling the mission of God's messenger on earth.

Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

How did the Pharisees understand the “Kingdom”? (Luke 17:20-21) For them, the “Kingdom” meant the liberation of Judea from the rule of Rome and the proclamation of national independence; they wanted to know when this Kingdom would be established. The expectation of the coming Kingdom was the main hope of the Jews. In fulfillment of prophecies, God's people Israel were awaiting the Kingdom. For the Jews, this meant one thing - the return of the former greatness of a united Israel. Every Jewish child knew that the Messiah would come and establish the Kingdom of David. These expectations were especially great during the earthly life of Jesus Christ. Palestine was conquered by enemies. The people of Israel, suffering oppression from the pagans, were waiting for a liberating king.

4:18-20
And as He passed near the Sea of ​​Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting nets into the sea, for they were fishermen, 19 and He said to them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.
20 And they immediately left their nets and followed Him. John tells a different story about his meeting with Simon and Andrew (John 1:35-42). Why is there such a discrepancy? Dallas Theological Seminary scholars explain this point this way: Because Jesus was the promised Messiah, He had the right to take people out of their daily activities and call them to follow Him. However, the meeting with Simon and Andrew that Matthew writes about was not Jesus' first meeting with these people; the first is described in the Gospel of John (1:35-42). But now Jesus called these fishermen to leave their usual occupation in order to follow Him always and everywhere. For from the “fishers” He intended to make them fishers (of the souls of men).

Brothers called by Christ, immediately

followed him.
They didn’t weigh the downsides, didn’t wonder what would happen to them and their families if they stopped fishing? They left what they loved, immediately and
without delay responding to the call of Christ and deciding to link their destiny with him.

It was no coincidence that Jesus attracted fishermen to join the work of God: a fisherman is patient and enduring, and a wise fisherman, moreover, does not put himself on display and does not create a lot of noise around his person: if he puts himself on display, then even his shadow will frighten the fish and she won't peck. A wise preacher and teacher will always show people not himself, but Jesus Christ. Their goal is to draw people’s attention NOT to themselves, but to Christ and the path to his Father (and all Christians, John 20:17).

4:21,22
From there, going further, He saw the other two brothers, James Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.
22 And they immediately left the boat and their father and followed Him. James and John also followed Jesus IMMEDIATELY, without weighing the pros and cons of responding to his call to follow him. Evil tongues probably said: “Well, they abandoned their jobs and even their elderly father, they went and began to wander.”

4:23-25
​​And Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
24 And rumors of Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all the weak, those possessed by various diseases and seizures, and the demon-possessed, and the lunatics, and the paralytic, and He healed them. 25 And a great multitude followed him from Galilee, and from the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. The Decapolis is a confederation of ten Hellenic cities south of Galilee and mostly east of the Jordan. The League of Cities was created shortly after Pompey's invasion of Palestine to preserve Greek culture in the Semitic region (around 64 BC) These were essentially strongholds of paganism.

Jesus began to heal any disease. But he became famous among the people precisely as a teacher

: teaching...preaching...healing. The Galileans quickly spread word of their news, and Jesus had no shortage of people who wanted to approach him: from all the surrounding areas of Palestine, including Jerusalem and Judea, people came to listen to his teaching and to be healed.

Teaching the people in the synagogues, Jesus spoke about the essence and purpose of the Kingdom of God, the coming of which was expected by those who knew about it: the worshipers of Jehovah. They gathered in synagogues and therefore, everything that Jesus taught, reading from the Scriptures, those listening had the opportunity to understand.

It is interesting to learn briefly about the synagogue: Barkley, Lopukhin:

Synagogues arose during the Babylonian captivity, when the temple was destroyed, and were places of prayer for the Jews, where, however, no sacrifices were made. Synagogue means meeting. The synagogue was the most important element in the life of a Jew. There was a certain difference between the Temple and the synagogues. There was only one temple - in Jerusalem, but there were synagogues everywhere where there was even a small colony of Jews. The temple served only for sacrifices; there was no preaching or teaching there at all. The synagogue was intended exclusively for teaching. Synagogues were called "the people's religious universities of the time." If a person wanted to spread religious teachings or religious ideas, then it was necessary to start in the synagogue. In addition, the service itself in the synagogue was structured in such a way that it gave the new teacher the opportunity to prove himself. The service consisted of three parts: the first part - prayers; the second is reading from the law and the prophets; Community members also took part in these readings; the third part is interpretation or preaching. There was no special person in the synagogue who would give sermons, that is, there were no professional priests there. The head of the synagogue led the service. Here any person from the outside could be asked to speak, and anyone could come forward with his message, and if the leader of the synagogue considered the person suitable for this, he could speak. Therefore, at the very beginning, the doors of the synagogue and its pulpit were open to Jesus.